Path of Chaos: Ascension of Supremacy
by Lord Rance
Summary: A powerful entity has been reborn after so many eons being dead, but what if the entity doesn't want to go back to what he used to be? This is a story of a powerful god, who doesn't want to become a god.
1. Prologue

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: "If the Pen is mightier than the Sword, then why the heck did we invent the Sword then! Stab everyone in the eye with a Pen then!"

Author Notes: Some scenes are... well... hmmm... forget it.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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PROLOGUE: ACCIDENTS HAPPEN AT THE WORST TIMES

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Foreword:

In the beginning, the Darkness encompassed everything.

In the midst of it all, the swirling mass decided its sentience.  
From the Darkness, came the Ancient Gods.  
For thousands of years They ruled the Cosmos, partaking on their resources.  
Fluttering from one world to the next, like grazing butterflies.

In the middle of the Ancient Gods' rule, the Darkness acted again.  
This time, creating Three from Its own Essence.  
The First, known as the Righteous One, the Second, the Nightmare.  
The Last, assimilated most of the Its Essence, is Chaos.

The Righteous One, organized a rebellion against the Ancient Gods.  
Along with the help of the others, they eventually won.  
Driving back the Ancient Gods into Eternal Imprisonment.  
They were undisputed in the Cosmos.

The Righteous One claimed Heaven, or Asgard, or Olympus.  
The Nightmare claimed Hell, or Nifelheim, or Hades.  
So many names, all mean the same.  
But the Last was the most surprising of all.

The Chaos, being most part of Darkness, refused to be tied down.  
Control was never a part of Its nature.  
Like Its ancestor of Darkness, Chaos chose to travel.  
Forever roaming by Its own, maintaining the Balance of Everything.

- Excerpts from The Book of Darkness: Alpha and Omega, author unknown.

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Ranma Saotome was taken to a training trip by his errant father, Genma, since he was still a baby. As soon as he learned how to walk, he was taught and trained to be the best in the martial arts world. The "Anything Goes Martial Arts" style was then incorporated in him. The style consisted of being able to adapt into any kind of situation, whereas this style has absolutely no rules to follow. During the course of the journey, a huge mishap seemed to have befallen on him. The famous cursed springs, Jusenkyo, was well-known as a huge training ground for the greatest martial artists. Attracted by the gossips about the grounds, they both went to the cursed springs and trained, not heeding the warnings of the guide. Landing a blow on his father, Genma fell into the "Spring of the Drowned Panda". In retaliation, the angry panda bopped the shocked Ranma into the "Spring of Drowned Girl". Since then, when splashed with cold water, the curse activated, leaving Ranma as a girl and Genma as a gigantic panda. Hot water reversed the curse.

After the long training, he was brought to Japan to finally meet his fiancee, Akane Tendo. A rocky start for them, followed by dozens of challenges and fanatic fiancees, their relationship started as such. Ranma battled gods, dragons, giant orochis, the phoenix and many other mighty foes and had become one of the most powerful martial artists in the world.

The latest challenge in Ranma's life was defeating Phoenix God Saffron. Kiima, Saffron's trusted follower, kidnapped Akane and nearly drowned her in an unnamed uncursed spring. Surprisingly, Akane survived the ordeal. The spring was later named "Spring of Drowned Akane". Kiima used Akane's form to lure Ranma into Mount Phoenix, home of Saffron.

The battle ensued, destroying everything around China. The Jusenkyo was totally destroyed. Finally defeating the Phoenix God Saffron, Ranma had unwittingly declared his love to Akane. The wedding was set, and the invitations were distributed. But still the wedding ended in... disaster. Eventhough this happened, Ranma and Akane grew closer, and still remained engaged (this time more or less without any hesitation it seems from both sides) and postponed their wedding plans till they conclude "unfinished businesses (like stray fiancees, unruly idiotic guys, etc.)".

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In Heaven...

Belldandy appeared as she came sliding out of the mirror that hung across the room. It has been a long time since she last visited Heaven, mainly because of her work at the Goddess Relief Hotline Office. She was still bound by that contract she has bestowed upon a mortal, but she thought that she could use some time off to visit her sisters. Also, she has been kind of worried because they haven't been down to the shrine for days now. She walked along the well lit corridors and opened the huge door at the end of it, to the huge room where the universal computer Yggdrasil was being maintained. She looked around and saw her errant sisters Urd and Skuld, haunched over a computer terminal, their faces reflecting that they were in some serious work that needed their undivided attention.

Urd turned to the sound of footsteps approaching them and smiled a little. She saw Belldandy walking towards them with a slightly worried expression on her face. "Hello, Urd and Skuld. How are the both of you? Why haven't you been down to Earth lately?" Belldandy asked in a pleasant tone.

Skuld looked up from her terminal to face Belldandy. "There is a really weird file that we've been trying to get access into..." She said with a serious tone.

Belldandy pulled up a chair and sat beside them. "Really? I thought you have access to all the files in the Yggdrasil?" She asked with a slight frown.

Urd sighed and replied, "That's just it. This file is encrypted with a password that only Kami-sama can see. But that should be impossible, so we are checking to see of there is some sort of a mistake."

Skuld said, "I had all the names listed, and this one with the name 'Saotome Ranma' has an asterisk mark at the left of his name. When I tried accessing it..." she then pressed a button when the name was highlighted. A beep was heard and a huge sign saying 'FOR KAMI-SAMA'S EYES ONLY' was seen.

Belldandy nodded in understanding. "Well... have you asked Kami-sama about it?"

Urd and Skuld had this really incredulous 'Huh!' expression and looked at each other, saying in at the same time, "Why didn't I think of that!"

Urd stood up quickly and picked up the phone nearby, while she tapped her foot impatiently. The other line was finally picked up, and she began her conversation with who presumeably was Kami-sama.

"Yes father, there's this weird file that we have come across... yes, the file's name is Saotome Ranma... yes... what! He is! Is that why we can't see it? Can't we be given access to it? No father... it's just that it was so interesting... alright... no meddling in the file... alright father! I understand... I will tell Skuld and Belldandy too... don't worry, we'll visit soon... thank you father..." then with a weird expression of surprise, she slowly put down the receiver. Urd just stood there looking dumbly at the receiver, making no moves whatsoever.

After seeing Urd won't make a move for a while, Skuld became impatient. "Well?" she directed to Urd, tapping her fingers on the console. Urd snapped out of her reverie and looked at Skuld. After gulping air for strength, Urd said, "This Ranma is a special case. I was able to get access, but meddling with his life is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to anyone... even us goddesses. It would seem that only Kami-sama has the power to make a few minor adjustments to it."

Belldandy was dumbfounded. "What's so special about him? Does he have a Destiny?"

Urd could only shrug.

Skuld turned to Urd, saying, "What exactly did Father say?"

Urd sighed. "Father said that the file is currently being restricted. If anyone wants to see it, He explicitely asserted that His permission is needed."

Skuld whipped her head towards Urd, a questioning look on her face. "So... we can't see it?"

Urd sighed and nodded. "Ranma is a special case. Kami-sama is not into specifics about him though. Just that we protect and guard his file."

Skuld frowned. "If he's so important, then why is he out there?"

Urd shrugged. "It would seem father has some plans for him. The scary thing here is, father is making sure nobody touches Ranma's files."

Belldandy continued to read Ranma's file. She was awed at what the boy's exploits have been. She also grew to dislike Ranma's father, who has subjected his son to numerous life-threatening actions. She also admired Ranma's determination and his love for the Art. Suddenly she gasped as she read the latest addition to his exploits. "Kami-sama... he defeated... Saffron!"

Skuld almost jumped from her seat and looked at the file. "Y-you're right! Even as a mortal, he's really strong!"

Urd nodded again. "Yes... well, I'll make sure to watch over him. Who knows what weirdness could happen to him, right?" She licked her lips in anticipation as they watched the picture on the screen with growing interest. Belldandy, Urd and Skuld's godly hormones went into overdrive when they saw Ranma's picture.

Urd struggled to close her gaping mouth. "W-wow... never thought he was such a looker..."

Belldandy blushed furiously, berating herself for thinking naughty thoughts. I already have Keiichi... but Ranma is... Ranma is... oh my!

Skuld's eyes glazed over when she saw Ranma. This only happens when she eats ice cream. You can now wonder what the little pervert's thinking right now...

Hey, goddesses have feelings too, you know.

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It was a normal typical day in Nerima. Birds chirped everywhere, people jogged along the sidewalks, old ladies with buckets and saddles poured water all over the street for apparently no reason at all, the sound of the public repair crew repairing some damages around town, the resident martial artists scrambling and bickering among themselves... yes! This was the normal day. Imagine what it's like when it's the weird day. Just wait 'til Valentine's Day...

"THAT'S IT! I can't take them anymore!" Ranma screamed on top of his lungs as he ran across the streets of Nerima. Behind him was a horde of young ladies running after him, mainly Shampoo, Ukyou and Kodachi. He still remembered one time when it all became too much.

-FLASHBACK-

It all started when Ranma was casually walking along the park. So far, so good, everything was as peaceful as tranquil water. It's several months after that thing about the failed wedding, but it was still fresh in his mind.

Now normally, Ranma was a very forgiving person. No matter how much of an honorless, gutless and idiotic of a father Genma was, he never took after the louse. Ranma learned a little about tact, although it wasn't enough. Compared to his father though, he was a saint.

Well, imagine youself getting married. All dressed up in a really nice black tux that fit snugly against your skin, with a cask of your supposed to be cure right in front of you. Granted that Akane and he were roped into this, which at that time he still didn't understand why Akane took that chance (well probably he thought that Akane was bribed into giving in by the nannichuan). The guests were there, the food is immaculately arranged for later... yep, everything was good.

Yeah right.

Suddenly the door blasts open, pouring several of his pursuers with assorted different purposes. Not counting that blasted Ryoga who just tore down one side of the dojo wall, again.

Ranma couldn't forget about that one. Ukyou throwing bombs everywhere,  
endangering innocents. Shampoo as well, and when there is a Shampoo,  
there's always the Mousse, then Ryoga hears about the nannichuan, his father, Genma, swiping it away, Kuno bringing a real katana, Kodachi dressed in a black wedding gown, Nabiki counting her yen, Happosai drinking the nannichuan...

Hell on Earth...

In the end, it was always his fault, for accumulating what they call,  
'Past Debts'. Stupid panda accumulated it all under his name after all.  
They all agreed to postpone the blasted wedding up until the time is 'right'.

So basically the day after that, everything remained peaceful for a bit.  
Everyone was apologetic about what happened, Akane seemed a bit nicer.  
take note, a bit... Nabiki also did a bit of a 180 when it was done and all, which surprised Ranma. She helped Ranma pay for the damages to the dojo. Also Ranma really busted his father up for his part in all of it.

Peace has reigned. Oh... for about one and a half weeks.

After that, things seemed to pick up once again. Akane became a bit more violent again, Ryoga started attacking him again, Ukyou and Shampoo were back to their exploits, while Kodachi and Kuno were nuisances again. While Nabiki ran interference when things get heated up, for some reason like a homing missile, his pursuers still find him wherever he tended to go.

Then it happened, the innocents suddenly get involved.

One particular moment was when Akane started bashing him once again while Ryoga spouted something about 'How dare Ranma badmouth Akane's cooking'. Akane bashed him, or at least tried to, but he dodged to the right. He landed right in front of a group of small children crossing the sidewalk going to school. Ryoga, being Ryoga, just saw red (well,  
that was what Ranma was wearing after all in that day) carelessly fired a really huge Shi Shi Hokodan towards Ranma's position, and yes, towards the children's position too.

For some reason, Akane still couldn't get the fact that Ranma is just defending himself, screaming something about him picking on poor Ryoga.

Ranma, being Ranma, took one look at the frightened kids' faces and valiantly stood in front of the group, taking the full brunt of the chi attack. He didn't really put up much of a defense for himself, because he passed off some of his ki to the school children behind him, because of the expected shrapnel that is going to fly after the chi attack's contact.

Well, that left a really bloody Ranma, who is by now unconscious, on the torn ground.

Ryoga started jumping up and down about him beating Ranma when he finally noticed the tearful eyes of the school children, which according to the marks on the ground, were in fact protected by Ranma.

Add also the effect of the children shouting, "You killed him! You murderer! You tried to kill us too! He protected us!"

Well, that got Ryoga really paralyzed in shock. He almost killed those kids!

Akane likewise dropped her hammer in shock. She hadn't notice them before this happened. She just assumed that Ranma was gloating that he could take the attack, then tease Ryoga again. Well... Ranma isn't moving now...

Meanwhile, one of the kids ran to an adult, telling them what happened and in effect the adult ran to a payphone to call for an ambulance.

Took him a few days to recover from that one, all the while glaring at Akane, who seemed silent in the corner. He also punched Ryoga out to the horizon, to which Akane didn't say anything about. After all, Ranma did save the kids.

-END FLASHBACK-

"Ran-chan! Wait for me!" Ukyou cooed as she ran after the guy.

Ranma twisted halfway on his jump and scowled at the girls, saying,  
"Will'ya just leave me alone!"

"Shampoo make special noodles for airen!" Shampoo called out to him.

Kodachi released her maniacal laugh. "OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! You sluts can't have my Ranma-sama!"

Ranma rolled his eyes as he continued running towards the Tendo Dojo.  
This was another typical morning for him. He had just gone to jog when all of the sudden, he was ambushed by the girls. He reached the Dojo first, slamming the door against the pursuers. Inside, Kasumi walked up and welcomed him.

"Oh my, you are home early. I trust you had a good run, Ranma-kun"  
Kasumi asked innocently.

Ranma snorted. "Are ya kiddin' me? Those crazy girls ambushed me again!  
That's the third time this week!"

"What's going on out here?" Akane came down from the flight of stairs.  
She was dressed up for her workout but she was disturbed by the commotion downstairs.

Kasumi turned to greet the youngest Tendo. "Well, Ranma-kun has been ambushed again, Akane."

"Ranma," his father Genma called out from his Shogi game, "To solve all of that, you have to set the wedding between Akane and you..."

"That's right Ranma..." Soun nodded, trying to find an opening in Genma's side.

Ranma just kept silent, clenching his fist in a small fit of anger.  
Akane noticed this, for even if she didn't admit it much, she knew Ranma better than anyone else right now.

"I'll give you a discount. 15,000 yen to dispose of them all..." Nabiki peeked her face out from the kitchen door, a piece of toasted bread still hanging in her mouth.

Akane retorted, "C'mon you guys, stop that! We're not gonna be forced into this AGAIN!"

As Akane scolded the family, the wall on the right side of the door to the dojo collapsed, exposing Shampoo with her hand raised up in fair greeting, followed by Ukyou and Kodachi. Shampoo and the rest of the girls glomped blantantly at the fuming Ranma, not noticing that his aura was already rising to dangerous levels.

Finally losing it, Ranma let loose a mild aura burst, making the glomping girls squeal in surprise and was forced to let him go. They went wide-eyed as they watched Ranma glowing faintly. A light blue glow emanated from his body as he closed his eyes in slight anger.

"R-ranma..." Akane began nervously. This was the first time she actually seen Ranma burn up much of his ki. He usually keeps his Ki level in check... she thought to herself. She watched as Ranma turned to the other fiancees and started barking orders to them about 'not ruining his day any more than it is' and stuff. Rather than being usually angry at seeing Ranma being glomped by the other girls, she just kept to her side and stayed silent. Apparently, Ranma is in a VERY BAD MOOD and she didn't want any part of it.

"LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" Ranma pulled unto his hair for emphasis. His face was contorted in anger. "THAT'S IT! I dissolve each and every engagement that has been declared for me!" Then he turned to see Akane's hurted gaze, repenting, "Well... maybe except ours, I think." Akane's eyes widened in surprised and blushed terribly. Ranma breathed out in exasperation. Now why did I do that? Oh well... it's not like I didn't think about this or something... he thought.

The other girls finally got wind of their situation and was about to voice out their complaints when Ranma stomped his foot on the wooden floor, making everyone jump. "Nobody says a word in this! This is my decision and that's final!"

Everyone fell silent.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Ranma saw his Genma and Soun going to make a remark. He lifted his finger and pointed it at them, saying, "You shaddup! It's my decision and not yours! Everythin' you said before mean nothin'! If anyone's gonna be praised for this, it shoulda been me!" And with that, Genma and Soun slumped back down the floor.

Ranma then stood still in the middle of the dojo, as if he was expecting something. After several minutes of awkward silence, everybody save Ranma were wondering what he was thinking about. Suddenly, a crowd of thumping feet filled the air. After hearing this, Ranma chuckled silently.

"You vile sorcerer! Prepare thyself to be skewered by my blade!" Kuno shouted as he entered through the whole the girls made. Nabiki groaned inwardly as she watched the misled swordsman march to his doom Still the same stupid idiot...

"Ranma! What did you do to my Shampoo!" Mousse screamed, following Kuno's lead into the dojo. He pulled out his wing blade(tm) out from the hyper weaponspace compartment.

A black blur suddenly followed inside, carrying a light blue bra in its right hand and a bucket of cold water in its left hand. "Ranma-chan!  
Wear this bra for me!" said the little gnome Happosai.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryoga burst through the door, the splinters flew everywhere.

Akane stood up in protest, shouting, "Ryoga! Stop it!" but her plea fell on deaf ears.

Ranma smiled evilly. To everyone present, they had a hard time following all the motion. Kuno slashed his bokken directly towards Ranma, who lifted his hand and caught the wood niftly with his index and middle finger. He twisted it quickly and Kuno lost his grip unto the hilt.  
Without looking, Ranma landed a strong kick on the bucket Happosai was going to throw at him, making it hit the gnome on the face. He turned on his heel to throw the captured bokken towards Mousse, whose eyeglasses were hit perfectly. As Mousse stumbled momentarily, Ranma regained his footing and launched a quick roundhouse kick to his gut, causing him to be thrown back and hit the wall with his face. Ranma sidestepped Ryoga's Bakusai Tenketsu finger, elbowing Ryoga's arm as he used his momentum to anticipate the distance. Ryoga's arm shot upwards, exposing his face long enough for Ranma to land a punch squarely on the face. Ryoga winced as he felt the punch drill right through his face, following the sudden change of momentum straight to the other wall. Ranma's stance changed,  
and started gathering energy unto his right hand. After a second, he shouted, "HORIZONTAL REVISED, HIRYUU SHOUTEN HA" and with that, a small,  
refined tornado erupted from his fist, hitting Happosai on the chest,  
pushing him to hit Kuno outwards the hole on the door.

Akane audibly gasped. She knew that Ranma can't possible throw the revised version, especially since he needed temperature change to even enforce the original Hiryuu Shouten Ha.

When everything died down, Ranma sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm just takin it easy on ya all y'know... and I think now's the time to show ya you're not as good as you think..."

Ryoga pulled himself out of the hole he made on the wall. He heard the comment Ranma made as he was pulling himself, and that got him angry.

"What did you say! I'm gonna kill you!" Ryoga lunged once again towards Ranma, his fist running straight towards Ranma. The punch connected, the impact created a moderate vibration that was felt around the dojo. When Ryoga removed his fist, he was shocked to see Ranma as he stood there taking the blow of the punch to his face. Ranma wasn't moved at all.

"Are ya done?" Ranma asked in an annoyed tone. He didn't seem to wait for a reply as he took Ryoga's fist and pulled him, landing his knee on Ryoga's chest. Ryoga took a sharp intake of air as he felt his lungs shook at the blow. He was shot back to his place on the hole he was thrown back to in the first place.

"I'm really tryin to hold back here. All I ask was you all to leave me alone! I can't have a single day of peace!" Ranma shouted angrily.

Ranma quickly turned and went straight up the flight of stairs to the room he shared with his father. After a few moments of silence, those who were left behind finally breathed, looking at each other with questioning looks. Akane stood up and followed Ranma. When she reached the door to his room, she slowly opened it and saw Ranma shoving some clothes in that backpack of his.

"R-ranma..." Akane called to him softly.

Upon hearing her voice, Ranma momentarily stopped his packing and looked at Akane. His harsh expression from earlier was already gone, and only a neutral expression remained. As he faced Akane, his face softened immediately. "Sorry 'bout that, Akane..." he sighed, sitting down on the wooden floor indian-style, "I shoulda have not let loose that much ki when I blow off steam the next time that happens..."

"It's okay... you have every right to be mad today..." Akane went inside the room, sitting next to Ranma.

Ranma looked into her eyes. There was a hint of sadness in there, and he could see it clearly. He smiled warmly and said, "Doncha worry bout it... I just wanna go somewhere to let my mind off things..."

Akane sighed loudly. "Somewhere... huh..." You're gonna leave me again,  
Ranma? she thought.

Ranma saw an expectant light in her eyes. He broke the gaze and looked down on the floor. "Oookay... would ya like to come with me then?"

She was visibly delighted. "R-really? Y-you don't mind me coming along"  
she asked.

Ranma nodded. "Sure! Why not? I just wanna be away from here for a while. Maybe visit okaasan or somethin'... then maybe we can go for a training trip together, so waddya say?"

Akane stood up and nodded vigorously. "Uhn! Of course I'll go with you!"

Ranma blinked and beamed. "That's great then! Then let's get---"

Whatever Ranma was going to say was interrupted by a sudden explosion,  
which caused the floor to blow up. As the dust cleared, Happosai was seen standing beside the hole, with a weird object in one hand.

"Ranma..." Happosai muttered, "You have disrespected me for the LAST TIME! I will teach you not to mess with the Grandmaster of Anything Goes Martial Arts! Prepare to meet your punishment!" and with that statement, the object in Happosai's hand started to glow bright yellow.

Ranma quickly regained his composure and shoved Akane out of the way.  
The object suddenly shot out a bright beam of light that hit Ranma on his chest, causing him to scream out in pain.

Akane's momentary disorientation was dispelled when she heard Ranma's scream. "Ranma!" she called out to him, watching as his body began to phase out of existence. She struggled to her feet but it was too late,  
as she reached for him his body already phased out too much, causing her frantic hands to pass through his body.

Ranma's eyes opened for a bit. When he saw Akane's image blur for a moment, he tried reaching out to her but he sees her hand passing thru him. He whispered, "Akane..." But then, he slowly phased out of his world.

When Ranma's body disappeared, Akane fell to her knees, her eyes tearing up. She turned to Happosai sharply, and saw the old man was too stunned to move at all. "That was NOT supposed to happen..." she heard the old man mutter under his breath.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!" Akane screamed on top of her lungs, trying to control her growing anger. Happosai visibly winced at her tones,  
obviously he had no idea how to explain the phenomenon at all.

"I-I don't know what happened! This should only cause him to lock up into female form, just like the Cat Tongue technique! Unless this is the wrong artifact..." the last sentence faded from his mouth.

"I DON'T CARE! JUST BRING HIM BACK NOW!"

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To Be Continued...

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This is a prologue to a series that I'm planning to write. The title is still a bit of a temporary thing, but I'm getting there. I already drew the plans to several chapters. A multitude of crossovers are in order,  
mainly I will give Ranma a power up coz he needs it. He will be thrown to a lot of universes. I need him alive for that. -

I would like to thank some of those other fanfic writers. I got some of the ideas from them.

Some sample crossovers would be with Dragonball Z and GT, Tenchi Muyo too. Sailormoon as well.

Just wait for Chapter 1. Actually it's done but I'm checking the spellings and stuff.

Thanks for patronizing. Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

"Chaos is the counterbalance in all of what is in the universe. Without the unknown factor, the predictability as well as the creative potential of the different lifeforms in all of the known multiverses will be corrupted and thus, no real freedom is attained." - Some quote I found somewhere. 


	2. Chapter 1

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: "If the Pen is mightier than the Sword, then why the heck did we invent the Sword then! Stab everyone in the eye with a Pen then!"

Author Notes: Some scenes are... well... hmmm... forget it.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

C. Rose's email is still funky, by the way.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 1 - WHAT THE HECK IS A 'RANMA'!

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Dr. Gero, the former Red Ribbon Army's resident mad doctor, finally finished the construction of his latest weapons of doom. Of course, his mad anger directed to the one called Son Goku. He smirked as he gazed upon the huge human sized tubes filled with sustenance liquid.

As he peered in one circular window, a shoulder lengthed black haired humanoid was floating inside it. Outside the tube, the label 'Number 17' was visible. The tube was among the others lined up in a row.

The doctor walked up to the last tube. His unfinished creation, the one he dubbed, 'Ultimate Cyborg Cell' was still in an infantile size. The small green thing that floats inside the semi-clear liquid was growing slowly, faster than the normal rate. Dr. Gero rubbed his hands together as he prepared to inject some blood samples he collected from the most powerful beings in the universe.

First, he injected the one labeled, 'Piccolo DNA' and watched as the fetus flinch when the needle came into contact. He smirked as the blood was accepted quickly. He designed the android to fully accept the DNAs and assimilate them to itself without any problems. Next was 'Tenshinhan DNA,  
followed by 'Krillin DNA', 'Yamcha DNA', 'Chou-Tzu DNA', then 'Vegeta DNA'.

He paused dramatically as he stared at the last tube of blood. It is labeled 'Son Goku DNA'. He cackled as he threw his head back in his mad fits of laughter, his chuckles heard inside the damp laboratory of his. He then prepared for the final phase. Just as he was about to press for the assimilation process, a bright light suddenly appeared above him. He gazed at it as the light slowly compressed, a hole of some sort appeared above the test tube. The hole spit out something, then closed up almost as immediately as it appeared. The object bashed through the tube of the still developing android, smashing the tube with a loud crash. Tendrils of electricity arcs against the broken glass surface which engulfed the boy. With a scream, the boy's body lurched as electricity coursed into his body, threatening to disembowel him. A burnt smell wafted through the air.

Dr. Gero finally recovered from his shock and stomped towards the individual. "WHO ARE YOU?" He demanded loudly. Now that the boy stopped moving, he got a good glimpse at him. He saw that he is no more than 18 years old, with a good build and a curious looking pigtail that stuck out at the back of his head. Dr. Gero then saw that the boy stopped convulsing and slowly sat up. As he was shaking the cobwebs off his head, his face contorted into pain. Dr. Gero's gaze rested on the boy's back, seeing a frantic movement from the upper part of the boy's pants. With a soft rip, a red furry tail sprang forth from the hole created in the pants.

The boy absentmindedly rubbed his appendage, but it seemed that he didn't notice the added part on his anatomy just yet. He glared at the fuming doctor, shouting, "What the hell? That hurts ya know!" He angrily patted himself, causing smoke to rise from his slightly burnt shirt.

"Where the hell did you come from, boy? You just appeared out of nowhere in my lab!"

The boy angrily stood up. "I'm not a BOY! And that doesn't give you any right to stick me with needles ya know!"

"Grrrr! Insolent boy! Android 17 and 19! Activate and get rid of this nuisance!" The doctor angrily flipped a switch on a remote control that he kept inside his lab coat.

With a loud hissing sound, two of the tubes opened and out came a huge fat humanoid with white skin wearing an ancient chinese-style turban, and a somewhat teenaged-looking male humanoid with shoulder lengthed black hair with a red bandana wrapped around the collar of his neck. According to the labels on their tubes, they are Andriods 19 and 17 respectively.

"Something bothering you, doc?" the black haired humanoid said with a bored expression.

Dr. Gero pointed at the intruder. "17! I order you to destroy this good for nothing human that wrecked my greatest creation!"

The android named 17 shrugged and lifted his hand. He lined his palm towards the boy with a slight smile on his face. "Sorry kid..." he sighed, "Doc's orders... no offense."

The boy flinched. "Hey... now what did I---" then with a boom, a huge blast of energy slammed against his chest that came from the outstretched palm of 17. The boy's body flew and slammed hard against the cold metallic wall of the lab, a huge metal crushing sound was heard followed by huge falling rocks that covered up the huge hole on the wall.

The fat android, probably the one named 19, smiled slightly as the dust cleared. The whole area was silent for a while. The doctor then snorted, saying, "Hmph! That takes care of that! Now... where was I when I was rudely interrupted?" He turned towards the broken tube, shaking his head grimly, grumbling to himself.

17 sighed and cracked his knuckles. He smirked evilly, saying,  
"Heheh... that was fun." Suddenly, his smirk faded as his sensors picked up a huge energy build up somewhere in the lab. It seemed that 19 also detected the same power fluctuation and was looking around frantically.  
Their sensors zeroed in on the newly built hole that 17 has conveniently created. Dr. Gero stopped from his musings when he felt his androids fall silent all of the sudden. He turned to them and saw that they were looking at the hole intensely.

"What is it, 17?" the doctor asked.

"A power fluctuation... coming from there..." 17 pointed to the hole. As he said that, the lab vibrated slightly. A huge explosion erupted from the hole. 17 and 19 appeared in front of the doctor to protect him from the sharp rocks that flew everywhere. When the dust settled, the debris around the hole was cleared, and the boy stood in front of the hole, inspecting his body.

The doctor gaped momentarily. "Wha..? How is that possible? That blast should've... oh no..." he muttered as he looked at the rising pile of debris.

"My shirt! This is a new one too! Kasumi is NOT gonna be happy with this!" the boy muttered to himself as he looked at the hole that was sported on his shirt's front area. "Dammit! Now I'm DEFINITELY PISSED!" he angrily shouted. The boy glared at the sweating doctor and the two unmoved androids. "You... IDIOTS!" he growled as he powered up.  
Whisps of golden aura erupted around his body, momentarily bathing him.  
His whole body tightened as the power surrounded him, the whole ground shook and pieces of rocks started to float around. His pigtail and red tail stood up on one end.

Dr. Gero sweated and slowly backed away. 17 and 19's heads twitched suddenly as they measured the boy's power level.

"Damn..." 17 muttered as he shook his head, "The sensors shorted out..."

The nervous doctor glanced at 17. "Wha-what? It should be able to take huge amounts of energy!"

17 eyed the VERY angry teenager in front of him. "W-well... it would seem that this boy has a LOT of power in him."

Turning his head towards the boy, Dr. Gero muttered in resignation, "Oh shit..."

Ranma felt his aura change drastically. He felt new raw energy that he never had course through his body. But at this moment he would've cared less. First, he was attacked when he was jogging peacefully, then he was blasted by some unknown artifact from the perverted freak, then now his shirt was ruined because some IDIOTS were trigger happy in their attacks! He slowly lifted his hands and cupped them in front of him as he pointed them towards the cowering forms of the androids and that loud old fart.

He felt a huge power build up in front of his outstretched palms which was a lot more powerful than his normal attacks. He then smiled as he thought of a name for the attack. He shouted, "SHIN MOKO TAKABISHA!"

The former (but still mad) doctor just cringed as everything turned white...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Son Goku, champion of Earth against the forces of evil, suddenly stumbled while sparring with his son, Gohan and his friends. At the same time, Krillin, Tenshinhan, the future Trunks, Yamcha and Chou-Tzu stopped abruptly, looking up to the direction of the huge energy signature.

"Wow... that's one very pissed guy..." Goku said to no one in particular, while the others nodded in agreement. Goku turned to his friends and nodded. They all started floating up to the sky and flew towards the energy.

Piccolo, the green skinned Namek was high above the temple of Kami meditating when he suddenly fell back down the temple floor. He shakily stood up and looked at the new young Kami wide-eyed. Dende, the new Kami, was standing close to the temple edge loooking down on Earth.  
He looked back at Piccolo, saying, "T-there's a huge power surge from those mountains..." he pointed towards the source, "And it is one POWERFUL surge... the owner is not evil, though right now he is angry at something or someone..." Piccolo just nodded and flew quickly towards the power source.

Dende sighed and looked at Mr. Popo, saying, "I just hope they don't piss the guy some more..." Mr. Popo just chuckled.

Vegeta's senses flared and threatened to dampen him as he felt the sudden burst of power nearby. ((Damn it... this power... it's a Saiyajin!)). He quickly stepped to the console of the training room in Capsule Corps. and turned the gravity back to normal. Hurrying towards the exit, he almost ran over Bulma, who was carrying Chibi Trunks.

"Vegeta!" The metallic blue-haired woman berated him, "You have to be careful where you are going! You almost bowled Trunks over!"

Vegeta passed by her. "I have no time to quarrel with you,  
onna!" he grumbled back as he hurried to the exit and flew. Bulma just looked at the exit and shook her head, saying, "Of all people... why did I choose him?"

All of the Earth's protectors, affectionally called the 'Z Soldiers' converged at one point on the sky. Two full-blooded Saiyanjins, Two half-blooded Saiyajins, one Namekkan and four humans just looked at one another in curiousity as they all felt the power flare up higher and higher. They dreaded that this is another invasion attack from beings that have so much power.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The mountain area where Dr. Gero hid his laboratory suddenly exploded with great intensity. A huge mushroom cloud of fire became visible to the eyes of the incoming warriors. They suddenly sped up,  
hoping that no one was injured or far worse, dead. They hovered above the smoking crater, dodging outgoing projectiles that were thrown out carelessly by the powerful explosion. Pieces of machinery and glass flew out of the smoke. They gaped at the large crater that was once a huge range of mountainous terrain. Nothing was left from the explosion. It was then that they spotted a dot in the middle of the crater.

Ranma opened his eyes and squinted as sunlight temporarily blinded him. Somehow, that huge burst of ki didn't drain him as much as he thought it would, considering the huge amount of energy that he let out. He then looked around and scratched the back of his head almost apologetically, seeing the destruction his little stunt has caused. He then slumped back and sat on the ground, crossing his arms across his chest as he tried to assess what happened.

"Okay..." he muttered, as he gasped for breath, "That was a wee bit much..."

Up from above, Goku and Vegeta's eyes widened as the dust cleared up. They saw a humanoid being with something stuck at the lower back of its body. The others were also rendered speechless as they saw what Goku and Vegeta were looking at. In the middle of the crater stood a being, with a tail resembling a Saiyajin. But there was something different...

Goku turned to Vegeta, saying, "Another Saiyajin! But something is weird about him though..."

Vegeta shook his head. "Are you dumb, Kakaroto? Can't you see that it is different from a normal Saiyajin?"

Gohan pulled on the sleeve of Goku, his father, "What do you mean, papa?"

Vegeta snorted at Gohan. "Can't you see? Normal Saiyajins have brown tail, while that guy..."

"He has a red tail." Goku finished.

Piccolo shivered momentarily. "His power is immense. He isn't even straining at all! It seems that he has trained extensively for fighting."

Krillin sighed softly. "So what are we gonna do about him?" He pointed at the guy below them as the guy in question sat down and crossed his arms across his chest. It seems that the guy is at a loss of what to do.

Goku scratched his head. "He's not attacking or destroying anyone though..."

"But he is STILL a threat... not to mention his power levels are kind of erratic!" Vegeta growled.

Ranma has his eyes closed as he thought of what to do next. Now that he concentrated, he felt some presences above him. He opened his eyes and looked up, seeing several powerful fighters in heated debate.  
He stood up and addressed to the crowd above him. "A-no... hello there!  
Do you mind telling me where I am?"

Goku heard the boy below them call out. He looked at the boy and felt no evil intentions in him. "You know guys, I think I'm gonna talk to him. Stay here and keep your guards up." he said, and with that he flew down towards the boy, while the others kept back and watched.

Ranma smiled as he saw one of the men float down towards him. He has a very weird hairdo, all spiky and stuff. He wondered whether this man has taken a liking of hair gels or something. He was also trying to understand how he could fly in the first place. Noting some ki displacements around his feet, Ranma understood that the guy could fly by means of pushing the ki to a downward push. Ranma's smile grew as he understood the concept of flying. (His learning curve is drastically higher than most fighters. Ranma is a genius... he is able to comprehend and assimilate things that he sees in his style of combat almost immediately.)

Goku saw the boy smile at him. When he touched down the ground,  
he examined the boy up close. Aside from the tail, he obviously is just a boy. He also noted that the presence of a Saiyajin Module is absent.  
It would mean that this Saiyajin has been here for a long time. He then smiled and waved at the boy. "Hello! My name is Son Goku!"

Ranma pulled on his pigtail, saying, "Uhm... my name is Saotome Ranma. I'm kinda lost. You see I was wondering if you could tell me where I am right now..."

"You're in Japan right now! By the way, can I ask what a Saiyajin like you doing here?" Goku arched his eyebrow when he saw the blank look on the boy's face.

"Eh? What are ya talkin' 'bout?" Ranma asked loudly.

Goku pointed at Ranma's tail. "Ano... according to your tail,  
you are Saiyajin. You don't know what you are?"

Ranma looked at the area where Goku pointed. His face blanched when he saw something protruding his backside. "What the heck is this"  
Ranma was sure that he never had a tail. Tail? Clenching his teeth Ranma slowly reached back behind him and found something red and furry that kinda complimented the red sleeveless shirt he has on his body. ((Oh no,  
oh no, oh please god no.)) Ever so slowly Ranma brought the furry appendage around to the front. Yep, sure enough, it was a furry red tail, a big thick one at that. For some reason, he could squirm it about subconsciously, making it look like a gigantic red earthworm trying to escape his hands.

Goku gaped at Ranma. "You mean, you didn't know you are a Saiyajin!"

Ranma looked at Goku, his hand still clutching his tail. "What the heck is a Saiyajin!"

Goku shook his head. "Well, for one thing they are from another world. I am a Saiyajin you see... and some of my friends are also Saiyajins. Our home planet Vegeta-sei was destroyed years ago, so it means that we are the only Saiyajins left throughout the universe. But it is really weird... most Saiyajins I know have brown tails, but you have red tail..."

Ranma tried pulling his tail out but to no avail. "I am human! I was pulled into this world by some unknown artifact! Then I appeared in that lab of some sort... electricuted and... oh damn. What the hell happened in there!"

Goku saw that Ranma is starting to panic. He raised his hand and said, "Calm down, Ranma! We can have this sorted out. Lemme call out my friends okay?" Goku looked up at the sky and motioned his friends that it is safe to come down. One by one, the Z Soldiers came down and slowly made their way towards the two.

Piccolo looked at the boy. He felt that the boy is panicking. He looked questioningly at Goku. Goku sighed and said, "It seems Ranma here doesn't know he is a Saiyajin now. He claims he was human and was sent here by some unknown artifact from his world."

Vegeta snorted in disgust. "And you believe him? What if he's saying that just to get our guards down!"

Ranma heard Vegeta's comment. He didn't like the guy with a weirder hairdo. He walked up to Vegeta, saying, "What did ya say? Are ya sayin' that I'm lyin'!"

Vegeta growled, saying, "Watch your tongue boy! I am the Prince of the Saiyajins! You better respect me or you'll be in a world of hurt!" The others save Ranma just groaned at Vegeta's outburst.

Ranma crossed his arms across his chest. "And who're ya to order me aroun', short man? A prince of an extinct race can't order me 'round!"

Vegeta was angered by Ranma's counter. He cocked his fist back and landed a strong punch on Ranma's face. A loud crack was heard,  
followed by Vegeta's scream of pain. Everyone gasped as Vegeta's hand snapped at the force of the punch that HE did. Ranma just chuckled,  
saying, "Boy, you're really weak..."

Vegeta couldn't think of a retort as he fell down on one knee,  
cradling his broken fist. Everyone rounded up at Ranma and immediately began to introduce themselves. After a series of introductions, Piccolo finally asked what everyone wanted to know. "So Ranma, how did you get here?" the Namek asked.

Ranma sighed and shook his head slowly. "I was back at home when I got into this fight with a perverted freak. He got angry when I beat him up, and used an artifact of some sort. I saw a bright light then when I finally got out of that one, I landed into a lab or somethin.  
Got the shock of my life when I fell into some liquid and some live wire. The guy in white coat was cackling 'bout his experiments or something. Some guy named 17 blasted me and burned my clothes," he then pointed at a hole on his shirt, "and I kinda got angry at him. I sorta blasted everythin' up... then here I am."

Trunks blanched at the name Ranma mentioned. "17? The android 17! He blasted you?" Everyone gasped at Trunks' comment and stared at Ranma.

Ranm scratched the back of his head, saying, "Well... I dunno 'bout the android thing, but 17 is his name definitely. Has shoulder length hair with a very annoying cold attitude."

Trunks grabbed Ranma's shoulders and shook him. "You mean you battled the androids and destroyed them!"

Ranma began to get nervous at the looks of the group. "Uhm... is that a bad thing?"

Everyone suffered a facefault. Vegeta on the other hand, groaned loudly.

Everyone except Vegeta, who was still on the ground, blinked and laughed at Ranma's comment. They immediately sobered up when they heard a crumbling noise, followed by a groan. They turned and saw a huge green man with orange mohawk for hair and a blonde woman who, for Ranma, looks kinda like 17, crawling out of their respective tubes. Aside from a few dirty spots because of the dust, they are in otherwise good condition.

Everyone backed away except for Ranma, who walked casually towards the two people, who they believe to be some surviving androids.  
The man turned to the woman, saying, "Our target, Son Goku, is among the others in the crowd. The others are identifiable as well. But the boy is unknown. Do you know what we should do, 18?"

The woman, known as 18, shook her head. "I don't know, 16. If I remember it right, he was the one who destroyed the lab a while ago."

Ranma stopped near the two and scratched his head. "Ano... I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry bout this..."

18 looked at Ranma intensely. "Are you not afraid of us? We could kill you, you know..."

Ranma sighed. "Don't tell me you're one of those guys who shoots first and ask questions later?"

16 relaxed his stance. He couldn't figure out what this boy is up to. According to his sensors, the boy has an odd mixture of genes in his blood, unidentifiable even to him. He shook his head, saying, "No.  
we have no quarrel with you. But can you tell us why you destroyed 17 and Doctor Gero?" The man pointed at the discarded pieces of 17. Wires and bolts are still flickering with energy discharge.

18 sighed loudly. "My poor brother..."

Ranma slumped his shoulders. "I... killed someone?"

16 smiled slightly. "Not really. He's an android just like us. A robot so to speak..."

Ranma relaxed a bit. He looked at 16 and said, "Still.  
anyway... I was just asking why they were screaming at me. Then they blasted me. Look at my favorite shirt! It has a hole in it..."

18 looked at the boy. Aside from the reddish tail, his unruly black hair is held by a pigtail at the back of his head. 18 looked at his face, and saw that he was handsome, his blue-grey eyes are like a storm threatening to engulf her. She felt her cheeks burn a little. She took her gaze from the boy and turned away from him, making sure that the boy wouldn't see her blush. 16 cocked his head at 18, asking, "18,  
your heart rate is rapidly increasing, and your vital signs are erratic.  
Although I know this sounds impossible, but are you sick?"

18 snorted. "Shut up, 16!" she said as she blushed further. She couldn't face this boy Ranma, because he has affected her for some reason. During all this time, the Z Soldiers watching the scene relaxed from their battle stances with a bewildered look on their faces.

"Uhh... did that lady android looked shy or is it just me"  
Krillin asked as he scratched his head in confusion. 18 was holding her cheeks between her hands as she turned away from Ranma, who was talking with 16.

Trunks has a somewhat shocked look on his face. He remembered the lady android as a very cruel individual. He turned to the others,  
saying, "I remember 18... she was with her twin brother when they went on a killing rampage. But this one... she seemed different somehow..."

Vegeta growled loudly. "Don't let them fool you! For all we know, they are in cahoots with that Ranma guy! I say we attack them right now!" he said loudly. He then blasted towards the group, ignoring the shouts of protests the group he left behind were giving.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile... in Ranma's 'homeworld'...

The Tendo's, the Amazons and Genma were having a heated discussion regarding Ranma's disappearance. Ryoga mysteriously got lost while finding the dining room. Happosai is currently incapacitated and tied up at the middle of the dining table, with everyone punching and kicking him occasionally out of annoyance. The whole Nerima Wrecking Crew (patented already) declared a ceasefire with regards to the chaos just to sit down and think about the situation at hand.

"He just disappeared! What could have happened!" Akane was frantic now. Things were kinda looking up in their relationship. She must admit, she did miss the 'baka' that she malleted oh so lovingly everyday.

Shampoo and Ukyo were also in states of distress. Their participation of late in the violent destruction of the wedding fiasco certainly didn't give them in the good side of their reluctant fiance.  
They literally 'thrashed' the whole ceremony, throwing bombs and maces everywhere. This time, they cannot complain, though, for they knew that it was really their fault that things became hectic. Now that Ranma's disappeared, their chance of reconciliation seemed to slimmed down a bit.

Nabiki's face reflected a mask of neutrality. But inside her emotions ran amuck. Her source of income, mainly Ranma-chan's 'pictorials', is gone at the moment. Although she was thankful that the damage to the dojo would be reduced, money would be a problem for her very soon. She was still kinda peeved at her current feelings about her participation in the destruction of the wedding. She 'sold' the invitation to the other girls and also the Kunos. Who knew what they could dish out?

Soun Tendo was as usual, crying his heart out. His constant wails are currently being ignored by the people around him. Likewise,  
Genma has his arm draped around his friend. Both of them are wailing,  
"That ungrateful boy of mine," and "The schools cannot be joined!"

Kasumi's smile also dropped a notch. For her, Ranma is an epithome of chaos and yet, things got exciting because of him. She enjoys having 'unusual and unannounced' guests. She served tea with her ever-present smile, but her eyes reflected a bit of sadness in them.  
Yes, for her, Ranma is a brother that she wished she always had, and she treated him kindly, and Ranma also treated her more like a person than anyone else around her.

Cologne was currently examining the malicious artifact that supposedly sucked Ranma out of this plane. She shook her head, saying,  
"This type of mirror is the defective type of the Nanban Mirror. This might have randomly shifted Ranma into any universes at will."

Shampoo turned to her great grandmother, hope glimmering in her eyes, "Can great grandmother help?"

Everyone in the room abruptly shifted their attentions to the Matriarch. The old crone sighed, saying, "Without the actual Nanban Mirror, there is no way of knowing where this dud deposited him."

Shampoo sighed. "Great grandmother... Nanban Mirror stolen long time ago, yes?"

Cologne's visage darkened. "Yes... it was stolen more than 200 years ago by a traveling martial artist who..." her voice trailed and her gaze fell on the prone figure on top of the table. Everyone wondered briefly why the Matriarch fell silent when they followed her gaze. Their eyes widened in understanding.

In unison, they muttered, "Happosai."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the dimension, or time, where Ranma was dumped...

Vegeta got frustrated when Ranma wove and dodged every punch he threw. Ranma felt great about it though. He also couldn't believe how much power he has gained because of the accident. Granted, it was kinda like cheating, but maybe this is the payment for what the Kamis has brought his life upon.

In Heaven... the Valkyrie that acted as the secretary outside the door of Kami-sama's office jumped in surprise at Kami-sama's loud sneeze.

Back to Ranma and Vegeta's battle, Vegeta was quickly becoming enraged at Ranma's lack of seriousness in the fight. He could actually see the new pigtailed Saiyajin's smirk as he flowed away fron his punches. "Fight seriously you peasant!" Vegeta screamed, throwing another punch which was of course, dodged by the smiling martial artist.  
The androids sat on the rocks in some distance away, watching the battle with little interest.

Gohan saw his father, Goku, smiling broadly. He asked, "Papa,  
what's funny? We should stop them before Ranma-san gets hurt!"

Goku looked at his son and laughed heartily, catching the attention of the rest of the group. He sobered slightly and he said,  
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Gohan. From what I could see,  
Ranma is a really good fighter. As in, REALLY good. The way he dodges those attacks is really awesome!"

Krillin nodded absently, still watching the fight. For what he can see, Vegeta has been trying to tag Ranma, but the latter just sidesteps the attack, as if he could read Vegeta's mind or something.  
But still, Vegeta has yet to transform into a Super Saiyajin. When transformed, the ones with Saiyajin blood become insanely powerful.

Finally, the enraged Vegeta snapped. He stopped abruptly and powered up. Ranma stood back and gaped at the angry Saiyajin. Vegeta's hair stood up more than it normally was and turned into a golden color.  
His eyes glazed over and a flat greenish hue reflected back towards Ranma's own blue-gray ones. Yellow tendrils of energy erupted all over his body, while miniature lightning dances along Vegeta's body. Rocks and pieces of earth floated slowly as the ground under shook under the strain of power. Ranma checked on Vegeta's ki levels. He finally settled to a loose stance; Ranma felt like Vegeta has just turned serious about the fight.

The other Z Soldiers tried to dash towards the fight to break it up, but Goku stopped them with a wave of his arms. "Don't interfere with them..." Goku said, as his face turned serious.

Vegeta smirked. He just learned how to power up like this a short while ago, and he felt good about it. Granted, it was that blasted Kakaroto that achieved Super Saiyajin Mode first, he still took pride at his achievement. He felt his power gush forth his body. He slowly took his battle stance and lunged once again at Ranma.

The baffled boy was too surprised and distracted to see Vegeta's fist move towards him. The punch hit Ranma's face with a crunch, sending him flying to a rock face nearby. A loud boom followed as Ranma's body imbedded itself at the miniature mountain, instantly annihilating it.  
Vegeta laughed out loud as he watched the small mountain collapse into itself, burying the annoying boy he was fighting before. Just as he was about to gloat his victory to the group, the rock pile suddenly shuddered and exploded upwards, sending a shower of debris all over the place. Vegeta turned his concentration towards the center of the dust.  
As the swirls of fog lifted, he saw Ranma, with his fist up in the air.  
Ranma looked at his clothes and dusted himself off.

Ranma absently rubbed his cheek. For a while there, he thought that it was really powerful. But for some reason, he didn't feel much of the pain of the punch at all, considering the power level Vegeta is in right now, Ranma knew that if Ryoga were to receive that punch, his face would be ripped off by the sheer force it should've inflicted. Ranma frowned, feeling a bit disappointed at that. He was wondering why he didn't feel that. Seeing the mountain destroyed around him, he knew that the power of that punch would be powerful. But for some weird reason, he just didn't feel it much. Ranma saw Vegeta's face having a kinda surprised and angry note in it. He sighed to himself. This is going to be a long day.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Heaven...

Urd gawked at the screen. "Whoa!" she gasped out loud, "I can't believe the Chaos Factor this guy has in him! I mean... everything in his life is chaos! So this is what a future God of Chaos is going to experience before ascension?"

Belldandy sighed. "Yes... but imagine how hard his life was.  
Poor Ranma..."

Meanwhile, Skuld was paying attention on another screen. She turned to her sisters, saying, "Uhmm... oneechan... take a look here. I found Ranma." Immediately after that statement, the other two goddesses moved over to Skuld's screen. They stared wide-eyed as they saw Ranma,  
with tail and all, battle it out with a guy with a really weird hairdo.

"Hey... that's the Saiyajin Vegeta! What's Ranma doing in there?" Urd asked in exhasperation.

Skuld turned to another console and typed in some commands. "It says here that he was sent there by an 4th class summoning artifact. It seems he was flung to some weird future..."

Urd rubbed her chin. "Isn't that place where the 1st class Wish Granting Dragonballs are located?"

Skuld nodded. "Yup..."

"We cannot do anything about this, can we?" Belldandy asked.

Skuld hung her head in defeat. "No... it is his Destiny."

Urd sat back to her chair, her arms crossed over her head. "Then all we can do now is watch..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"I still can't believe you could pick up flying that quickly"  
Goku said excitedly as he flew beside their new friend. Earlier, Ranma knocked out Vegeta with the Tenshin Amaguri-Ken speed punching technique. Because of his speed and power increase, he outclassed the 'prince of Saiyajins' quite easily. After a Senzo bean power-up, an irritated Vegeta follows behind the group, grumbling about wiseguys and tremendous luck. Obviously, he is a sore loser.

"Well, it was easy when I understood where you let the ki flow out of your body..." Ranma smiled, slightly embarassed and fidgeting his pigtail.

After some immediate discussion and a formal challenge from Android 16, Goku easily accepted the two remaining androids and invited them to his Master Roshi's home. While in the skies, Krillin's gaze would often linger on Android 18, while the said Android's gaze is fixated on the reluctant visitor's well-toned body. 18 knew that the pigtailed boy is a Saiyajin, but unlike most of the race, Ranma's body didn't get the muscle builder's body like all Saiyajins have. Instead, a compact, and chiseled muscle is evident. Ranma's hair is still flat,  
unlike the Saiyajins who have spiked hairstyles. She finally noticed that her gaze was getting longer than it should have been. She quickly jerked her head to face front and blushed. At some point of the trip,  
the rest of the 'human' side of the group started to break off, saying that they needed to take care of some things. Goku, Gohan, Trunks,  
Vegeta and Piccolo were left with Ranma and the two remaining androids.  
They head for the Kami Island.

Master Roshi felt this huge aura from the arriving group's direction. He first thought it was Son Goku, but then this aura is an inhibited one. He wiped the dust from his sunglasses and stood up,  
heading towards the window. Up in the horizon, he felt five familiar auras ((Hmm... that would be Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo too, and the future Trunks...)) he thought, then he frowned, sensing one other aura that has been bothering him for hours now. He finally saw them at the horizon, speeding towards his home. After a few seconds, the five familiar people have landed at the beach, followed by a slower flying boy with a tail and two other people he didn't recognize. ((One is a girl, though!))

Goku swept his arm in a wide arc. "Well, here we are!" he announced cheerfully. Ranma nodded with a slight smile on his face. He was actually kinda nervous, seeing water all around him which he felt is intending to drench him anytime soon. His curse has been a water magnet for a long time now, and since then he felt really sure that luck was never on his side. Gohan and Krillin immediately ran up to the door to be greeted by Master Roshi himself. Vegeta still has this huge scowl on his face, still sore about losing to the 'kid'. Piccolo stood a little ways behind Goku, maintaining a neutral face most of the time. Inside the Namek's mind, though, he was trying to ascertain who this boy is and why he is here. 16 leaned on a palm tree and watched watch 18 with great interest, noting as to why his fellow android is fidgeting so much with herself. He also caught her stealing glimpses of the red-tailed Saiyajin that they had just accompanied. 18 straightened her blouse with one hand as she ruffled her hair with another. She thinks that seawater air makes her hair feel limp and damp.

As Goku introduced the visitors, Master Roshi was kinda surprised that the androids Trunks have come for turned out to be quite friendlier than what he described in his stories about the world he came from. Krillin mentioned that the Saiyajin boy, Ranma, had the big part in talking to them. He felt that the appearance of the boy had a great impact in everything. He found it odd to find a Saiyajin with red tail though, because all the Saiyajins he met have brown tail. In hushed tones, Krillin mentioned that Ranma literally whipped Vegeta's butt. He was kinda surprised about it, but he didn't doubt it. He noticed how knowledgeable the boy was in terms of the Art. Nothing could be more dangerous than a Saiyajin who knows how to fight properly. Most Saiyajins just use brute force and strength in their fights, expending excessive amounts of ki. Granted that Saiyajins have inhuman ki levels,  
it is still exhaustible at a point. He smirked at the thought of watching Ranma kick Vegeta all over the area. ((That should bring Vegeta down a peg or two.))

Ranma fidgeted nervously among the gazes of the people around him. He bowed his head, saying, "I'm Saotome Ranma, Heir to the School of Anything Goes of Martial Arts..."

Master Roshi perked up in this. "Anything Goes? I don't think I have heard of that school..."

Ranma smiled. "I'm not surprised. It ain't really that popular coz only three people in my world practice it."

The others except Vegeta nodded in understanding. The 'prince'  
just snorted in disgust loudly. Everyone turned to him when he asked,  
"What a stupid name! Martial Arts? What the hell is that!"

The pigtailed Saiyajin smirked. "That's the style of fighting I used to beat the crap outta ya." The others snickered at Ranma's response. It was really fun for them to see Vegeta get riled up and can't find a suitable response. Vegeta just glared at him as Ranma relaxed at the sofa. After while, a loud whirring noise from outside caught their attention. Peering trough the window, the group sees a VTOL-type plane with a huge body and label on the side in capital letters: CAPSULE CORP, land on the beach side. Out of the plane came a woman with blue hair, cut to the shoulder, with a baby hugged to her chest. On the other side, a woman with black hair, tied up in a tight bun also came out. The woman with blue hair turned to the plane, and the plane disappears in a puff of smoke, turning into a capsule-like thingie that she casually picked up on the ground. Ranma was actually kinda surprised and curious as to how a big thing vanish into a puff of smoke like that, but after contemplating a bit he just kept silent. The woman pocketed the thing and together with her companion proceeded inside.

"Son Goku! Son Gohan!" the woman with black hair called out to them, "Gohan should be at home studying right now, what do you two have to say for yourselves?"

Poor Goku chuckled nervously as his son Gohan hid behind his father. They look like deers caught in the spotlight. "We're just working out a bit, Chi-Chi. We were about to go home..." Goku explained.

"..." was all Chi-Chi has to say, still glaring at her husband and her son.

The blue haired woman's eyes went to the irritated Vegeta.  
"There you are!" the woman commented, "What are you doing here?"

Vegeta grumbled, "None of your business, onna!"

"Don't give me that! We were worried about you!" she snapped back at him.

Trunks stepped forward, saying, "Hi mom..."

Bulma's annoyed look quickly turned to a smile when she heard Trunks. "Hi Trunks!"

Krillin saw Ranma's weird look. He whispered to the pigtailed boy, "That's Bulma, Vegeta's wife. As for the other, that's Chi-Chi,  
Goku's wife. Saiyajins may be strong, but when it comes to their wives..." Ranma snickered as he held in his laughter.

Bulma looked at Vegeta closely. She saw abrasions and cuts all over his body and his face. A tiny grin formed from her lips. "Well.  
who beat you up?"

Krillin couldn't hold it anymore as he laughed out loud,  
clutching at his sides. It was followed by Goku, with his son smiling widely. Vegeta just growled loudly and turned sharply towards the door,  
going outside. Giving Ranma a parting glare, he floated up the sky and flew quickly towards somewhere. Bulma finally noticed the two androids and the pigtailed boy. She saw that the boy was still young, younger than the future Trunks. But what she really noticed was red tail. Bulma glanced at Trunks, asking, "Who's he? Another Saiyajin?"

Ranma chose this moment to sigh, saying, "Not really... I was human before I came to this world..."

Bulma was skeptical. "Human? Aside from the tail color, that tail really belonged to the Saiyajin race."

"I was minding my own business back home when an accident happened. Somehow I got sucked into this world by an artifact. I appeared inside a lab somewhere. A doctor or somethin' was experimenting when I popped into this world and fell into his lab, and electricity hit me. I got blasted for askin' some questions. I got mad, well..." Ranma paused, blushing from embarrassment at the memory, "I kinda destroyed the lab when I didn't realize how powerful my ki blast is. Then Goku and the others came, Vegeta attacked me somewhat pissed. Of course I have to defend myself from his attacks..." Ranma frowned slightly.

Chi-Chi turned to Goku, "So he's a Saiyajin now like you?"

Goku shrugged. "I guess... but his tail is different..."

Ranma looked at his tail. "What's with the tail color anyways?  
Is there somethin' wrong with red?" he asked while watching his tail move.

"Goku, Vegeta and Gohan have, I mean had, brown tail. Yours is red..." Krillin stated.

Ranma smacked his forehead with his palm. "Oh great! Another problem... I wonder what that doctor did to me?"

Bulma sighed. "Well if you want, I will try to determine how that happened. I have lab equipment at home, so what do you say about that?"

Ranma looked up at the ceiling. He was contemplating on whether to tell them about his curse or not. His decision was made when a pig walking on its hind legs came with a tray of iced tea. As luck would have had it, the pig tripped, sending the tray flying. A glass landed on top of Ranma's head, instantly transforming him to his female side. His black hair shifted to red, his chest pointed out and his well endowed breasts are formed, his hips shifted and his height diminished. Ranma sighed loudly as she looked at herself, with her tail fluttering wildly behind her. The room fell silent instantly for a long time. The androids blinked as a reaction. Master Roshi and Krillin had a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth though.

Onna-Ranma scratched behind her head, eyeing the shocked audience, and said, "I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry 'bout this..."

After that announcement, everyone finally recovered, then barraged Onna-Ranma with questions. Onna-Ranma held up his hand in exhasperation and quieted the crowd down. She finally said, "When I was with my pop in a training trip, we went to this supposed to be ancient training ground in China called Jusenkyo, or Spring of Sorrows to be exact. There were hundreds of springs there, all have different curses.  
The guide tried to warn us off about the dangers, but pop was really askin' for it, goading me to fight him as he jumped unto the bamboo pole. Well, I got lucky and bashed him into a spring. When he came out,  
he became a panda. I was so surprised that I didn't see the panda attack me. It hit me into another spring, then I came out as a girl. The thing about the springs is that you will turn into whatever drowned there. Pop fell into the Spring of Drowned Panda. As for me, well as you can see I fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl. From that day on, whenever cold water splashes me, I turn to a girl, but with hot water, I could turn back to a boy."

Everybody was silent for a few moments, digesting the information. They didn't notice Onna-Ranma as she took off to the kitchen to heat up a kettle of water for herself. After a few moments,  
she poured the steaming water over her head, a moment of tingling sensation was felt all over her body as the transformation took place.  
He shook the excess water from himself and went back to the living room,  
with the group still unmoving.

Goku smiled a bit, saying, "It isn't much trouble at all!"

Chi-Chi wacked his husband on his head. She then turned to Ranma, saying, "No offense, Ranma, but your dad's an idiot."

Krillin nodded. "I won't argue with that one. Though I may add 'stupid' to the list..."

Ranma nodded grimly. "I agree with all of ya in that. Pop's an idiot."

Master Roshi wiped the blood from his nose. "I think he's quite lucky to have that curse. A female body whenever you need--URK!" his comment was cut off when he bashed through the door. Ranma whapped the perverted master on the back of the head, but miscalculated in the intensity of the tap. He just hoped that Master Roshi would survive that one, and he has this sinking feeling that the old man was reminding him of a certain perverted gnome back in his homeworld.

Bulma finally said, "That's amazing! I mean... where does the excess mass go? I really should examine you!"

Ranma gulped nervously, looking at Bulma's sparkling eyes.  
Chi-Chi was a little saddened at his fate though, thinking how hard it was for him to live with such a curse. Goku and Gohan just shrugged, for they have seen too many weird things already in their lifetime. Piccolo also already saw a lot of weird things in his life, but it was amazing for him how effective the curse is. Krillin had weird thoughts in his mind, while Master Roshi's nose bled as he thought of hentai thoughts.  
The pervert is still reeling from the blow, but that didn't stop him from his thoughts. The androids blinked again as they saved the information in their minds. 18 was kind of jealous, because the girl form of Ranma was 'blessed' in assets more than her. She glanced at her chest for a moment before she turned her gaze back to Ranma, who was now a boy again. After a few moments of convincing, Bulma finally made Ranma agree to be examined, and perhaps to be cured of his curse. Bulma was also curious at the 'accident' that Ranma had mentioned when he first arrived.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Happosai is feeling pretty nervous. After he woke up and found himself tied up at the center of the dining table, he also found several pairs of eyes boring into him. Before he could ask what was going on the crowd launched themselves to him, demanding that he give up a certain Nanban Mirror. He panicked and fled from the group, hiding himself among the trees at the park. He reached into secret pocket in his dark gi,  
producing the mirror. He then had it disappear into the pocket dimension, a trick he learned while he 'ravaged' the village of the Amazons. That was where he also got the Nanban Mirror in the first place.

While the perverted old man contemplated on his next move high above that tree, the rest of the Nerimanians tore through the town,  
searching for the artifact that could probably bring the dimensionally lost boy.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Powerful as he may have become, the pigailed Saiyajin Ranma sweated furiously as he looked upon his surroundings. He woke up to find himself strapped unto a lab table, with tools and other wicked looking instruments sticking out here and there of the lab. Hours ago, Bulma Briefs, wife of Vegeta, took him into her lab to be tested. He was accompanied by his new found friends, as well as the silent androids.  
They left him in Bulma's hands. Right now, Bulma is testing the blood sample that he gave rather willingly while he slept off the sedative.  
Finally after minutes of waiting, Bulma sat up, with a glazed look on her face.

"Uhmm... Bulma-san... what's the matter?" Ranma asked with a tinge of fear. The look Bulma gave out to him would mean two things,  
either he is dying or he is really interesting and may be used for other experiments as well. He gulped loudly as time passed by, with Bulma still gazing at him without saying a word.

Finally, Bulma snapped out of her stupor. She grinned at Ranma,  
saying, "Problem? No that's not the case here.Did you know that you already had Saiyajin DNA in you? You also told me before that you also heal fast because of training right? That shock of lightning might've unlocked your Saiyajin DNA structure. Before this, the DNA is locked away by some force, that I do not know. Because of your healing ability,  
when the lock was removed the DNA reconstruction of the Saiyajin blood jump started immediately. But in any case, it's alright now..." She looked at Ranma again and saw that this time, Ranma's eyes glazed over,  
with a bit of drool on the corner of his mouth. He didn't understand a thing. Seeing the blank look on Ranma's face, Bulma sighed, saying,  
"What I mean is, you're all right. There's no problem in all of this,  
but the only probable thing to think about is that you were born with Saiyajin blood in you."

Ranma was shocked a bit. He didn't know how to think of this.  
Now, aside from his feminine curse, he is now part alien.

Bulma sighed once again. She opted to continue, "Did you know that you were never full human in the first place, Ranma? Even before the awakened Saiyajin blood, you weren't human at all."

"WHAT!" Ranma sputtered out. "Waddya mean by that!" he screamed as the restraints snapped at his sudden movement.

Bulma saw the pained, confused and angry Ranma as he rose from the table. She stammered out, "B-but... y-your blood says that Saiyajin blood isn't the only alien DNA you h-have!"

Ranma stopped himself, collecting his thoughts. Right now, his mind is in a whirlwind of emotions that threatened his sanity. After breathing deeply, he finally felt his blood calm down. His hard eyes turned soft as he looked at Bulma. "Could ya explain it to me?" he asked, a bit of pleading in the voice he used.

Bulma nodded quickly, pointing to the screen in front of them.  
"See this? This red colored strain part is Saiyajin DNA. This blue colored one, is a strange strand of Juraian DNA. This white colored strain part is currently unclassified..."

Ranma nodded at her explanation. In front of him was a sample of his DNA helix. It was divided into 3 colors, making the whole set-up.  
"When did I get this Juraian DNA thingie? And what's a Juraian? And whaddya mean 'strange'?"

Bulma sighed softly. "As for the 'when' question, well, as I was saying before, it was inborn in you. I could tell because it has no symptoms of any type of manipulation. It's also a natural part of your strain. The Saiyajin blood is currrently being reconfigured into your strain in a very fast pace because it was recently unlocked. I had to be REALLY quick in trying to gather information about the Saiyajin genetic material before it fully unravels with your current DNA. I guess your healing abilities are really inhuman then." She saw Ranma smile a bit at her praise. "As for the 'what', Juraians are powerful aliens with a large governing power throughout the universe. This is the only goverment that Freeza cannot win against," Seeing the questioning look Ranma gave her, she explained, "Freeza is a dictator out to destroy worlds, and Son Goku managed to defeat him recently. He is gone now.  
well back to the subject. When it comes to physical power, Saiyajins are unparalleled in that category. They live most of their lives fighting,  
and their powers just amazes me. Juraians however, they are legendary for their energy. They fight giving off tremendous amounts of energy.  
Saiyajins could also generate huge, huge amounts of energy, but Juraians could easily beat them in it. You, have inherited Juraian DNA. It means you were half Juraian at birth. Maybe your mother or father is a Juraian. The same thing goes with your Saiyajin blood. One of your parents is a Saiyajin. Although, your Juraian DNA is a bit weird,  
meaning, it's not a normal strand of Jurai. But it is still basically Juraian."

"So many damn secrets! What's the unclassified one?" Ranma asked in irritation.

Bulma shrugged. "As far as my records show, that part is clearly unclassified. Meaning, there are no records whatsoever of what that part of your DNA is. It means that you were Juraian and another specie before the Saiyajiin blood reawakened. Scratch that, you always had these, but the Saiyajin power was locked. Maybe magic, I'm not really sure. That isn't my forte. Ask Piccolo about it, coz he's the one who knows a lot about magic."

Ranma sat back down the table. "Well, maybe that's why I was a bit stronger than most people..."

Bulma nodded. "That's right. Not only do you have near infinite energy, but also the greatest power to boot! You should feel lucky you know..."

"My luck's a lil' bit off to the side. I just know that this sudden good luck has a downside into it."

Bulma snorted. "Reeaaallyyy... don't think about it too much."

Ranma smirked. "Thinking is not my best forte..."

"By the way Ranma, your blood's immune system is really a spectacle. The power in your Jurai descent was sealed before. Meaning,  
it wasn't supposed to be awakened at this early time. But with the now reawakened Saiyajin blood, your Juraian blood seemed to have awaken also. I am not sure of the implications, but maybe you could try it yourself. Though I am sure of one thing, Juraian blood have an age longetivity."

Ranma's face twisted in confusion. "Longe-what!"

Bulma sighed. "Age longetivity, meaning, Juraians have a natural long lifespans, most lasting for hundreds and thousands of years. That is for a normal Juraian. But you on the other hand... Saiyajin blood also has its own age longetivity, but with the added immune system enhancement... the Saiyajins' natural quick molecular healing capabilities and your own natural inhumanely quick healing..."

"Get to the point already!"

"Okay okay! Right now, I have no idea if you are going to age,  
EVER!"

Ranma's shock is clearly printed at his face right now. He wanted to say something, but he can't find his voice. Although long life sounds appealing, the new information he heard may have different wordings but, it all is summarized to one word: immortality. He may be nearly immortal right now. While it sounds cool and all, when he gets bored, what will he do then? The shock on his face slowly turned to anguish as he thought of the implications this would entail.

The female inventor is feeling helpless. She knew that having the possibility of living practically forever is a very tiring journey.  
She slowly lifted her hand to Ranma's shoulder, patting it gently. Ranma looked up to her and flashed a small smile. A smile that means, 'I will get over this slump soon.'

Ranma is touched by Bulma's sympathetic gaze. Although he knew he is going to have problems in the future, he will face them like he faced countless problems before. His current predicament has a weird way of reminding him of Saffron. He was cut off his musings when he felt a part of his back twitch. He looked at his back and saw his tail swish back and forth his back. It felt really weird, but it is also fascinating. He looked at Bulma again, asking, "By the way, can ya do something about the tail?"

Bulma shook her head. "As for the tail, it is really weird. Not only that it has red color, but apparently, it is really resilient to damage. I tried cutting it with laser, but the laser just bounced right off it. It didn't even leave a scorch mark!"

Ranma winced involuntarily. "Well, not that I'm complaining or anythin' but how do I deal with it?"

Bulma looked thoughtful for a while. She tapped her chin with her index finger. After a while, she nodded and said, "Well if I remember it right, Vegeta used to put his tail around his waist, sort of like a belt or something."

Ranma looked at his red tail and 'willed' it to wrap itself around his waist. As if automatically, the tail wrapped itself around his waist, fitting rather snugly. Ranma whistled. "Kewl... no need to worry 'bout my pants falling off anytime soon, ne?" Bulma chuckled at Ranma's joke. Soon afterwards, Ranma joined in her chuckling. Their silent laughter was interrupted when a beeping sound was heard. Bulma hurried to another panel, followed by Ranma.

Her eyes widened and looked at Ranma again. "You're THE Ranma Saotome? From Nerima!"

Ranma scratched the back of his head, smiling meekly. "Ahh.  
yep. What of it?"

"Lots of legends that has been spread are about a certain pigtailed martial artist who defeated a god! I can't believe you're him!"

Ranma asked, "Legend? What the heck are ya talkin' about!"

"Approximately four hundred years ago, a martial artist fought a godling named Saffron, dubbed 'The Phoenix God', and defeated him using only martial arts skill." Bulma eyed him as she said this. She couldn't believe that the legends would actually be true.

Ranma blanched. "F-four hundred y-years! I'm flung into the far future!"

Bulma nodded excitedly. "Yup. According to some reports in the files salvaged after Magi was dismantled, you disappeared and vanished without a trace."

"Magi? What's that?"

Bulma showed Ranma a picture in the console. "The Magi is a very intelligent computer system, also it was used to inadvertly deter the world's end. I can't go into specifics because most of the files concerning WHY the Magi was built were either corrupted beyond repair or were completely destroyed, but I can say that it kept most of the personal records of all people around the world during that time. It is really ancient, but most of the computers used today are solely based on that one."

Ranma sighed. "Well, what's in the file?"

Bulma looked back to her console again, reading, "Missing Person Data of Saotome Ranma. Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts, defeated several 'gods', part of the 'Nerima Wrecking Crew'. Fiance to Tendo Akane. Disappeared shortly by means unknown. Rumors say that it was caused by a teleportation artifact. Fact remains that he is still not found."

"Oh... can you tell me what happened to Akane Tendo? If I sorta disappeared... well..." Ranma trailed off, sweating a bit as he was trying to sound casual and uncaring.

Bulma smiled at the boy. She turned to the keyboard, typing away. "Akane Tendo... ah! Here we are! Let's see... oh my. It's not as good as I was hoping it would be..."

Ranma became slightly confused at her remark. Then he felt really nervous, his pathetic unemotional mask shattered completely as he quickly gazed upon the file. His eyes widened like saucers as he read out loud, "Autopsy of Tendo Akane. Accidentally got caught in the middle of a large explosion. Details of the investigation proved that the culprit is one known as Hibiki Ryoga, in a fight against Happosai,  
current Grandmaster of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Received third degree burns and massive internal bleeding injuries. She died after five days of being confined in Nerima Hospital, under the care of Doctor Tofu Ono."

Bulma felt the temperature of the room suddenly drop. She looked at Ranma, who has this totally expressionless face. She shuddered when she saw tears streak down his cheek. She heard him muttering, "My fault... all my fault..." She saw him sit down slowly and hugged his legs to his chest, his face place on his knees. Her heart went out to him, but she doesn't know what to say to make him feel better. Knowing a loss of a loved one is too much for anyone to bear, even to the most powerful beings in the universe. It proves that they are still living beings, with feelings to boot. She snapped back from her musings when Ranma asks about the other people he cared. One by one, she searched them all, but each one with their own tragic story to tell. Kuonji Ukyo,  
Ranma's best friend, died when she took her life after losing all hope in getting him back. Shampoo was hunted down and killed by her fellow Amazons, because of her failed 'Husband Expedition' mission. Tendo Kasumi, oldest daughter in the Tendo family, died when her grief over Ranma's loss was coupled by Akane's death. Tendo Nabiki, second daughter in the Tendo family, moved out of their home, died at the age of seventy-two, still single and lonely despite the wealth she amassed.

After shedding silent tears, Ranma finally built up his resolve.  
He slowly stood out and let out a long, sad sigh. He looked at Bulma,  
with new found determination on his face. "I need to go back." he said.  
It was a statement.

Bulma nodded, feeling her inventor's blood churn with new intensity. "I will try my new concepts of a time machine. I already drew the specifications, but I still have to build it. It will take some time though... it might take me several months at most..."

Ranma's smirk appeared, then he laughed out loud. "I have all the time in the world!"

Bulma smiled. She feels her heart lighten tremendously, when she saw this boy's hearty laughter. For some reason, those laughing blue-gray eyes of his are a welcome sight to her. She sobered up,  
saying, "Ranma-kun... some really powerful people locked your abilities up. I don't know the real catalyst of the release of the lock. It may have been the shock, or the dimensional travel itself. Or maybe when your Saiyajin blood awakened, your Juraian blood compensated. Also,  
Saiyajin tails regrow when a huge shock is introduced to them. So many possibilities..."

Ranma snickered. "Confusing isn't it?"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It was already a week after Ranma's disappearance. Each of the people who wanted Ranma back is losing their hope. Happosai is very cunning in hiding, even Cologne is having quite a hard time following Happosai's vanishing aura.

Akane sat alone in the park, pushing herself up on a swing. It was long dark of night, and everything was silent. She sat there,  
contemplating on what to do next. For some reason, she feels quite angry at Ranma for angering Happosai in the first place. Eventhough she knows he could hold his own against the perverted freak, he couldn't defend himself against the artifacts the old gnome stole. Now, Ranma is once again caught in one of them. And she feels quite angry because of it.  
Months of training to control her temper slowly wisped away from her mind as her body was slowly covered in a red aura. She then stood up,  
clenching her fist. She screamed the words she felt that she hadn't screamed for a long time. "Ranma... YOU JERK!"

"Akane..." a voice from behind her surprised Akane. She turned sharply to the source of the voice. The spotted yellow bandana with the matching yellowish tunic is recognizable everywhere.

"Ryoga..." Akane whispered as her eyes slowly filled up with tears. Her head instinctively burrowed itself into Ryoga's tunic. The lost boy looked at Akane, with a sad smile on his face.

"Akane..." Ryoga repeated, absently stroking Akane's hair, "What will you do if... he doesn't get back?"

That statement only made Akane cry harder. She tightened her embrace on Ryoga. She sniffed and replied, "I-I... don't k-know... I guess I s-should move on... and find another..." She slowly quieted down, feeling Ryoga's hand caressing her hair.

Ryoga nodded. "If you need me, I will always be here for you,  
Akane."

Akane slowly nodded, facing Ryoga in the process. They stayed in each others arms for a long time.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Time went by quickly for Ranma. He was really enjoying himself at this place. He was sparring with the best warriors in the universe.  
Vegeta still is angry at the martial artist, and occasionally challenged him. Vegeta always ends up in the regeneration tank after a few minutes.  
Goku is a different story though. The always smiling Saiyajin has a way of picking up things quickly, just like Ranma does. Goku really is powerful, especially in his Super Saiyajin type 3 mode. Although the long hair is a surprise, Ranma found Goku's strength in this form quite formidable. Goku taught him how to accumulate his energies and transform like the rest of the Saiyajins, but he has yet to test it out and Ranma usually chose to spar in his normal form. He also had Bulma forge him two bracers of condensed depleted Uranium, each carrying an initial load of 3,000 pounds, which he planned to have it reweighted soon after he gets used to it. For a few minutes, he had some trouble with the weight,  
but got over it after his body quickly compensated. Another one of his favorite places is the Gravity Room. He still laughs as he remembers the first time they had him test it out.

-Start Flashback-

Ranma stood expectantly in the middle of a white circular room.  
Various mechanical devices are lacking as he inspected his surroundings.  
Suddenly, a loud voice booms from the speakers that were placed discreetly along the upper ridges of the room.

"Ranma!" Bulma's voice echoed inside the Gravity Room, "I will turn the gravity up to 200 G's if it's okay with you?"

Ranma nodded quickly. Although he didn't understand much of it,  
he just wanted to get on with this. Suddenly, the floor he is standing on glowed a bit of red, then it is white again. He looked at the window questioningly, flexing his arms and jumping up and down as a test.

Outside the room, Goku snickered as he saw Ranma take on the gravity displacement like a fish learning to swim in water. Vegeta snorted angrily, muttering about 'show-offs' and other incoherent ramblings. He quickly pushed Bulma aside and pushed up the level of gravity strain inside the room. Everyone's eyes widened when they say the gravity go up from 200 to 900 G's instantly. Vegeta smirked, hoping to find a flattened pigtailed Saiyajin inside the room. He noticed everyone fell silent, so he turned to look at them. Vegeta saw the widened eyes everyone has as they looked inside the window. Vegeta quickly moved towards the window and his jaw fell down to the ground.

There was a black blur flowing across the room, almost invisible even to the Saiyajins' eyes. The blur suddenly stops in the middle,  
exposing Ranma as he slowed down his katas, the fluidity in his movements never lost in the quick transition. A few minutes later he stopped, bringing his hands to his sides, and breathed slowly. He turned to the window, asking, "How long do I hafta wait for the gravity thingie!" Everyone facefaulted.

Bulma stood up shakily and took the mic. "Are you crazy! You are standing inside a room with a gravity strain of 900 times the normal force of Earth's gravity! And you say you don't feel anything! You should be blubber by now!"

Ranma crossed his arms across his chest, saying, "Waddya mean? I am still standing ain't I?" Just then, a bead of sweat from his temple produced during his kata fell down to the floor with an audible thud,  
creating a miniature crater. Ranma knelt down and looked at it thoughtfully. He continued, "Wow... that is one heavy sweat."

-End Flashback-

Ranma chuckled at the thought. His danger sense flared up momentarily as he instinctively dodged a hard right from his sparring partner. He mentally chided himself for losing concentration in the spar. With his concentration once again focused, he flared up his aura to retaliate against Goku.

More time passes by in this world, and Ranma grew accustomed to the weird gadgetry around him. He loves flying across the sky while he rests from his training. While on sparring sessions with Goku, Ranma is treated to constant threats from Vegeta. Vegeta eventually mellowed down in his anger as a month passed. He was really starting to enjoy the 'RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!' routine that he unwittingly adapted from some pig-boy. Ranma's ever-present cocky grin still annoyed Vegeta, but having such a fighting partner really improved his speed and strength.  
Eventually, he is starting to change his fighting style, concentrating more on skill than power this time. Though he is still yet to land a hit on Ranma, he feels exhilirated. Ranma suddenly feels nostalgic about it,  
remembering his hectic life back in his time. He now knew that this is a future reference from the timeline he was in before everything happened.  
Bulma is still buried in her work, and it fascinates him how she tends to be overexertive in her work. She only goes out of the working room for meals and if she needed something other than what is cluttered inside that workroom of hers. While Bulma is busy, Chi-Chi stays in the inventor's house, temporarily taking the mantle of being the 'mother' of the house. She took care of chibi-Trunks.

Speaking of Trunks, the future version of Trunks also spars with Ranma. Sometimes, he and Goku team up to finally tag Ranma. Like most days, Trunks lost quickly, while Goku manages to stand up for a longer bit. Ranma spends some of his time teaching Trunks how to correctly control his ki. Since the martial artist's instructions, Trunks usually boosts his aura through emotions. Ranma taught him different techniques,  
and eventually the basic forms of the Anything Goes Martial Arts school.  
Trunks was reluctant at first, but after a half second later, he groaned as he accepted Ranma's lessons. The duo formed a strong friendship in the middle of battle, and Ranma forbade Trunks to call him 'sensei'  
(mainly because Trunks is older than him).

Chi-Chi also took the protesting pigtailed Saiyajin under her tutelage. As he was being dragged away, everbody including Vegeta shuddered and winced at him in sympathy. What was it? Chi-Chi said something about him learning Advanced Calculus. From the looks Gohan gave as he too was dragged with Ranma, the pigtailed boy sweated nervously. This is not gonna be good.

Ranma learned a lot from Chi-Chi, despite being a little reluctant. Math, Science, History and some different Languages are taught to him. Most days, his brain becomes fried with the overload of information being crammed inside it, but nevertheless after a few days,  
his mind compensated. Ranma later found out that he could take in his lessons as easily as learning new techniques.

Goku was surprised when he showed Ranma the Kamehame Ha. At first, the pigtailed boy was confused by it, but then after thinking for a bit, he brought out Goku's trademark ki blast from his hands. Goku also showed Ranma the Instant Transmission Technique, and after a few explanations on how to locate the auras (which Ranma already knows how to do pretty well) he was teleporting like crazy all around the world.  
Ranma absorbed techniques like a sponge. Ranma also taught Goku some basic Anything Goes, telling him that their ability to fly will be a great asset. Anything Goes is basically dominant in air battles. After two months of heavy training, Ranma's bracers now weighed 5000 pounds each.

Then 'HE' came.

Ranma and Trunks were flying up in the sky when they saw discarded people's clothes lying on the ground below. Curious, the two Saiyajins landed, taking a look around. Clothes, ranging from adult sizes to even kid sizes fluttered against the wind. Shaking, Trunks growled, "This is the work of Cell..."

Ranma turned to Trunks, scowling, "Who is this 'Cell'?"

Trunks slumped his shoulders. "He is a really powerful android created by Dr. Gero. He is much more powerful than the rest of his creations. But that is impossible! You destroyed the lab, only 16 and 18 came out of it right?"

Ranma nodded. "Well, let's look around for clues."

As they looked around, they found more of the discarded clothing. Ranma felt angrier and angrier as he saw how many children 'disappeared'. Their search ended in a light forest where they found a spaceship of some sort. After removing some of the grime and dust surrounding the vehicle, Trunks gasped as he saw the sign.

"That's..." Trunks couldn't believe it. The sign says, 'Capsule Corps.' and it means that it came from his mother's company.

Ranma saw the distressed look in Trunks' face. He patted Trunks'  
shoulder, making the purple haired boy to look at him. Trunks sighed,  
saying, "Well... this is my time machine. How Cell found it, I have no idea but I could suspect that he found it in my timeline."

Ranma nodded. "Well, let's look for the bastard and kick his ass then." Just as they were about to go, they spied upon a huge insect-like carapace that was discarded carelessly. They looked at each other and nodded, then started to fly out of the area.

Piccolo finally found the power spike that he felt while he was training in Kami's Hideaway. Around him, a similar scene of clothes scattered about can be seen. Destruction of buildings were everywhere,  
and there are no signs of life. A blur of green caught Piccolo's eye. He turned and blasted a nearby rubble with an energy blast.

A huge green insectoid with a long tail dusted itself up as he turned to look at Piccolo. It grinned, saying, "My, my... what do we have here? The Namek is here..."

Piccolo growled. "What the hell did you do to these people!"

The insectoid shrugged. "I needed some energy, and these people are not enough to even fill me to half. It's a pity... I will need more..."

Piccolo got into a ready stance. He barked, "Just who are you!"

The insectoid cackled with glee. "I am Cell, the most powerful creation of Dr. Gero!"

Piccolo snorted. "Well, in that case, I am the one to destroy you!"

The battle between the two greens started.

Ranma and Trunks perked up when they felt a familiar power spike across the horizon. "Piccolo..." they said simultaneously. They sped up towards the direction of the battle.

Piccolo glared at Cell, clutching his arm. Cell somehow managed to break into his defense and broke his arm. Pain wracked the Namek's body as he kept away from the android, buying some time for his arm to heal.

"It's amazing how our body heals..." Cell said thoughtfully.

Piccolo was aghast. "W-what do you mean!"

Cell pointed at his own rapidly healing cuts. "With your DNA, my body could heal faster. I also have Goku, Vegeta and the other fighters'  
DNA infused in my own. That is why I am your superior."

Piccolo felt drained. He didn't really believe that Gero would be crazy enough to create such a monster. But he didn't have time to think it over, because Cell started moving again. A punch to his face reminded Piccolo that he was still in the middle of a fight, a one sided fight to be exact. Piccolo just crossed his arms across his face,  
attempting to block Cell's lightning fast punches, at the same time dodging that weird tail of his. He felt his arms tire out easily, as he felt his broken arm being mangled up. He let his guard down for a moment, but that was all that is needed for Cell to kick him squarely on the chin, causing him to hit the collapsed wall behind him. He slid back down the wall, his purple blood smearing the wall's surface. For the second third time in his life, he felt helpless as he lay there, waiting for his end.

Cell felt exhiliration as he pounded on his adversary. He saw the Namek fall down to the ground in a crumpled heap. Cell snickered,  
"Is that all you can do? Very well... I will end this then..." and with that, he raised his arm and pointed his fist towards Piccolo's prone figure. An energy blast accumulated itself unto Cell's outstretched palm, intending to end Piccolo's existence.

The ball dissipated when Cell felt new power signatures coming from the sky. His eyes widened when he felt the unfamiliar energy that emanates from the second source. His sensors got fried as the source got closer, temporarily disorienting him.

Piccolo looked up and saw Cell shaking his head vigorously. The Namek then felt the power source that Cell also felt. He smirked,  
saying, "Well, Cell, I'm afraid you are going to get fried."

"Trunks, better get Piccolo outta there... lemme handle the freak insectoid first." Ranma growled as he cracked his knuckles. Him and Trunks were hovering above the wreckage, overlooking the ensuing battle between Cell and Piccolo. Trunks nodded and blurred, appearing behind the surprised Cell and grabbing Piccolo out of the way. This made it easier for Ranma to maneuver and use a lot more of his power without the fear of hurting innocents.

Cell was surprised when one of the floating men blurred and got Piccolo away from him. He then saw the snarling pigtailed fighter coming down from the air, removing the kinks from his joints. Suddenly, the boy was asking him a question.

"Hey you! Did you do all these!" Ranma gestured to the clothes lying around the area.

Cell regained his composure and chuckled, saying, "Yes, and I got pretty strong because of them too!"

Ranma snarled and blurred, catching Cell off-guard. Ranma suddenly appeared in front of Cell, shouting, "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguri-Ken!" and his hands practically became invisible to the eye.  
Cell felt hundreds of blows rain down on his robotic body, slamming everything that is colored green in him. The android let out a silent scream as Ranma delivered thousands of blows in a second, his body creaking and moaning as its components were unable to compensate on the shock of the blows. When Ranma disengaged himself, Cell's body was mangled up beyond recognition.

Just when Ranma was about to turn his back on his opponent, he was surprised to see Cell's body regenerating at a really fast rate. The mangled up form rebuilt itself, and Cell was back once again. The android grinned evilly, saying, "Hah! I could regenerate anything I lose! I am immortal!"

Ranma's only reaction was the flare of his battle aura, as he smirked at the cackling android. "Immortals are really easy to beat.  
I'll just add ya up to another one of my 'gods killed' list then"  
Seeing the surprised look on Cell's face, he snorted, "Oh please! I already defeated gods in the past. What makes ya think I can't destroy you? Especially since I know ya aren't a livin' thing?" Ranma smiled oh-so-deadly at the now doubtful android. After a few moments of being locked in a staring contest, they finally lunged at each other, with Trunks and Piccolo standing in the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Goku and the rest of the Z Soldiers were speeding towards the battlefield. ((Piccolo's aura has died down a bit. He might be in real trouble!)) Goku thought to himself. When they finally arrived at the scene, they saw the green insectoid android being pummeled by the irritated Ranma. They all landed near Trunks and Piccolo, noting the Namek's broken arm.

Cell gritted his teeth and lashed out at the small but still obvious opening that had been exposed. His fist hit Ranma's ribs with considerable force for himself, and Ranma grunted in surprise. Cell followed up with a kick to the shin, another to the other knee, and then a kick to the ribs.

Ranma was momentarily taken aback, but he shrugged off the attacks.

The spectators watched the battle intensely as Ranma and Cell traded lightning fast blows. Cell throws a straight punch towards Ranma's face, which was easily dodged. Ranma just danced around the punches and kicks thrown at him. When Cell overextended with one of his punches, Ranma took the opening and jabbed the android in the gut. Cell grunted at the force of the hit and flew back into a damaged wall,  
demolishing it over him. Ranma smirked as he felt a huge power build up from the demolished rubble. The shaking debris exploded outward, sending massive rocks and dust around. Out came a very angry and pissed Cell.

Cell gathered energy into his cupped hands, shouting, "KAMEHAME HA!"

Ranma was a bit surprised to see Goku's ki technique flying towards him. He crossed his arms to his front and took the huge blast straight on. The explosion that momentarily rocked the area was staggering.

Goku was horrified. "How did he know that!"

Cell heard Goku's comment. He turned to the crowd, saying,  
"Ahh... the great Son Goku! Did you see that? Every technique you have,  
every skill... I can do them all! How? Simple! All your DNAs were assimilated in me! Dr. Gero made a perfect android just to destroy you"  
Cell threw back his head and laughed out.

"So what?" Cell immediately stopped laughing when a voice cut through the dust ball where he blasted the ki attack. When the dust cleared, Ranma was dusting himself off, his clothes were singed slightly. A few bruises was sported all over his body, but otherwise he was fine. Ranma faced the somewhat surprised Cell and smirked. He said,  
"Being a copy don't mean squat to me. You're no 'perfect android,  
you're jus' a freak."

"WHAT!" Cell shouted.

Ranma adopted a fighting stance. "It's time to finish this,  
robot." He then pumped up his aura to a high degree. As his golden aura came out, the whole area shook to accomodate the vast amount of power being emitted. The ground where Ranma stood finally crumbled under the strain of energy the came out in waves. Rocks and stones floated around and flung aimlessly. Suddenly, the battle aura was absorbed into Ranma.  
He aimed his palms towards Cell, who was slowly backing away. "Try regenerating after this... SHIN MOKO TAKABISHA!"

Cell's eyes grew wide when a huge ball of golden ki erupted from Ranma's outstretched palms. Cell's sensors overloaded when he tried to measure the energy output. Panicking, he tried to dodge but it was too late. A burning sensation was felt when the ki tore down his aura shield. Cell's body slowly crumbled as the ball of ki bore into him. He had no time to cry out as his face crumbled to dust first, followed by the other parts of his body. The blast continued until it hit the earth,  
exploding in a fantastic manner. A huge crater was formed after the dust settled on the ground, but no sign of Cell's body could be found.

Ranma finally sat down and smiled tiredly at his approaching comrades...

"Gee..." he muttered, "That was tiring..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Akane smiled warmly at Ryoga. For the past months, he has been supportive to her. Her hope for Ranma's return has dimmed somehow, when they couldn't find a trace of as to where the Nanban Mirror could be found. She was sad at the same time glad. Sad that she might never see Ranma anymore, but at the same time glad because she found out that Ryoga could be so caring at times. She smiled, holding Ryoga's hand,  
while they were finishing their ice cream. Although Ryoga is not as strong and as powerful as Ranma, he is still there for her.

Ryoga was in heaven. Now that Ranma's gone, he is now the most powerful martial artist in Nerima. But most of all, he now has the attention of the girl he has pined on since he came here. Aside from killing Ranma, his mission to destroy Ranma's happiness has now come true.

Nerima was in constant chaos moreso than before. Without someone to control the situation, the whole area was in destruction. Nobody wanted to admit it, but the nexus of all was Ranma, and without the nexus, there is nothing. Although Ryoga was there as damage control,  
everything slowly fell down into chaos. Ranma's resourcefulness and his ability to win a battle at any costs made the huge difference in everything. Whatever chaos dished out, Ranma comes out triumphant in the end. The master pervert Happosai was now without leash, and Ryoga can never hope to match the gnome in battle. It was a losing battle, and they are all losing ground fast.

Nabiki was in monetary despair. Although now, there is a tinge of worry in her facial features. Ranma always comes back no matter what,  
and seeing Nerima reduce to utter chaos because of his absence is quite a humbling experience. She never thought that a single man like Ranma could control that much chaos. She would never admit it, but she did care for the martial artist. He was always there to defend the household whenever danger comes. Not that Ryoga isn't reliable, but Ranma is.  
Ranma. There is this quality in him that Ryoga could never hope to match.

Kasumi's smile faltered a bit. Without Ranma's chaotic tendencies, she really couldn't put her heart into her chores anymore.  
She missed the soft sounds that comes from his practice katas in the dojo. Unknown to all, she watches the young Saotome as he practiced in their dojo. Aside from her, he would occasionally wake up earlier and practice. She has been thoroughly awed as to how Ranma could keep his sanity throughout the constant chaos in his life. Although Ryoga is a nice 'replacement' for Ranma, there will be no one to match up to the pigtailed martial artist. Secretly, she disapproved the growing relationship between her youngest sibling and the Lost Boy, mainly because he still haven't told her about his Jusenkyo curse. Yes, she knew about it, but she swore to her father not to reveal it to Akane, to use it to make Ranma jealous. She knew it was unhonorable, and she felt dirty about it. Now that Ranma's gone, she felt sadder than ever, and now she couldn't talk to anyone anymore about it. Usually, Ranma was the one who would listen to her rants about everything, while they were alone in the rooftop, watching the stars. Now, she felt alone.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Finally!" Bulma sighed out loud as she wiped the dust off her hands. She marveled at her latest creation, which she has promised for Ranma. Suddenly she stopped, thinking about what will happen when Ranma goes back. Her heart ached a bit as she thought about it. Ranma was a jerk, yes, but a loving jerk. Chaos seemed to follow him everywhere, and he also fixes the chaos himself in the end. He was reliable, and a very good martial artist. She smiled at the memory of Ranma's first day in the local high school. He caused a school-wide stampede. Girls rushed to him while he ran away. Bulma knew of Ranma's past, and so she understood why he didn't want anything to do with hormone driven females. Trunks always laughs at the comical situation. Ranma had much problems with his fiancees in the past. Not that she blamed the women, though. Ranma is handsome, at the same time has this boyish charm in him. He is also has a happy-go-lucky personality, and his smile makes girls weak in the knees. She snickered at the thought of Ranma's effect on all the people around him. Even Vegeta, dubbed the most hated being in existence, now occasionally smiles. Ranma's laughter is greatly contagious. In some aspects he is like Goku, but unlike the airhead, Ranma is sensitive to a point. He still had the foot in mouth problem, but it wasn't as bad as before. Even Android 18 smiled when she is near the pigtailed Saiyajin.  
Ranma is also a good babysitter. For some reason, he is extremely competent when it comes to kids. He could make chibi-Trunks stop crying with just the soothing sound of his voice. But now... he is to go back.  
Bulma knows this time will eventually come, but she had so much fun with him that she forgot the passing time. It has been several months since he first came here. She sighed and turned to the door, walking slowly towards to where Ranma is at the moment and tell him her news.

Ranma sighed as he stood in front of the time machine Bulma made for him. It is somewhat like a spaceship. Beside him is a battered Trunks. Ranma whapped Trunks again on the back of his head, saying,  
"Baka... why didn't ya say ya had a time machine in the first place!"

Trunks smiled sheepishly. "Well... you didn't ask." he said, his tail swishing from side to side. Trunks' tail grew back when he accidentally touched a live wire while repairing his own time machine.  
After being burned out by thousands of volts, he found out that his tail grew out again. Goku and Ranma helped Trunks train his tail so that it will not be a weakness in the future.

Ranma smacked his forehead as the others giggled. Trunks also used a time machine to get to this time period to prevent Goku from dying because of a Saiyajin heart disease. Trunks also wanted to learn how to defeat the androids in his time. After the battle with Cell,  
Trunks used his time machine to go back to his own time and destroyed the androids. Trunks came back to the waiting Ranma and his beating.

Ranma turned to the crowd. Everyone was there to see them off.  
Trunks decided to tag along since he has nothing to do. And besides, he said once before, he wanted to learn more about fighting from Ranma.

"Well everyone, this is where we shove off. It has been a good two years and some months. I really enjoyed every bit of it." Ranma said with a sad tone.

Goku said, "Good luck, Ranma. It was great to have known you!"

Gohan nodded, saying, "Yeah. It was fun while it lasted, right"  
Gohan a growth spurt, and has cut his hair to a long crew cut. He inherited his father's innocent attitude, but his intelligence was because of his mother.

Ranma smirked. "Hell yeah. Who knows? I might find another artifact so that I can visit ya all here..."

"You should come back! I will beat you by then!" Vegeta snorted,  
but with a slight smile on his face. Ranma turned to him and smiled back.

Ranma turned to Chi-Chi and Bulma. Both have tears in their eyes as he hugged them tightly. He whispered in their ears, "Take care of everyone here, okay?" Feeling them nod, he sighed and reluctantly let them go. He faced Chibi-Trunks, who was watching him with great curiosity. Ranma chuckled when Chibi-Trunks smiled at him. He tapped his index finger on the baby's nose, saying, "You better grow up like Trunks over there, so that if I come back, I would train ya like him"  
Chibi-Trunks gurgled in response, squeaking and squirming around Bulma's arms. He then turned to Chi-Chi, with her own baby, Goten, in her arms.  
The baby was a spitting image of Goku, much to the dismay of the mother.  
The baby literally bounced in Chi-Chi's arms when he heard Ranma's voice. The pigtailed boy smiled at the baby and patted his head,  
elliciting a squeal.

Ranma stepped back and watched as Trunks said his farewells to the group. When everything was finally done, Ranma and Trunks went inside the miniature spaceship. Ranma entered the approximate time and day he disappeared. With a flash, the whole machine vanished. The people left behind sighed and silently wished for Ranma and Trunks' well being.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Time Gate, Sailor Pluto was studying the single line towards the fated Crystal Tokyo vigilantly. She made sure that nobody disturbs the timeline and the Crystal Tokyo. Since the fall of the Silver Millenium, she was destined for eternal life, her mission to ensure the future heirarchy of the fallen Moon Kingdom. She also watches her wares, mainly the Senshi and her Princess Serenity. Her eyes widened when the timeline that she was watching twisted and screwed, dividing itself into a thousand other timelines. She screeched when her vision of a future Crystal Tokyo wavered. She desperately searched for the source of the disturbance in the Time Gates, shouting obscenities along the way. Finally, she saw a vision of a pigtail-haired boy with a tail.  
((Huh? A tail?)) Pluto thought, as she delved into the vision some more.  
The boy was accompanied by another boy, with purple hair and a sword.  
The second boy also had a tail. She noted that the pigtailed boy has 'red' tail while the other has 'brown' tail. She gripped her Time Staff tighter, muttering, "Who the hell are these boys!" She turned and proceeded in a portal, eager to tell the Senshi her plans.

Katsuhito Masaki, also known as Crown Prince Yosho of the Juraian Empire, suddenly tensed as he felt a huge energy source near him. He was working at the ancestral shrine of his home when the power surge hit him. He stopped his work and immediately came down to his home.

Inside a pocket universe laboratory, sensors of all kinds suddenly lit up. Alarm bells sounded off as the power surge was registered. A pink haired girl who looks like a 12 year old excitedly ran back and forth across the lab, inspecting the results of the power surge. The greatest scientist in the universe, Washuu Hakubi, fidgeted in her seat when she saw the output readings. She haven't felt this excited since she studied Tenchi's ability to generate the Light Hawk Wings. She clasped her hands together as she said, "Another guinea pig!"

Most of those sensitive to ki stopped their works when they felt the powerful ki that permeated in the air.

After a flash of light on a clear sky, a spaceship-like structure appeared. It landed in a forested area below. The glass bubble door opened, spilling out a coughing pigtailed boy wearing a dark blue polo and dark blue kung fu pants. He was followed by a purple haired boy wearing long shorts and a blue jacket with a sign 'CAPSULE CORPS'  
embroidered at the back. Once they got their bearings, they looked at each other and laughed out loud.

"It worked!" Ranma shouted, jumping up and down, "But that ride was weird..."

Trunks sat up. "Hehe... yeah. Time traveling does that. It makes me wanna hurl."

Ranma smirked as he turned towards the machine. He pushed a button at the side and with a POOF, the time machine disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a hand sized capsule. Ranma grabbed the capsule and kept it in his pocket. He turned to Trunks and grinned widely. "Welcome to my time, Trunks."

Trunks snickered. "I have to admit, you have lot of trees in here. Where are we anyway?"

Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment. He took his time to look around and saw something over at the end of the forest. Gesturing to Trunks, they walked towards the clearing and found that it was a cliff.  
They stood at the cliff's edge, and Ranma saw something that he recognized anywhere. "Jusenkyo..." he muttered, looking to the ground with thousands of holes filled with water, bamboo sticking up from the holes.

Trunks smiled at Ranma. "Hey! This is where you got your curse right?"

Ranma nodded. "Yep. Let's go and cure my curse now!" he said and with that, he jumped down. Trunks just shook his head in amusement as he followed Ranma down.

The Jusenkyo Guide is seated atop a huge rock, smoking his pipe while looking up at the sky. Suddenly, a shadow covered his form, so he automatically looked up. He let out a yelp as two blurs landed on each side of the rock he sat upon, so silent that the dust wasn't even disturbed. The Guide saw a boy with his hair tied in a pigtail and another with purple hair and a huge sword sheathed at his back. He tensed slightly as the boy with the pigtail turned to him.

""Excuse me, but can you direct us to the Nannichuan?"" the boy in question asked in Chinese.

The Guide recognized the boy. ""Sir, you got cursed years ago,  
didn't you? I think it was the Nyannichuan...""

The boy nodded. ""Yes... I'm Ranma. I got splashed in the Spring of Drowned Girl. I was wondering if the Spring of Drowned Boy is available?""

The Guide started at that. ""Ranma? Saotome Ranma? The one who defeated the god Saffron in battle?""

Ranma smiled. ""Uhm, yes, I guess so."" All the while, they have been speaking in chinese, and Trunks didn't understand a word. Contrary to most beliefs, Ranma learned to speak mandarin for the last years. He knew it would be needed because of the Amazons that have been a constant thorn on his side. It was a tactical advantage for him to learn it, so that he could understand their plans easily.

"Not that I'm angry or anything but, could you please speak in a language I can understand?" Trunks snorted, crossing his arms across his chest. Ranma and the Guide snickered at Trunks' outburst, finally realizing that they have been conversing in full chinese for the last few minutes.

"Sorry 'bout that, Trunks..." Ranma smiled at him.

The Guide followed suit. "Yes, I sorry, honored customer." the guide said in broken but passable Japanese. Trunks nodded slightly in appreciation. Ranma explained how he got cursed, and of how he met the Guide again before defeating Saffron. He also noted the absence of the Guide's daughter, Plum, but the Guide reassured them that his daughter was out doing some errands in the nearby Amazon Village, the Joketsuzoku.

As they talked, the Guide led Ranma to the cure for his predicament. When the Guide pointed at the spring, Ranma nodded to Trunks and jumped. Or at least tried to. Ranma heard the Guide calling out to him in a frantic manner. Learning from his past mistakes, his descent suddenly stopped as he floated over the waters of the spring.  
Ranma turned to the Guide, whose words now became clear.

"Honored customer must not jump in spring! Only mix curse!" The Guide was saying.

"Mix the curse? What do you... oh kami! You mean if I jumped here I would become...?" Ranma blanched at the thought. He finally remembered something that nagged his mind. ((Pantyhose Taro's added curse!))

Ranma tried controlling his anger. ((WHAT THE HELL!)) he thought angrily as he started to glow bright red. Trunks pulled the Guide and took an unconscious step back. He felt bad for Ranma though. Hope of being cured crushed totally. He turned to the Guide and asked, "Is there a real cure?"

The Guide thought for a moment. "Customers try find cure but fail. Curses permanent."

By this time, Ranma finally cooled down momentarily and slumped down to the ground. His tail whipped at the ground angrily as he thought of his predicament. He heard what the Guide had said, and he felt betrayed. He turned to the Guide and asked, "So that means, I wouldn't have never gotten cured by the spring water you sent me at the wedding anyway right? It would've just made things worse..."

The Guide nodded. Ranma sighed and stood up, shaking himself out of his stupor. He would have to find another means to get cured. Both thanked the Guide and turned to leave. But just as they were about to float off, a loud battlecry was heard over the horizon. The Guide paled and ran out screaming something about a war between the Amazons and the Phoenix people. Ranma and Trunks looked at each other and nodded, then bolted through the forest towards the direction of the battle.

The Phoenix and the Amazons, two of the warring tribes vieing for supremacy over Chinese soil. The Phoenix have superiority over the air, while the Amazons have superiority in battle tactics and experience, not to mention their artifacts. The other tribe, the Musk,  
chose to remain silent and neutral as they watched from the sidelines.  
The Phoenix God Saffron, long ago defeated in combat by the mortal named Ranma Saotome, is now fully grown and led to the defense of his stronghold. Yes, it would seem that Saffron has mellowed down after being defeated. He is trying to keep his race from dying out. The Amazons, realizing the lack of onslaught from the winged race in the past years, deduced their lack in numbers and therefore pressed on the attack. At the moment, they have devastated most of the Phoenix,  
mercilessly killing the hapless young soldiers sent over to repel the Amazons. The Phoenix soldiers are currently young and have little battle experience.

Ranma looked on in horror as he saw the Phoenix being shot down helplessly. In his battle-tried eyes, he clearly saw that the Phoenix are currently helpless. The fact that the soldiers are younger than he is made his blood boil. Trunks shook his head when he saw the blood all over the battlefield. Corpses with blood stained white wings scattered throughout the field. He said a silent prayer for the soldiers that departed. Trunks suddenly felt the rise of battle aura emanating from his companion. Ranma jerked his head and looked directly into Trunks'  
eyes. The blue-gray orbs seemingly glowed with intensity as the battle aura grew.

Trunks nodded slightly. "So, who do we help?"

Ranma looked back at the battlefield. "The Phoenix race are not battle ready. I feel kinda responsible for that."

"Oh? Why is that?"

Ranma looked down to the ground. "I killed their god, to save Akane."

Trunks tilted his head a bit, looking pensive. "Don't you think they'll hold it against you?"

Ranma looked up and shrugged, saying, "I guess so, but we can't just let 'em die out like this, ne?" And with that, the two Saiyajins nodded and ran into the battle.

Kiima, Royal Guardian to his highness Saffron of Phoenix, is having a hard time. Eventhough she is battle tested, her charges were simply too inexperienced to command. She sported bruises all over her body, and her silver hair is smeared with blood. She darted from side to side, avoiding the deadly arrows fired upon them by Amazon assassins. It was really a desperate battle, and she figures that she might not live long. Currently, her wounds were bleeding too much that she is having trouble keeping herself afloat. Her own bloodied sword was barely being held by her hand. She felt some guilt while she watched most of her charges got shot down. But she refused to give up. She tightened her hold on her sword and yelled a battlecry. She directed her assault towards a group of several Amazons. Three whom are carrying bows and arrows and four are waiting with swords and spears to finish off fallen adversaries. Kiima dodged the first six arrows, then proceeded to slash on two of the bow users. Blood spewed all over as the other amazons screamed in outrage. Kiima lifted herself up and tried to escape the incoming barrage of new arrows, but one hit her on her upper shoulder.  
She screamed and staggered upwards, her vision blurring. Her wings were starting to get weak, slowing its flappings down tremendously. As she hung in the air, arrows whizzed by past her. She tried desperately to dodge the projectiles, but she is suffering from severe blood loss,  
especially now with her arrow-pierced shoulder. Her thoughts were about her promise to protect Lord Saffron, and now the hope in her eyes has dimmed. The momentary lapse in concentration was all it needed. When she snapped out of her reverie, she saw an arrow going straight for her heart. Kiima knew it was too late, for she could not dodge in time to let the arrow pass harmlessly by. Kiima closed her eyes as she awaited her impending doom. She suddenly felt a brief breeze followed by a snap of wood. She opened her eyes, searching for any lodged arrow in her chest. Finding none, she looked forward, and saw a boy, wearing dark polo and dark pants. He has this unusual tail that's flailing around his back angrily. But what caught the winged woman's sight is the hair. Dark hair and tied in... a pigtail. ((That... can't be! RANMA!)) she mentally screamed. She was about to attack the boy with her sword when she saw him turn about.

Ranma angrily threw the wooden arrows down to the ground. He turned and saw a familiar figure. "Kiima..." he said, then shook his head to clear it, "Are you alright?"

Kiima stopped her charge, rather looking at Ranma in a confused manner. "You are not going to... attack me?" she said. This brought a chuckle from the boy, and she felt her heart skipped a beat as she saw his hearty smile directly at her.

"No, of course not." Ranma sighed, relenting to ask the question he dreaded, "How're your people?"

Kiima regained her composure. "Not too well, but Lord Saffron is fully developed now..." the simple statement from her lips drew a wide relieved smile from Ranma.

"That's good." Ranma said genuinely. An arrow hit him in his arm, or rather, the arrow hit his arm and was pulverized. Kiima's eyes widened when she saw what happened. Ranma cursed and turned downwards,  
saying, "Amazons... are really irritating!" and with that, he threw and open hand punch downwards to the remaining amazons. Kiima's eyes bugged out as she saw the amazons being blown away by such an excessive force from Ranma's punch. The ground was left with a huge dent after the attack. Kiima heard outraged cries towards the east. She saw a blur throwing multiple balls of ki around, devastating the ground the Amazon group was. The distraughted females bolted away, scared of the purple haired demon with a huge sword at his back. Kiima turned to Ranma, who she figured was asking her a question.

Ranma shook his head. "Kiima, I was asking if you're all right?"

Kiima just nodded dumbly, as the other purple haired demon approached them. The demon hailed Ranma, saying, "Geez... those amazons are really irritating."

Ranma chuckled. "Exactly my point. Did ya manage to turn them away?"

Trunks nodded. "Yep. By the way, who's the chick?"

Kiima, by this time, has regained her bearings and scowled at the man. She growled, "I am not a chick! I am Kiima, Royal Guardian of Lord Saffron!"

Trunks raised his hands and 'surrendered'. "All right! Really you are so touchy!"

Ranma smiled. "Kiima, this is Trunks, a friend of mine. Trunks,  
this is Kiima, what she said earlier."

Kiima glared at Ranma. "What are doing here! Are you ready to kill Lord Saffron AGAIN!"

Ranma sighed and looked at Kiima. "Please, Kiima. I just did it to save someone. If it could be avoided, I would be glad to avoid it."

Kiima tried to get angrier at Ranma, though she saw his sincerity in his blue-gray eyes. Her angry exterior slowly melted, as she looked in his eyes. ((His eyes... they're so... WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!)) It was when she noticed Ranma's body. Fairly muscled, but not too bulky. Now she would liked to see how he would do in bed and taste him for herself. She mentally kicked herself for having such a thought. ((Again! What am I thinking!")) She blushed as she had rather animated thoughts that would have Ranma running for the hills. She continued to watch him. ((Why am I feeling this way?)) Kiima thought to herself. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain. Ranma winced when he got a long look at Kiima. He floated towards Kiima, who tried backing up.  
"Relax, Kiima. I'm just gonna pull that arrow out, that's all." he said in a soothing voice. Finally, Kiima just let her body fall forward into Ranma's arms.

Ranma took a firm hold on the arrow. He thanked the Kamis because it missed the vital organs. Although it has passed through the other side of her shoulder. He quickly cut the serrated point, so quick that Kiima didn't even feel the action. He quickly pulled the arrow out and covered the wound with his hand. Ranma turned to Trunks, saying,  
"Trunks, gimme a Senzo bean."

Trunks nodded and took a big brown bag out of the pocket of his jacket. He threw a piece of green bean to Ranma, who deftly caught it.  
Ranma lifted Kiima's chin to face him. He said softly, "Here, swallow this."

Kiima looked at the bean. It looked harmless, and she was too weak to argue. She opened her mouth and let Ranma slide the bean into her mouth. She bit on it and swallowed. When she did, her body felt stronger immediately. She looked at Ranma again and saw his smiling face. She slowly felt for her wounds and found only red patches over the rapidly healing scars.

Ranma patted Kiima's back gently. "There ya go..." he said.  
Kiima finally noticed that she was leaning to Ranma's body for such a long time now. She especially felt his hard chiseled chest as she lay her head on him. She hid her blush and was reluctant in getting away from the warmth. After a short while, she gently pushed Ranma away. Her eyes widened when she remembered something.

"Y-you... can fly! How? Without wings!" Kiima stammered out as she circled Ranma slowly, looking for appendages like her wings. She gasped as she found Trunks also floating without any support.

Ranma chuckled slightly. "It's a form of ki manipulation. Like Herb's technique, but ours is faster and it doesn't waste too much energy."

Trunks gulped as he looked over the horizon. "Uhm, Ranma?" he squeaked, nervously scratching his hair, "I... think we better go.  
NOW."

"Huh?" Ranma mumbled unintelligently, which brought a warm smile from Kiima. His innocence amused Kiima right now. They both turned to where Trunks was looking. Ranma blanched when he saw multiple dots hovering on the horizon, and upon close inspection, they all have wings.  
"Ooookay. Kiima, this is where we part. It's nice meeting ya again though..." he said as he and Trunks turned to go. But before they could jet out of the area, a loud booming voice stopped their advance.  
"HOLD!" bellowed a familiar voice for Ranma. The pigtailed boy groaned and slowly faced the source of the voice. An all too familiar figure hovered towards them, well, it was Saffron.

Trunks was awed at the level of power the divinity before him was producing. He could literally see the waves of energy emitted from the winged god. He gazed at the approaching guards, their weapons raised and ready for any conflict that may arise. Saffron just floated near Ranma, regarding him with a neutral face.

"Ranma." Saffron said in an even voice. Seeing Ranma fidget a bit brought a slight smile across his face. "Why being nervous? We both know you could defeat me with one arm tied behind your back." The others just gasped as they hear their ruler joke about something like that.  
Since his defeat, Saffron has really changed, especially about his views towards on how to treat 'Landlings'. His respect for the one called Ranma Saotome is great. Even though Ranma Saotome's name was worse than a curse among the winged people, it was decided by the nobles that no action should be taken against the pigtailed martial artist. Even if he did kill their King, he did in defense of another, and didn't try to destroy the Phoenix even if he could've done it. Saffron himself agreed with the decision, knowing he wouldn't get a thing out of killing the teenager. Except a little satisfaction, of course.

The pigtailed boy sighed gratefully. "I was thinking you're still mad about the last time..." he muttered.

Saffron shook his head. "Not really. I should've known something like that would happen. I would do the same thing if that happened to me. By the way, you have a tail." he snickered, pointing to the swishing red appendage at Ranma's back. Ranma just snorted and willed his tail to wrap around his waist, which it did so.

"Story of my life..." Ranma deadpanned, "Anyway... what's with the war?"

Saffron sighed a bit. "Well, the amazons took advantage of my people's weak time. They attacked visciously, killing most of the younger soldiers. I feel appaled by the lack of ethics these savages showed these past few days. Thank you for saving my loyal guardian,  
Ranma."

Ranma shrugged. "I was just passing through. By the way,  
Saffron, meet my traveling companion, Trunks. He came with me from my last crazy adventure... Trunks, meet Saffron, Lord of the Pheonix Mountain."

Saffron bowed at the purple-haired boy. "I believe you have great power inside of you."

Trunks bowed deeply. "And you as well."

Saffron turned back to Ranma. "So what are you going to do now?"

Ranma looked over the horizon. "We're gonna go back to Japan.  
Long overdue return to home..." he said wistfully.

Saffron looked a bit crestfallen. "I... see. Well, a good luck to you, Ranma Saotome."

Ranma smiled and held out his hand. "I'll come visit ya soon,  
Saffron."

Saffron nodded and shook his hand. The other soldiers just looked at each other and shrugged. Kiima was looking longingly at Ranma,  
although none really noticed. Ranma and Trunks turned and jetted out of the area, leaving a bewildered Saffron and the forlorned Kiima.

Saffron sweatdropped. "Uhm, Ranma can fly?"

The soldiers could've facefaulted, if they weren't on the air.  
Kiima just shook her head. She recovered quickly and turned her attentions to the direction where Ranma flew off, and this time Saffron caught her lovestruck gaze with a smirk.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma and Trunks flew through the sea, marveling at the vast blue waters. Ranma related to Trunks how he and his father transversed these waters, by swimming across it to Japan, because of his father's penny-pinching personality. They both have come to the conclusion that Ranma's father is an idiot. They both agreed in that aspect. They finally hit Japanese soil a few hours after, passing through an old shrine. All of the sudden, Ranma felt a familiar chi signature that he has long forgotten. He stopped in midair, causing Trunks to overshoot a few feet before gliding back towards the pigtailed Saiyajin.

"What is it?" Trunks asked.

Ranma looked down below. He saw a shrine with a very long staircase which led to a two story house. Ranma turned to Trunks,  
saying, "I felt someone very familiar in there. Let's go check it out.  
Besides..." just then, Ranma's stomach growled. He blushed as he continued, "I'm hungry..." Trunks snickered at his friend's appetite. He never doubted for a moment that he is really hungry at this moment. Even when Ranma's stomach is not growling, the boy eats just as well. Trunks nodded and descended with Ranma to the ground in front of the shrine.

Ayeka, glorious princess of the greatest dynasty in the universe, is currently picking a fight on Ryoko, the universe's dreaded space pirate (retired of course!). Tenchi Masaki, current heir to the crown Prince of Jurai, sat back helplessly as he watched the two women vieing for his affections fight once again. Sasami, sister of Ayeka, sat a little further away with Ryo-ohki, cabbit ship of Ryoko, on her lap,  
happily nibbling on a carrot. Also nearby was Mihoshi, a Galaxy Police detective. The fight escalated as dark red energy crackled in Ryoko's hand and the defense point logs appeared around Ayeka.

A huge explosion outside the shrine caught Katsuhito and Washuu's attentions. They knew that the women are duking it out once again at the house grounds. They sweatdropped at the level of obscenities heard while the eruptions occur.

"Anyway... as I was saying, I isolated the energy source, and believe me it has a bit of Juraian descent in it." Washuu pointed out as she drank her coffee.

Katsuhito just nodded. "I know. I just wonder if it is hostile or not. But nevertheless, it feels familiar."

Washuu smirked. "Yes. Very familiar. Something like Tenchi's in fact. But is was mixed with other powerful energies that I haven't identified yet."

"I was also wondering about tha---" whatever Katsuhito was about to say was cut off. He stood up and quickly went out of the door,  
followed by a very perplexed Washuu.

Washuu gaped as she went out of the door. Katsuhito was already there, waiting calmly for the 'visitors' to land. She regarded them carefully. A boy about Tenchi's age who has his hair tied up in a tight pigtail, wore a dark blue polo and matching dark blue pants and a reddish brown belt that also caught her attention, is accompanied by another boy who has light purple hair in a clean cut, wearing a blue jacket with 'CAPSULE CORPS' embroidered worn over a black tank top and shorts that reached up to his knees. The boy also has this huge sword sheathed on his back.

Ranma landed gently on his feet followed by Trunks. He looked around the shrine area, and liked what he saw. Trees of different kinds grew everywhere, and the area has an aura of calm. He looked at the two people in front of him. One was an old man in Shinto robes. ((He looks familiar)) Ranma remarked mentally. The other was a girl, 12 years old at most, who has pink hair that stuck out like a fan. ((Reminds me of Goku)  
Ranma smirked to himself.

Katsuhito stepped up and greeted the guests. "Do you need anything in this shrine, strangers?"

Ranma smiled. "I was hoping to find... hmmm... what was his name? Ah! Katsuhito Masaki!" Trunks snickered behind him at the confused look on their hosts' faces.

Katsuhito recovered from his confusion somewhat. "I am he. Who am I speaking to?"

Ranma's eyes bugged out. "G-grandpa! Is that you!"

Trunks and the others gaped at Ranma as he quickly scooted towards the old man. A look of recognition dawned on Katsuhito as he regarded the boy some more. "By the goddess! Ranma!" he smiled widely as he took his grandson in an embrace.

Washuu pulled on the old man's robes. "Grandson! You have another relative!"

Katsuhito and Ranma parted. The old man chuckled, saying, "Yes.  
Washuu, this is Ranma Saotome, son of my youngest daughter, Nodoka Masaki Saotome and also Tenchi's cousin. Ranma, this is Washuu."

Ranma smiled and shook Washuu's hand immediately. "Nice to meetcha!" he said. Ranma then turned to Katsuhito, asking, "Tenchi's here?" Katushito nodded in reply.

"Washuu-CHAN..." Washuu admonished Katsuhito, who sweated a bit.  
Ranma and Trunks looked in confusion before Washuu finally waved the comment off.

Katsuhito turned to Ranma once again. "Where have you been,  
Ranma? The last time you were here it was... when you were nine years old right? I take it that you finished with the training trip you and your father started when you were five?"

Ranma looked at Trunks, who shrugged. He sighed, saying, "You have no idea how weird my life is, grandpa. Yeah, finally finished with that really stupid training trip. Though it's really not totally stupid,  
a lot of bad things happened coz of Pops." and with that, his tail uncoiled, fluttering freely against the wind. Katsuhito looked on in shock as Washuu's eyes twinkled in a way that made Ranma REALLY nervous.

"What, may I ask, is that?" Washuu asked in a sultry voice as she pointed at the red appendage behind Ranma. She smiled wider as Trunks let lose his own tail, but his was colored brown.

Ranma saw the curious look on his grandfather's eyes. He sighed,  
saying, "It's a long story, grandpa."

Katsuhito just nodded, and led the two guests down the stairs.  
"We have all the time in the world, Ranma."

"By the way, grandpa, I was wondering if you were the relatives that gave me this," Ranma looked at Trunks, who nodded once, "To quote a friend: Strange Juraian blood?"

Washuu perked up at that question. Katsuhito blanched considerably. Seeing the old man won't answer anytime soon, Washuu took the opportunity to ask her question, "How did you know about this?"

Ranma shrugged. "Let's just say, it is one of the complications of my life..."

Ryoko was about to fire off her red hot energy ball when she heard footsteps coming down from the shrine. Ayeka's logs disappeared one by one when she looked at the direction Ryoko was turned. Tenchi's grandfather and Washuu were coming down from the shrine steps, along with them were two boys. One with purple hair and a huge sword strapped unto his back, while the other has black hair tied up in a pigtail. They looked at each other and wordlessly declared a temporary ceasefire until they learn of what is going on. Sasami and the rest of the watching group has this curious look on their face while Tenchi's has this 'deep thinking' expression. After a bit, his face lit up as he recognized one of the guests. He stood up, to the surprise of the others, and said,  
"Ranma!" running up to the boy to hug him.

The pigtailed boy looked up to Tenchi and smiled, "Yo, Tenchi"  
he said happily, taking Tenchi's hug in stride. It has been so long since they last seen each other, but they couldn't forget how each one looks.

Ayeka approached the two grinning boys. "Lord Tenchi..." Ayeka began, "Who is this person?"

Tenchi grinned. "Allow me to introduce my cousin Ranma. It's been so long since I last seen him!" he said as he patted Ranma's back.

As Ayeka's shock showed on her face, Ryoko floated by grinning,  
"A cousin, eh? A good looking one too!" she snickered when Ranma's face turned red. ((So, being shy around women is hereditary! Hmmm... not to mention he's well built than Tenchi... more handsome... and... what am I saying! I love Tenchi! Tenchi! Ten... wait... he's also a prince then)  
she thought to herself as she absently licked her lips. She then noticed the red furry belt wrapped around his waist. ((A tail?)) she noted wryly ((It's too thick to be a Nekojin tail...))

Meanwhile, Ayeka's shocked look turned into one of admiration and... the other thing. ((By the goddess! He's gorgeous! Look at those muscles... just enough to show his great body... his face is absolutely... WHAT! I only care for Lord Tenchi! Uhhmmm... then.  
arrrggghhh!)) she thought, her face screwing up in confusion which caused the group to wonder what she was thinking about.

Sasami's pink eyes dilated when her gaze turned to the owner of the blue-gray eyes. She has never seen such confidence and power being radiated in warm vibes before! Even Tsunami, the goddess that resides inside Sasami's persona, was captivated by the pigtailed boy. It was long ago that she already felt the Juraian blood within him, but now with the new 'complications', someone holding that much power and being sane at the same time is really captivating for her. Then she finally remembered him... back when Nodoka was young... and Tokimi was enraged further. ((Oh my...)) Tsunami thought, ((This is going to be a bit hard to explain...))

Mihoshi on the other hand is more open. She was openly frothing in the mouth now. Sure, Tenchi was a cupcake, but his cousin was a really HUGE chocolate cake! And the way his steps glide and his actions compliment his stance just took her breath away. Despite her well-known ditzy behavior, her appreciation in men is not something to laugh at.

However, Ranma being Ranma, is actually totally oblivious at the stares thrown at him. He was currently surveying the surroundings,  
really appreciating the homely feeling he's getting. Somehow, the trees move differently in these parts. His gaze rested on the small girl with pink eyes, her blue hair tied up in two cute long ponytails that made her look even more adorable. He smiled at her as she giggled slightly.  
His body flinched when his gaze rested upon the small furry animal resting in her hands. It didn't help when the creature looked up to him expectantly and said, "Miyaaaah!"

Trunks snickered when his friend momentarily froze in place. He elbowed the quite frozen martial artist and was rewarded with a grunt from the boy in question. "I thought you got that out of your system already?" he asked Ranma.

Ranma snapped out of his freeze. "Well, yeah, sorry... it was just a reflex." Trunks just nodded sympathetically. By now, everyone was giving them strange looks when they heard the exchange. Ranma just sighed, because he knew they wanted an explanation of that incident.  
"Neko-ken..." he said, in a tone which says that it explained everything.

Katsuhito gasped, then his expression hardened. He asked in a barely controlled voice, "Neko-ken? You were TAUGHT that dreaded technique?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Actually, more like Pop shoved it into me.  
Left me with a weird fear of cats. I had it fixed a while ago, but sometimes I still feel a little edgy. But I don't go into the state anymore. I kinda mastered it at the same time without having to resort into the feral state." To prove his point, he clenched his right fist and four long red ki claws emerged from the middle of the knuckles. The people around him gawked at the menacing red energy.

Trunks looked thoughtful. "Yeah... you should've seen him the first time I saw him went berserk. His power and speed were horrifying.  
We had to literally dogpile him. It took us five days to finally subdue him, but not after he caused mass destruction on properties and stuff.  
Even in his normal state, he is already powerful enough to beat all of us up, multiply it by seven or more and add insanity into it."

"Hey! How was I suppose to know Pular was a flying cat?" Ranma said sheepishly. The flying blue cat surprised him. He was caught in a corner and was in the state where he couldn't get his two cents in.  
After a short time, he lost his human mind and shifted to Neko-ken state. The description of 'worldwide destruction' is truly an understatement. A flying Saiyajin in Neko-ken state is not something to be laughed about. His already powerful body became seven times stronger and faster. He dodged every single attack that was thrown to him in such ease. It also didn't help that he is subconsciously using Anything Goes that was literally an aerial combat style. It was a good thing that Goku and Vegeta blasted him at the back with a combined Kamehame Ha and Final Flash when he was distracted by Trunks that caused him to plummet into the ocean. He transformed into a girl but wasn't damaged at all. When she came to, a flat desert with cement filings are scattered about. Her friends were also filled with scratches, obviously from her feral state.

Tenchi shot a worried glance to his grandfather. "Neko-ken? What is that, grandpa?" Everyone save Ranma and Trunks craned their faces near Katsuhito's general direction to hear the explanation. When they saw the old man tremble a little, their curiosity shot through the roof.  
What could possible terrify him so much? Heh, now they are gonna know.

A shadow passed Katsuhito's face as his eyeglasses gleamed. "The Neko-ken is a legendary technique that is feared because of two things.  
One, when you master it, it is practically invincible. Two, the training itself is suicide. It is supposed to make the practitioner faster and stronger. The student must be a child ranging from five to ten years of age, wrap him with fish products and throw him or her into a pit of 4 day long starved cats. Repeat until the student learns it to death." the old man paused in his explanations to let the revelation sink to the listeners. The audience except Ranma and Trunks had these horrified looks on their faces. He sighed and continued, "Out of a hundred, only ten survive the training. All of them stays locked in berserk feral state, while only a rare one gets out of the state. The survivor does not escape unscathed, for the experience leave the student with an irrational fear of cats, which can be used to induce the student once again to a temporary feral state."

Ranma crossed his arms across his chest. "Yeah. With what happened to me," he sighed, absently stroking his tail, "The added speed and strength is a nightmare to those who will try to stop me."

"THAT'S HORRIBLE!" They all screamed sympathetically.

"The Neko-ken..." Washuu said softly, "Someone survived the training after all..."

"Who would do such a thing to a child!" Ayeka demanded. Her defense logs immediately appeared.

Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "Pops did it to me when I was six."

Ryoko's eyes flared up. "I'm gonna enjoy gutting him alive!" she hissed, brandishing her red energy blade on her left hand. Mihoshi was busy loading magazines in her gun, sporting an angry scowl on her face. Sasami frowned, which for Ranma is not a good thing. For some odd reason, she really feels just like Kasumi.

In Nerima, a certain panda had a sneezing fit, its head frantically looking about for any emminent danger.

Ranma waved the tension off. "Get in line, there are a lot of people after him."

The old man asked, "How did you manage to control the technique?"

The pigtailed martial artist fidgeted. "When they managed to subdue me, I asked help from this weird green dude with antennae-OWW"  
he paused, caressing the part where Trunks smacked his head.

"That's Kami of Chikyuu you knucklehead." Trunks said irritably.

Ranma sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, the Kami took me to this goddess named Bastet, or Bast as I recalled she would want me to call her. She is the goddess of cats, pregnant women, goddess of men and children. She taught me the True Neko-ken, coz she said she was the one who developed it with her co-wife Sehkmet. They both cured me of the fear during the training (because I had no choice, they look like cats)  
and taught me how to control the flawed Neko-ken in me. Bast told me that they developed it for her warriors years ago, and it was taught by them PERSONALLY. When mortals who didn't get the training became jealous, they tried to copy the original technique, with devastating results. The Neko-ken Manual my stupid father had is one of those 'devastating results' and he didn't even bother reading the last page of the manual which clearly stated how the tachnique was banned for mortals."

"REALLY stupid of your father..." Katsuhito lamented.

"Yeah... can't argue with you on that grandpa..." Ranma said.  
His stomach suddenly let itself be heard as a low growl emanated from it.

Katsuhito clapped his hands together once to get everyone's attention. "We'll just postpone the punishment for later, right now I think the two guests need some food."

Everyone nodded in agreement and they all went inside.

During dinner, Ranma ate at a very reasonable rate (partly because of the fact that Chi-Chi would strangle him if he forgot his table manners). He related to his grandfather his past training trip. He related the stories about how he was taken from his mother by being tricked into signing a seppuku contract to be 'Man amongst Men', Genma forcing him to steal as 'training', starving him to death, almost fed him to ferocious animals and considers it 'training', the stolen dowry (the famous okonomiyaki yattai of the Kuonji's) and making him part with his buddy (who now he knew is a girl) Ukyou, his accidental beating of the amazon warrior Shampoo which earned him a kiss of death (he left out the curse part) that eventually turned into a kiss of marriage, up to the engagement before his birth to one of Soun Tendo's daughters.  
Looking around him, Ranma deduced Tenchi's situation shockingly similar to his own, so he patted the shoulder of his frail cousin and said how women troubles seem to be passed on by blood. He was bopped on the head for that outburst.

After the quite elaborate tale of his life, many were left seething, spouting vengeance on a certain bald martial artist. Ranma just raised his hand dismissively, saying that it was all for training.  
But that didn't leave the others appeased, still secretly brandishing their weapons behind Ranma.

Just as the day was progressing, there came a point where Sasami has brought ice cold refreshments for the humid day. True to her nature,  
Mihoshi 'accidentally' hit the incoming tray, the glasses of drinks directed towards Ranma. Fast as he may be, the martial artist could only watched as the glasses drenched him in cold liquid. The transformation is triggered again and all, and all those around him except Trunks froze in their chat. In an instant, a pigtailed redhead wearing the same clothes as Tenchi's cousin appeared. Washuu immediately launched herself towards the 'guinea pig' of her dreams. The redhead barely had enough time to sidestep and let the small scientist sail harmlessly by her.

Katsuhito's brow lifted when his grandson transformed into this creavascious well-endowed redhead. He looked questioningly at her,  
saying, "Jusenkyo, Ranma?"

At the mention of the cursed place, Ranma turned to her grandfather and nodded. "Stupid pops got this brochure about a legendary training ground. It was all fine and dandy BUT... the whole pamphlet was in chinese! And he couldn't even read chinese! Anyway, he ignored the guide's warning and we started sparring on the bamboo poles that stuck up from the springs. I managed to land a hit on him, propelling him into a spring. To me surprise, a panda emerged. While I was surprised, the stupid panda bopped me on the head and let me fall into another spring,  
and guess what? It was the spring of drowned girl... cold water causes the change to my cursed form, while hot water reverses the effect." she swatted away from her breast Ryoko's poking finger.

Washuu stood up, declaring, "Why don't you come with me? I will cure you of that curse!"

Ranma shook her head violently, accepting the kettle from Sasami's hands. "No thanks. Maybe just having control is enough for me.  
I think I already kinda accepted the curse. I might not like it, but I accept it." she explained as she poured the hot water over her head.  
Everyone marveled the full body transformation of female to male.

"By the way, Ranma..." his grandfather said, "I was wondering if you could explain your tail..."

Ranma smiled at his grandfather. "A while back I was fighting Happosai, the perverted Grandmaster of Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, when he pulled out a strange artifact that blasted me into Trunks'  
dimension..."

Katsuhito started at that. "Happosai? That pervert is still alive?"

Ranma snorted. "Yeah... I beat him up together with a couple of my enemies too. Must be angry at that. Anyway, when I appeared to the other dimension, I fell into some kind of lab. I got electricuted badly,  
and while I was busy tryin' ta figure out what the heck happened to me,  
some weird doctor guy with a couple of androids started blasting me. I got pretty pissed at that, so I kinda blasted the whole lab thingie apart. That was when Trunks and the rest found me. Goku, another friend and a very strong guy at that, pointed out my tail. He said somethin' me being a Saiyajin now... but the tail was in the wrong color..." he turned to Trunks, pulling on the purple haired boy's tail gently, "See this? His is brown, like all of the other Saiyajins. While mine is red in color..." and to show his point, he wagged his tail in front of him.

Ayeka had her hands on her mouth. "Saiyajins..." she said,  
"Those group of warriors are uncivilized at best, but they are really powerful. Physically, they are unmatched across the entire universe, and energy-wise, only the Juraians could outmatch them."

Ryoko snarled. "Met a couple of them a while back, and I was beaten badly. They're quite honorable, but too cocky sometimes too. They never fight unfairly. One-on-one is really a one warrior fight. Geez!  
They are freakin' monsters! They outlast my endurance like I was a baby to them!"

Katsuhito nodded his head once. "Yes, I remember them. Though they were never asked for their alliance. It was too late when the Royal Council decided to enlist them, because they're already allied to the tyrant Freeza. They became feared as planet destroyers, and pods from their planet are sent across the galaxies to probe out planets to be conquered. Saiyajins also have this condition which causes them to transform into very powerful gigantic monkeys during a full moon. Their prime directive is to destroy everything in sight."

Everybody cringed at that, but Ranma interjected, "For some reason, I didn't change when I was exposed to the full moon back when I was battling some aliens in their homeworld. Bulma says it might have been because of my mixed blood. Trunks here also regrew his tail when he was hit by lightning. Bulma removed the recessive gene that causes Saiyajins to change in his DNA. She discovered that I lack those recessive genes when she examined my DNA, so she applied those theories to Trunks too."

Katsuhito visibly relaxed at that. "That's good. You must've had a really grand time."

Ranma snickered. "Yeah. In that timeline I was in, a lot of Saiyajins were present. It was Earth, centuries in the future from now."

"You were pulled into the future?" Washuu asked with great interest.

"Yep." Ranma said simply, "Son Goku, or Kakaroto as his Saiyajin name says, was the first of the Saiyajins to be sent in this part of the universe. He was sent as a conqueror, but a mighty blow on the head reversed his way of thinkin'. His violent nature turned into a kind and gentle soul. He saved the Earth lots of times and was considered a hero.  
Raditz, Goku's blood brother, followed, but was defeated. He was later joined in by the prince of the Saiyajins himself, Vegeta accompanied by Nappa, who first arrived to destroy the planet but reconsidered after being badly beaten by Goku. Nappa died in that encounter when Vegeta killed him. The Saiyajins settled down and also had sons, Goku had Gohan and Vegeta had Trunks..."

Trunks smiled. "The timeline I was in where Ranma arrived wasn't really my timeline."

"Oh?" everyone said simultaneously.

"Yes... I came back through a time machine made by my mother. I was to save Son Goku from dying. He suffered from a rare heart disease and died. Later, my world was attacked by the androids of a mad doctor,  
coincidentally the same doctor that got Ranma regrow his tail again"  
Trunks continued on, "Everyone died at that timeline, and I came back to stop it. Ranma also came out and apparently, he wiped out save two of the android force that was created by Doctor Gero. The two other androids became friendly for some reason, and also Android 18 has this huge thing for Ra-hmmmmpppphhhh!" Trunks mumbled as a blushing Ranma covered his mouth.

"What was that?" Katsuhito eyed his blushing grandson. Trunks elbowed Ranma which at the same time freed his mouth.

"Android 18 fell in love with Ranma!" Trunks laughed out loud.  
The others followed his example and a bellow of laughters echoed the room. This caused Ranma to blush even redder as he waited for the newfound family of his settle down.

When everyone sobered up, Ranma turned to his grandfather,  
asking, "Grandpa, now tell me about my other heritage, and also why everyone here are all aliens?"

Everyone sweated as Katsuhito gasped in mild surprise. "How did you deduce that, Ranma?" he asked. Ranma raised an eyebrow and gave his grandfather a 'do-you-take-me-for-a-fool' look.

Ayeka smiled. "You are right. I am of Juraian Royalty, Princess Ayeka. I came here with my sister, Sasami. She is also a princess. I came here to retrieve my half-brother Yosho. Mihoshi is from the Galaxy Police. She is not from Earth either. Well, we took a liking of this place and decided to stay for a while longer."

Washuu laughed softly. "Amazing! You could tell auras apart!  
Very well, I am definitely not human. I'm approximately 20,000 years old. Ryoko is my daughter, mixed breeds of the alien races I come across. I am the greatest scientist in the universe!" Everybody sweatdropped at the outburst.

Ryoko smirked. "I was a feared space pirate before I came here,  
but got defeated by Yosho almost seven hundred years ago. He trapped me in a cave near here and I was freed by Tenchi here." Ryoko threw Tenchi a small smile. Ranma chuckled as he watched his cousin freeze up, and Ayeka fumed.

Katsuhito bowed a bit. "I am a descendant of Yosho, former crown prince of Jurai. Tenchi is now the current crown prince, which makes you a prince as well."

Ranma looked at his grandfather curiously. "So... this is the effect of the Age Longetivity thingie Bulma explained to me..."

Ayeka's brow rose at that. "What do you mean, Ranma-sama?"

Ranma winced slightly, but he continued, "I mean, why is grandpa hiding his real face? He's really young, but he hid under that baggy old man look." The 'old' man paled at the remark, looking at Ayeka nervously who was at this time glaring at him.

"What does he mean, 'brother'?" Ayeka hissed, a hint of venom dripped from the 'brother' part.

Everyone's gazes concentrated on him, and Katsuhito really felt uncomfortable. "W-well..." he stammered, "I really didn't want to take the throne. I chose to pursue Ryoko here rather than be tied down by royalty." and with that, he dropped his disguise field, earning a wide-eyed stare from the people around him. In place of the old man, a rather young man with long black hair tied in a low ponytail sat before them.

Ranma felt the huge tension that sprang up in the air. Before things got out of hand, he stepped in saying, "I wouldn't blame him for hiding though, I mean I couldn't be caught dead rotting in a throne."

Ayeka's outrage towards Yosho turned to Ranma. "What do you mean by that! How dare you speak about the throne like that!"

Ranma waved his hand in the air. "Then what the heck are ya all doin' here then? Why are the princesses out here in a small planet like this! Why the heck did the great space pirate Ryoko stay in here after getting outta that cave? Why did the greatest scientist in the universe prefer to be here? Well?" Seeing no one would dispute his claim, he spoke once again, "Everyone wants to let loose once in a while. You cannot blame them for bein' selfish jus' once in a while."

Katsuhito smiled. "While we are in the subject of secrets, I have another one concerning you, Ranma." When he saw Ranma's brow rise a bit, he continued, "You see, your Saiyajin blood was kind of, my fault."

"What?" Ranma has a confused expression on his face.

"You see, a lost Saiyajin crash-landed long ago here, and was terribly wounded. It was when your mother is about sixteen years of age.  
She in turn tended on the Saiyajin while I tried to find information on how to repair his ship with Funaho. Let's just say, it was love between them. He had amnesia, and forgotten his name. We only knew that he has escaped here from Freeza's tyranny, by order of the Vegeta-sei's Royal Guard Captain named Bardock. We named him Ran."

Ranma's face was neutral. "You mean to tell me, Genma was really not my father?"

Katsuhito shook his head. "No. He's not. I had Funaho seal your Saiyajin powers just because it is too powerful even for Nodoka to bear when she is going to give birth to you. After that, Ran received a distress signal from his planet, and he was being ordered to go back. At that time, I was successful in restoring parts of the ship he used with Funaho's help. He left the planet with Nodoka one month pregnant of you,  
Ranma. My daughter cried every night after that."

Ranma nodded solemnly. "I should be angry at my father, but for some reason I understand his reasons for leaving. I woulda done the same thing ya know. People will die if he didn't come back. But I heard Vegeta-sei was destroyed anyway. Still, his courage is admirable."

"You got that trait from him, Ranma." Katsuhito chuckled. "Too bad we never got his real name. After a few weeks, a traveling martial artist came by, and wooed Nodoka. That man is Saotome Genma. The rest is history."

"So, my Saiyajin blood is supposed to remain dormant?" the pigtailed Saiyajin asked.

Katsuhito sighed. "You have to understand. We have to control your powers because it was too much. Your mother wouldn't have survived giving birth to you if you had that kind of energy. Even one month old inside your mother's womb, Ran and I could already feel your energy gushing forth."

"Oh... I guess that's okay. But still, it won't hurt if ya just told me anyways." Ranma deadpanned.

"Enough with the lies. Isn't there another secret you wish to tell Ranma, Yosho?" Everyone looked at Sasami, who's playful eyes reverted into an older looking type with lots of experience in them.

"Tsunami..." Katsuhito muttered, sweating a bit. "D-do you wish for him to know this now?"

Sasami/Tsunami nodded. "Yes, prince of Jurai. I wish it so."

"Know what?" Ranma asked, confusion etched into his face.

Everyone turned to Katsuhito, who coughed to clear his throat.  
"Well, you see... Nodoka is not your blood mother either."

"WHAT!" Multitudes of outraged cries was heard all over the household. Katushito winced as he watched them glare at him except Ranma, who was in extreme shock, and Sasami/Tsunami, who was looking at him intently.

"Actually, he is Tokimi's child..." Katsuhito raised his hand to forestall any more outbursts, "The lost Saiyajin, who we named Ran, is the father. Tsunami and I made a story to hide the fact who Ranma really is."

"TOKIMI!" Washuu, Ayeka and Ryoko screamed, shocked out of their wits.

"Yes... my sister Tokimi's son..." Sasami/Tsunami's sad sigh didn't escape those around her. "Tokimi detected the strong energy, thus she sought the source out. She found the Saiyajin, and I still don't know about this, but I think she was smitten by him. How, I cannot tell.  
I found out about her plan to bring the Saiyajin and brainwash him, but I was too late to stop it when it happened. Tokimi has spies everywhere,  
eventhough she was imprisoned. The Saiyajin was brought to her from here by some means that only she knew, and for some reason, her expression softened when she talked to him. I was monitoring Tokimi's dimensional prison at this time, trying to find a way to rescue the poor warrior.  
But, to my surprise, Tokimi embraced him and even kissed him. I didn't watch anymore, but I learned that the kidnapped Saiyajin was returned here, under Funaho's tree. He doesn't remember a thing." she said the last part almost in a whisper.

Katsuhito breathed out. "Tsunami -FELT- that Tokimi is with child, so it is safe to assume of Ran and Tokimi's... tryst... well, she got pregnant. Tsunami was afraid that Tokimi will use her child as an instrument of her revenge. A mixture of two of the most powerful beings in the universe. Imagine the consequences given Tokimi's evil. While Tokimi was asleep Tsunami magically removed the fertilized egg from her sister's womb. Incidentally, this caused Tokimi to go mad, adding to her anger in Tsunami and her children. Meanwhile Tsunami talked to me and asked for advice. While it is not practical, I suggested that she transfer the 'seed' to a mortal. I talked to Nodoka and Kiyone, and Nodoka took the chance."

"I transferred the seed into Nodoka's womb..." Sasami/Tsunami continued, "And erased it from her memory. At that time, there was also a martial artist who wandered here, so it was convenient at that time.  
They fell in love, and the rest is history. The baby they thought they conceived by themselves was already there to begin with. The Saiyajin wasn't really in love with Nodoka. We made that part up to cover everything up. Days after the Saiyajin returned from Tokimi, he returned to his infantry. His courage and sense of honor though, are exactly like Ranma's. His stubborness and pride, is from your mother. We hid everything from everyone, to protect the stability of... possibly the whole universe. I just don't know what to do at that time, if I knew that Tokimi brought you up. I cannot read my sister's actions that well."

By this time, everyone was openly gaping at the solemn Tsunami.  
Ryoko then growled, "You -STOLE- Ranma from his mother! What kind of an action is that! Do you have any idea how that would feel!"

A meek voice answered for her. "It hurts like hell." They all turned to see Washuu seething in anger. "Damn you, Tsunami, how the hell could you do this! You mean to tell me that all her anger was from this! No wonder she was mad at you!"

Tenchi just kept silent.

"By the goddess! I can't believe this!" Ayeka cried out for the sheer absurdity of it all.

"...Why?" It was barely a whisper, but everyone stopped talking at once and looked at the disraughted Ranma. "Why did you take me from my mother?" Then he shook his head. "No, I won't blame you for it. For some reason, I think you thought it was for the best. I heard from the stories that my real mother was evil, and that you won't like me to be tainted like her. But I will reserve my judgement of her... she may or may not be evil after all..."

"I'm sorry, Ranma... at first that was part of it. I don't want you to grow up in that path, my nephew. I just had to save you from that pain!" Sasami/Tsunami said, her eyes cast on the floor, "But then there is also this legend. The first ever sentient being in the known multiverses is known only as the Darkness. Then out of that Darkness,  
the Ancient Gods were born. After countless of years being in control,  
the Darkness bore another three gods, namely Kami-sama, Chaos-sama, and Hel-sama. They had different names, but all mean the same. The three casted the Ancient Gods into Oblivion, and set to run things. But Chaos was different, and it chose to just exist along the Cosmos, constantly traveling from one universe to another, balancing the elements out.  
There will come a time when Chaos would find its perfect body, and with it, it will be acting as a balance for the whole of existence. Kami-sama told me that I was the one to bear such a body for the heralding the avatar or... possibly the heir of Chaos. It can never be controlled, nor can ever be tamed."

Ranma sighed magnanimously. "Chaos, huh? Sounds exactly like my life."

"Would you like to stay here for a few days, Ranma?" Katsuhito asked suddenly. "It would also give me an opportunity to train you in the other half of your heritage."

Ranma looked at Trunks, who nodded slightly in return. He gazed once again to his grandfather, saying, "Sure... I'm not in a hurry anyway... besides, I wanna ask you about my mother. Better in one perspective than none at all."

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To Be Continued...

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Authors Rants:

Ah... Chapter One finally. You might wanna ask why Ranma is stronger than most, well coz since he was young he was already unconsciously using his ki to augment and aid his strength, stamina and durability. Now imagine him, now a newly awakened Saiyajin with high ki output, unconsciously use his ki to boost his stats.

Besides, he needs the power boost. He's always hunted here,  
always bullied for some reason. I hate bullies.

Don't worry, he's gonna have enemies that will be stronger than him, and he will need some help in fighting them. His fights won't always be against a humanoid you know.

At first, I was planning on having the mad doctor to accidentally inject the Goku DNA to Ranma, but then I got an inspiration from the story 'Child of the Goddess'.

To the author, Gekigengar31, I salute you! I hope you're gonna continue with the story soon... been looking forward to the next chapters.

Some might disagree with Akane quickly falling for Ryoga.  
Well... maybe, maybe not. It depends... but as I really see it, Ryoga's too well hung in his mission to destroy Ranma's happiness. His persistence in showing up and courting Akane to his side without Ranma to bother or stop them would push things along. Besides, Akane trusts Ryoga more than she does Ranma. Sorry for the canon Akane fans, but her mistrusting ways must go! I really feel for Ranma when he gets clobbered for something he didn't do, and if not for Akane's really intense but super hidden feelings for the guy, I would even agree to an Akane bashing. But as I said, I for some reason like Akane's tomboy attitude,  
coz my dearly departed beloved (rhymes... figures...) is somewhat like her, without the too much mistrust. She bashes, she raves, but heck,  
it's in moderation. And she cuddles me after a quarrel.

Ryoga fans too, sorry for his would be apparent bashings and for future ones too. I just can't think of any other way to visualize the guy. Maybe he stuck with Ranma with his most hedious fights, but heck Ryoga always did plan for something sneaky and dishonorable. Ryoga even didn't realize that he is leading on Akari, although it is one of his battlecries against Ranma. His bullheadedness is somewhat.  
disconcerting. Weird.

I also wanna explore the fact about Ranma being the stolen son of Tokimi. I may have kinda changed things, but it is a good reason why Tokimi would be so angry at Tsunami, right? Eheh... Ranma calling Sasami 'auntie'... funny... heheh...

Anyway, if you're gonna ask about the matchups, well, we're going there. The hints will be obvious anyway. I don't wanna give out who Ranma will stay with. Besides, Ranma 1/2 can NOT be Ranma 1/2 if he won't be pursued by a harem. It might not be his fault, but it is comical, as well as a plot device!

That's why I love Ranma 1/2! There's so many possibilities and outcomes waiting to be explored!

Will Ryoga finally get his girl? Heh... stay tuned.

Hmmm... I wonder if I would also cross this fic with games and stuff... Final Fantasy isn't bad... Evil Zone too... Chrono Trigger and Cross... yummy. Lots and lots of possibilities.

This won't be the end of the crossover between Ranma and DBZ/DBGT. It's only the beginning of a really interesting fusion.

Oh yeah. This is a 'FanFic'... the writer IS the boss ya know.

- Lord Rance

This whole story, 'Path of Chaos', is dedicated to Ashleen, my beloved. May you rest in peace, my love. I will find you and be with you again, wherever you are.

Comments are welcome, but please reserve the negative. It's a fanfic, I get to tweak my story my own way.

In case you need my email for some reason at all, will be coming... I hope to find a good place. 


	3. Chapter 2

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: "If the Pen is mightier than the Sword, then why the heck did we invent the Sword then! Stab everyone in the eye with a Pen then!"

Author Notes: Some scenes are... well... hmmm... forget it.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 2 - SECRETS, SENSHI, AND A FAREWELL

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Ranma had just learned that he is not human at all. His birth parents were in fact not Genma Saotome and Nodoka Masaki. Ranma's father was a Saiyajin Elite from Vegeta-sei, while his mother is the goddess Tokimi of Jurai. Tsunami, Tokimi's sister, for some reason wanted to save her nephew against the evil that surrounded Tokimi, magically severed Ranma's fertilized egg from Tokomi's cervix. Due to Tokimi's imprisonment, her powers were greatly reduced, thus weakening her magical barriers against such attacks. With the process of transfering the conceived cell from Tokimi's womb to Yosho's daughter Nodoka, with Nodoka's permission, Ranma grew up in Nodoka's womb. The goddess also erased the memory of the transaction to save the trouble, but it would seem that Ranma will never have a normal life. Coincidentally, this is also what fanned the fires of the huge war between Tsunami and Tokimi.

Ranma just came back from his time trip to the future with Trunks, and now he planned to spend a few days more with the Masaki's.  
His somewhat cousin Tenchi has welcomed him.

Trunks slept in a futon that night in a spare bedroom in the Masaki house. The full moon was shining outside the window. The futon beside him was empty, which was for Ranma.

The boy in question was currently walking at the banks of the nearby lake that circled a lone island in the middle, where a huge tree grows. He gazed at the moon, thankful a bit for the weirdness in his blood that changed him. If he were a normal Saiyajin, he may never enjoy a walk like this under the pale moonlit night. He was enchanted by the sight as the calm lake reflected the moon rays across the glassy surface. In the peace of the night, Ranma finally decided to begin his kata once again. The light illuminated the whole area in soft white, and the sight of it with the great tree in the middle of it all was breathtaking, so much that Ranma didn't feel the soft rustling of leaves behind him.

Ayeka was taking one of her nightly walks in the meantime. She still felt restless after her bath. The fact of knowing some secrets tonight really taxed out on her energy. This is her time to unwind from all the fuss. Her thoughts eventually turned to the young man, Ranma.  
She just learned about him today, and a lot has been uncovered. Tokimi's child... what a surprise for her. And also the fact that for some reason, this young man attract her so. His ability to radiate innocence is astounding. It was hard for her to believe that a good, naive person like him could be an offspring of Jurai's worst enemy. She was going to the lake again to cool off, but found out that someone else was there first. She spied on Ranma as he leapt nimbly from one area to the next,  
seemingly disappearing in short bursts of time that left her spellbound.  
Even with partly awakened Juraian powers, which he wasn't using at all right now, his speed was supernatural. Through Ayeka's purple eyes, she watched as Ranma wove intricate patterns in the air, with rather soft popping sonic booms that reverberated along the still air. She was even more surprised when Ranma suddenly jumped high up in the air and hovered there, completing the concluding steps of the dance he was improvising.

Ranma breathed in deeply as he felt the soft caress of the wind while he floated high up above the lake shores. His current state of mind was all for kata, and he was about to conclude it. As he was slowly going out of the mental trance he locked himself into, he felt a strange yet familiar power signature hiding out in one of the nearby bushes. He smiled as he finally ended his kata and used his Instant Transmission,  
he disappeared and reappeared right in front of the stunned Ayeka.

Smiling warmly while he offered his hand to the blushing girl,  
Ranma said, "Hello, Princess Ayeka... what are you doing here?"

Still red from the embarrassment of being caught, Ayeka took Ranma's hand and pulled herself up, stepping out of the bush she hid herself in. "I'm just taking a walk..." she muttered.

Ranma snickered. "You enjoyed the show?"

Ayeka turned to Ranma and blushed deeply. "Y-you were amazing..."

Ranma shrugged. "I've been trained to be the best... even sacrificing everything unrelated to the Art. Now I know that it's bad to concentrate on it too much."

Ayeka smiled nervously. "What do you mean by that?"

Ranma bowed low. "I'm Ranma Saotome, probably the best martial artist in my generation. Though I think I could do more than this, so I think I should concentrate on other things too, like studying and stuff." he chuckled.

"Ahhh.." Ayeka said, bewildered.

"And now I find out a lot of secrets regarding who I really am."

Ayeka giggled. "I guess it is pretty hard on you, isn't it?"

Ranma nodded sagely. "Yep. I just found out why the heck I'm too strong for my kind... Saiyajins, Juraians... even an unknown in my blood... it's all too much ta get into, ya know? Finding out my father wasn't Genma (thank Kami for that!) and my mom, Nodoka, wasn't my blood mother. I'm a son of a Goddess for cryin' out loud!"

Ayeka sighed as she sat down. "It's a bit disconcerting at first, but it's all for the best, isn't it? Or would you rather have not learnt anything about your origins?"

"I know. But... to know that in my blood, two opposing races are fused. There is still that other one... I wonder what it is. Also it's weird, especially since Juraians hated Saiyajins..." Ranma said softly as he looked towards nothing in particular.

"Ranma-sama..."

Ranma smiled softly. "It's okay. Saiyajins are brutal, rough,  
uncouth (I heard this one from my mom), and uncivilized. Most people said so..."

Ayeka found the ground rather interesting at this point.  
"Including... me."

"I'm not saying that..."

Ayeka giggled humorlessly. "But it's true. We've been taught to be civilized all our lives. We became somewhat aloof and too prideful for our sakes. I finally began to understand why Yosho-niisan decided to run away from it all. When I met you, a half saiyajin, I realized that I may have been impartial in my judgement regarding the race. Probably,  
not all of them are as uncivilized as what my teachers have taught me.  
We were just afraid that the Saiyajins were the only ones that could probably match our power... we were afraid of something we do not understand. I'm sorry for being biased, Ranma-sama."

Ranma was taken aback by Ayeka's apology. The act itself, to his knowledge, was hard to do, especially since the purple haired woman was true blue royalty. Feeling honored, Ranma hesitantly patted Ayeka's shoulder and said, "It's alright, Princess Ayeka."

The princess leaned her head to his hand. "Seeing you now,  
Saiyajins and Juraians could live together, despite their history.  
Despite who you are, you showed me that both species are compatible. For some reason, I am compelled to thank Tokimi-sama for it."

"I... that's true... thank you, Ayeka-chan..." Ranma smiled at her warmly, eliciting a warmth that encompassed her entire body.

Ayeka's face moved closer to Ranma's. "Ranma-kun..." she said softly, "There is going to be a lot of trouble in the near future. You are going to be caught in the middle of a lot of wars and struggles,  
between outer worlds and even between gods and goddesses. Your future is as chaotic as you, Ranma..."

"I know..." Ranma's hot breath fanned her face, making her shiver a bit, "Trouble seems to have a way of finding me no matter what.  
But I could always manage..."

"Ranma..." Ayeka's lips brushed ever so lightly on Ranma's own.

"..." Ranma pulled back slowly and shook his head for a bit.  
((What the hell made me do that?)) he thought to himself, watching the seemingly young girl in front of him smiled mischievously. Ranma sputtered and managed to say, "I... I can't, Ayeka-chan. I'm kinda.  
spoken for..."

Ayeka laughed softly, her eyes reflected mirth. "I think you are forgetting something, Prince Ranma of Jurai. Eventhough you are not Nodoka-san's blood son, technically you are still a prince, especially since you are the connected of a goddess of Jurai, eventhough it was from Tokimi."

Ranma tilted his head to one side, not having understood even a little bit. "Aaaand... what does that have to do with anything?"

Ayeka giggled, a sound that Ranma started to like lately.  
"Silly! Juraian princes can have multiple wives!"

Ranma's eyes grew into large saucers. "Wha-wha-wha-what! Dang!  
If the other girls finds out 'bout this, they're gonna chase me with greater passion!"

"I... Ranma-sama..." ((What am I doing? I have Tenchi, right?))

"..." ((What the HELL? I don't need another girl running after me! But still... arrgghhh!)) Ranma gasped, then sobered when he realized something. "Hey! What about Tenchi? I thought you're gonna marry him?"

"Maybe, maybe not..." Ayeka replied cryptically. After a moment of looking into Ranma's eyes, she stood up and turned to the house. "You better get some rest, Ranma-sama. Good-night, and thank you for a wonderful night!"

Ranma stared after the retreating princess' back, and lifted his hand to his mouth to touch the part where their lips made contact. For some reason, Ayeka reminded him of Akane.

((Hmmm... Ranma-sama? Why the heck is she calling me that?))

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma's stay in the shrine added an obvious aura of excitement among the individuals of the home. He also started sparring with Tenchi,  
and foremost to his grandfather. Katsuhito proved to be a very reliable teacher, and he enjoyed teaching his pseudo-grandson just as much as Ranma enjoyed learning from him. He was still surprised as to how quickly Ranma took into the Juraian sword techniques.

Ranma stood in front of the shrine in a battle stance. He looked at his opponent carefully. Eventhough his grandfather is old, Ranma knew that the old man still has the speed and ability to match him, well,  
back when he was human. His grip on the wooden bokken in his hand tightened a bit as he saw his grandfather's jaw tighten. Katsuhito is getting ready to attack.

Likewise, Katsuhito is probing Ranma's defense for holes. He found multitudes of them actually. But he knew that his grandson left them there on purpose. His knowledge of Juraian swordplay as well as hundreds of other styles that he practiced with Tenchi daily would have to suffice. Compared to someone who was a prodigy when it came to techniques, he would have to watch out if he decides to use his secret techniques. He knew that Ranma is a genius when it comes to picking up different techniques, and immediately incorporating them into his own brand of style. The Anything Goes style has been heavily modified into Ranma's own style. Katsuhito knew, that unknown to Ranma, his grandson already invented a new School of Martial Arts.

Back to the battle, err, sparring session, Katsuhito finally became impatient and launched a downward slash toward Ranma's head.  
Ranma's bokken immediately parried the incoming wood. After averting the strike, Ranma used his sword's momentum and thrust the wood towards Katsuhito's open chest. The old man dodged and forced himself to separate from Ranma, getting himself some space to think of another stratagem to try out.

Ranma had another thing in mind though, as he picked up the pace and became a blur. Katsuhito groaned and blurred as well, tried in vain to match Ranma's slashes. Loud clacking sounds filled the area as the bokkens clashed against one another. Ranma may not have all the skills Katsuhito have, but his speed sufficed the skill difference he lacked.  
It also didn't help the old man that Ranma was like a sponge, soaking up information and was able to mimic and strengthen the skills Katsuhito threw upon him. Ranma, on his end, tried to remain as human as possible.  
Earlier when he was practicing alone, he discovered that his strength was no longer mortal in measurement, especially since he had done sound barrier breaking punches with his special armlets on. Those two special weighted armlets, which weighed almost 5,000 pounds, were nothing to him right now. And if he tried to use his inhuman speed while sparring he could seriously hurt his grandfather, so right now he just let himself be as human as possible.

They both separated once again, with Katsuhito breathing a bit heavily while Ranma still remained fresh. Katsuhito slashed downwards once again, expecting his grandson to block it. But to his astonishment,  
Ranma smiled slightly and sidestepped, making him lose his balance and overextending a bit. Before he could recover his stance to raise his defense, Ranma already had his bokken placed near Katsuhito's neck.  
Ranma's eyes are voicing their silent question to his grandfather, and the old man nodded his acceptance of the sound defeat.

"You've gasp improved, Ranma..." Katsuhito panted a bit as he winded down from the spar.

Ranma smiled at his grandfather. "Thanks, grandpa."

The old man nodded, and gazed back to the gaping Tenchi and the others, who were still immobile in their states of shock. "You can close your mouth now, Tenchi." Katsuhito mused as he smiled.

Multiple clacks of closing mouths were heard. Tenchi though still had something to say, "Wha-wha-wha-what! H-h-h-how!"

Ranma shrugged. "Been training all my life."

Katsuhito straightened himself. "So, Ranma. You're going today,  
right?"

"Yeah... thanks again for letting me stay here, grandpa,  
everyone."

Sasami, her innocence back again, hopped to Ranma's side and clutched at his arm, saying, "Awwwww! Ranma-niichan, can't you just stay for breakfast at least?"

Ranma almost fell over at the force of Sasami's improvised arm glomp. "Well..."

Sasami did something that made Ranma almost run away from fear.  
Her eyes turned sparkly and enlarged themselves. Her mouth quivered as she looked at Ranma, once again implored, "Pleeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeeeee!"

Ranma buckled at that. ((By the kami! The puppy dog eyes technique...))

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Washuu's Subspace Pocket Laboratory...

The red haired scientist stretched her back gratefully as she followed Sasami outside her lab. She was just called out for dinner,  
which she would gladly partake. As of now, all her experiments could hold out on their own.

As the door closed out upon her exit, three distinct beeps sounded from a lit terminal. On the greenish computer screen, various information had finally been retrieved from the blood sample Washuu worked on for the past few days.

DNA STRUCTURE ANALYSIS COMPLETED. DISPLAYING RESULTS...

SUBJECT NUMBER: 889099881-1098385-109xx NAME: Saotome, Ranma

GENDER: Male/Female (Aquatranssexual)

DNA BREAKDOWN: a. 34.1 - Saiyajin

b. 33.2 - Juraian

c. 32.7 - Masu

TIME LAPSE SINCE LAST UPDATE: 11 years, 9 months, 4 days, 8 hours, 6 seconds UPDATING DATAFILES... CROSS-REFERENCING EARLIER DATA... DATA DISPLAY ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

WELCOME BACK, LORD RANMA.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokyo Proper, Shopping District...

))BURP!((

"Auggghh... man! I ate plenty..." Ranma said as he patted his belly. It has been hours since he and Trunks left the shrine. They now walked along the main roads in downtown Tokyo, where they took in the sights in front of them. They decided not to fly out, but to enjoy the scenery while they were there.

Trunks groaned. "Remind me to empty my stomach the next time Sasami cooks like that. So, where to now, Ranma?"

The pigtailed boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess we should get going to my mom's house." he said after a while, "It would be good to see her again..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Washuu's Lab, three hours after Ranma and Trunks left for Nerima...

The diminuitive red haired scientist gingerly read the information she gathered from her current pet project.

"Hmmm... 'welcome back'? Does that mean I already brought him here before?" Washuu thought out loud, while still holding the printed documents, "Yes, it would seem that way. So that's where the last sample of Masu DNA I had before went..."

She scratched her head in confusion. "So this means we have a Saiyajin-Juraian-Masu type hybrid that doesn't know what he's capable of? Yeesh... what a horrid life this is..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Hikawa Shrine, Juuban Ward...

Eight girls were currently assembled and were chatting amongst themselves as they waited for their compatriot. The group was called the Sailor Senshi, and now they were transformed and battle-ready, because of a warning that was sent by Sailor Pluto during their meeting last night.

The term 'vigilantes' were used to describe them. Their appearance years before was at first rocky at best. Their mission was noble: to defeat the forces of the dark and build a utopia for mankind.  
Their history span for many centuries, which started from the founding of the Silver Millenium. The planets in the Solar System during that time were able to sustain life, and were also able to be colonized.  
Soon, a form of monarch government was set up, and the people among the group of planets decided to name the Earth Moon as the center of their government. The House of Serenity was born in this time.

The leaders of the said government were all women, for it was said (according to the rumor) that only women were able to wield and use the power of the Silver Crystal. So far so good, the reign of momentary peace left the people content and happy.

But like most things, peace was never a permanent thing.

Evil wormed its way into the government, corrupting the princess of the Earth named Beryl. Using her spurned love for the betrothed Prince Endymion as a catalyst to intensify the hollow darkness within the heart of the princess, an evil entity with the name Metallia filled Beryl with hopelessness and despair. It was to which her feelings led to anger and eventually, a need for revenge.

During a Royal Ball which was held occasionally inside the Moon Palace, Beryl and her mustered forces converged and attacked, but not before decimating the other planets' environmental generators, making them inhabitable within hours. The attack by the evil caught the Imperial Palace in surprise. They barely put up a defense against the onslaught.

The Senshi made a valiant effort in repelling the waves of Beryl's forces. But it was all in vain, and were brought down one by one. Queen Serenity, in a rather ditched effort to let her daughter,  
Princess Serenity, survive, used the power of the Silver Crystal. The queen magically sent the souls of the fallen Senshi and the prince of the Earth Endymion, as well as her daughter Serenity, far into the future where they could live peacefully. Finally able to finish the ritual, the queen used the last of her energies to magically imprison Beryl and her forces in a dark dimension, with the entity Metallia.

In the future, rather in the current time where the Senshi were reborn, Beryl also stirred from her imprisonment and mustered enough energy to break free from her prison. The eventual need for the Senshi were satisfied when the girls recovered a cheese-holed version of their Silver Millenium history. Sailor Pluto, the Senshi of Time, was the only one who survived the massacre of the Silver Millenium. Her duties in the Gates of Time had forbidden her to interfere with what was supposed to happen. After years of waiting, she finally revived the Senshi and fought against the forces of the Negaverse and the rest of the evil that were supposed to attack. Sailor Moon, the newly reincarnated princess of the Moon, led the group.

Now, back to the darned story...

Tsukino Usagi, AKA Sailor Moon, was the reincarnated princess of the Moon Kingdom, much to the dismay of her compatriots. Clumsy, had no style, and a pathetic crybaby, Usagi was at the same time had a cheerful personality that kinda sticks on you, and that extreme sorts of luck that she possessed. Even with her faults, she would emerge from a battle as the winner. She tended to radiate a 'Ditzy Blonde' aura. No doubt about it. Usagi's weird relationship with her 'destined' husband,  
Mamoru, was flakey at best. Their on and off relationship really sucked beans, if you think about it. For the smallest of reasons, they break up.

Ahem.

Mizuno Ami, AKA Sailor Mercury, was the Senshi's most intelligent group member. Armed with her trusty Mercury Computer, she usually devised the tactics the Senshi used during their battles. She scanned for various strengths and weaknesses of their enemies.

Kino Makoto, AKA Sailor Jupiter, was one of the major powerhouses of the group. Her arsenal of devastating attacks are her assets, couple that with her martial arts skill. Boy-crazy and usually seen with Minako, she usually pines for her 'old boyfriend/sempai'.

Aino Minako, AKA Sailor Venus, had the power of... love. Yes,  
that's right! Love! She came from England, where she posed as a fake Sailor Moon to divert some of their enemies' attentions from the real princess. Usually seen with Makoto, they wore the same boy-crazy title upon their belts.

Hino Rei, AKA Sailor Mars, was a fiery thoroughbred. Her home planet matches her temper so well. She gets angry at small things,  
especially if that concerns Usagi. During their meetings, she's usually seen chasing Usagi, either because of food or manga. Take your pick.

Tenou Haruka, AKA Sailor Uranus, was the self proclaimed tomboy of the group. Together with Makoto, they made up a great martial arts duo. Rumors have it that her tomboy image was induced by a scorned love.  
Currently, she was involved with Michiru. She loves to play the piano and race cars, apparently.

Kaiou Michiru, AKA Sailor Neptune, was a demure and pretty aloof person. Her relationship with Haruka doesn't mean that she's a tomboy too (if you don't believe me, watch the whole SM show and watch her body languange carefully). She took custody of Hotaru as the child's mother,  
and Haruka as a father figure.

Tomoe Hotaru, AKA Sailor Saturn, had a weak constitution due to her former father's experiments on her body. She hosted the demoness Mistress 9 but was eventually driven out. Her powers awoke at this time too, but she ended up having to use her final move. This massive power drain caused her body to revert back to infancy. Though in the care of the other three outer Senshi, her growth spurts were earlier. She grew into a fifteen-year-old in a matter of months.

Meiou Setsuna, AKA Sailor Pluto, was the most enigmatic of all the Senshi. Her priority was her duty to protect the Gates of Time. Her memories of the Silver Millenium were intact, for she was in the Gates during the downfall of the Kingdom. Her knowledge was the best weapon she had.

And now, according to her, the greatest threat in existence is approaching, fast.

Another powerful threat to the Crystal Tokyo was emminent, and they needed all their powers to defeat the enemy. Their talking ended when a swirling black portal appeared just outside the door of the shrine. The Senshi immediately stood ready and watched as Sailor Pluto slowly emerged from the portal. They took note of the serious and grim expression on her face.

"They're coming..." Sailor Pluto said simply.

Sailor Mercury opened her computer when beeps started to sound from her dimensional pocket. She typed with it for a few moments and nodded. "Two large energy sources are currently detected within the perimeter of Juuban. They are moving at a slow but steady pace. In a few minutes, they will pass by at the front of the shrine in three minutes."

"This is gonna be easier than I thought!" Sailor Uranus snorted.

"Don't be too sure..." Sailor Mercury reprimanded the blonde Senshi, "Their power levels are way higher than ours."

"Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Sailor Moon wailed loudly, "I thought Sailor Galaxia will be the last? Why is this happening again?"

Everyone turned to Sailor Pluto, who was looking more serious than normal. "My god... I could feel their powers even from here!"

"They're going to pass by the street in about a minute and a half, let's go outside now!" Mercury reminded them. They looked at each other and nodded. They quickly ushered themselves out and stopped at the middle part of the shrine steps, waiting for their quarry.

The current greatest threat in the world according to Sailor Pluto was leisurely walking along, with his companion by his side. He suddenly felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise and tingle. He shuddered, looking from side to side quickly as he walked along. His pigtail was sticking upwards in warning, telling him that big trouble is around the corner.

His companion noticed the apprehension coming from his friend. Without looking back, he said, "Hey, Ranma! What's eating you?"

Ranma gulped and shook his head, not that it would mean anything because his friend wasn't looking at him in the first place. "I didn't change much into a girl lately Trunks... I just know something bad is gonna happen soon, that's all."

Trunks rolled his eyes as he continued walking. "So? You really are paranoid you know. Nothing's going to happen."

"Don't say that!"

Too late, because as of this moment, they already transversed in front of a shrine, where the Soldiers for Love and Justice (kami, that name really irks me, and for some reason, it reminds me of Akazukin Cha-cha) waited for the ambush.

At this instant, the two groups finally met up with each other.

To the surprise of the Sailor Senshi, the lead attack was from someone they least expected it to come from... meaning, Sailor Pluto.

"Dead Scream."

The pigtailed multi-bred alien felt a huge power barreling straight towards their position. He immediately looked to his right and saw a dark red ball of energy coming to him. He called out a warning to Trunks, who already took to the sky, and jumped to the side. The ball impacted on the pavement and exploded, spreading dust and debris all over the area Ranma was in a while ago.

Sailor Pluto lowered her staff and yelled a battlecry and sped forward. She quickly launched herself to the momentarily stunned target.

Ranma quickly picked himself up from the ground he dove into and felt his tail go free. He sighed and muttered, "Always have to remember to use the special sash Washuu-chan invented for me to cover my tail up.  
Normal cloth just don't agree with me!" His attention focused on the short skirted woman that was beelining towards him waving a huge key-like staff about. He dodged frantically as he was caught flatfooted against the attack.

((Great, now I'm being attacked by a girl in fuku...)) he thought. ((Well, an attack is an attack. For reasons I can't possibly understand, I feel this is one big misunderstanding. But, I should defend myself...))

The rest of the Senshi on the other hand were still too busy staring at the floating purple haired boy who hung in the air. He was currently scratching that brown belt of his, which was confusing for the Senshi. They were about to comment on it when another explosion rocked the ground. Their gazes switched to the dodging pigtailed young man as Sailor Pluto stubbornly tried to pummel him with her staff. Suddenly,  
the male jumped up to the air. That was the time they noticed the red appendage that dangled between his legs.

((A tail!)) was the simultaneous thoughts of all the girls except Pluto, who was still throwing red globes of energy to the young man.

Ranma propelled himself in the air as he skirted over the menacing attacks. When the green haired Senshi stopped to catch a breather, Ranma quickly gathered some ki into his hands to blast a small ki ball, enough to incapacitate the woman.

Pluto felt the energy gathering and launched another red globe to Ranma's direction, smirking because she knew that while gathering energy, the young man could not dodge lest he loses concentration.

Imagine Pluto and the rest of the Senshi's surprise when the ball was casually backhanded by Ranma and watched it as the Plutonian energy just dissipated in the air. The pseudo-alien took advantage of his opponent's shock and launched his ki ball towards the ground close to the Senshi.

Pluto didn't have time to get out of the way as the golden ball of energy landed unto the ground on her right, creating an explosion big enough to make her lose her balance. She fell on her rump unceremoniously, her visage still in a state of shock when she learned her attack being batted away that easily.

Before any of them could attack, Ranma landed lightly on the ground followed by Trunks and raised his hands in the air. "Can we talk peacefully now?"

"You bastard!" an irritated Uranus practically screamed.  
Actually, she had felt a slight hesitation on her part to attack the pigtailed martial artist. Nevertheless, a threat is a threat. She jumped high in the air with his fist clenched and thrown into a punch, directly towards the nearest enemy in her sights.

It was Trunks. Much to his chargrin, the purple haired half-Saiyajin decided to join the fray, not that he really wanted to.

The purple haired half saiyajin sighed and caught the blonde Senshi's fist, much to her irritation. Still held fast on her hand,  
Trunks lifted the tall Senshi off her feet and pushed her back and made her land beside the shell-shocked Pluto.

"Uranus!" two of the Senshi, one with long moss green hair and another with shoulder-lengthed purple hair shouted simultaneously.

"Could we just please settle down for a moment? What the hell is wrong with you people, attacking just like that huh!" Ranma shouted at the Senshi. It's bad enough to be attacked by women, but short skirted fuku clad girls?

Pluto finally got her bearings back and lifted herself up,  
glaring at the two boys angrily. "You are a threat to Crystal Tokyo!"

Ranma adopted a befuddled look. "Crystal Tokyo? Am I in the wrong universe again?"

Trunks shook his head. "Don't think so. Besides, you just met with your grandfather didn't you?"

"I've seen you in the Time Gates..." Pluto continued, hefting her staff with her hands, "Crystal Tokyo wavered after you appeared, and the future branched out into millions of paths!"

Ranma groaned. "Lemme get this straight, you think I'm a threat 'coz the future you envisioned will not come true." Seeing the Senshi nod their heads, he continued, "So, because we appeared and your future is ruined, you set out to destroy us, and that makes us enemies, right"  
Another nod. "Hmmm... the future is never set in stone right? And besides, now that you attacked us, we really feel like your enemies now,  
and we don't like you anymore, but can you blame us?"

"But you are a threat to the future..." Sailor Pluto tried to point out.

"What gives you the right to judge who lives and who dies? Who even gave you the right to destroy anyone just because you assume that they are the cause of the destruction of your so-called future?" Ranma blared angrily. "What if your future disappeared because you just killed the one who will help you build it, and that you were fated to make the mistake, that's why the Time thingie you said showed that to you?"

The Senshi's protests died down at this point. For one thing,  
the red tailed guy was right in his assumptions, and they had just attacked another potential innocent.

Ranma wasn't finished though, "Do you have any idea how close you all are to dying? If I really went on and became serious into fighting you, you'd all end up dead, even six feet under, literally!"

Uranus snorted at this. "Yeah? What makes you so sure? You're just a human!" At the same time for some reason, she felt some familiarity with the young man. She was not alone in this assessment.  
The way the boy moved... it reminded her of... him. The one she had sworn her womanhood off to.

Sailor Neptune was staring intently at the boy, as if trying to remember something about him. Like fate, her thoughts were parallel to those with the blonde Senshi's.

Ranma and Trunks looked at one another and laughed out loud.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Trunks rolled over the ground.

"HUMAN!" Ranma gasped out, "Aw heck I'm not gonna keep it a secret anyway. For your info, I'm half Saiyajin, half Juraian, and some other specie I don't even know about!"

))CLANG!((

The Senshi were about to ask him for more info when they heard a loud clanging noise. They all turned to Pluto, who was immobile at her position.

"Pluto, are you okay? What's a Saiyajin? And a Juraian?" Sailor Moon asked the Time Senshi.

The green haired woman slowly turned to her princess, her expression still frozen in shock. "S-saiyajins... are c-considered to be the... m-most powerful warriors in the universe... even the Masu are a bit unnerved of them..." The Senshi gawked at that. "J-juraians... my god... you're Juraian too!"

Trunks snickered. "He's Saiyajin-Juraian-Something Else. I'm half Saiyajin and half human, though."

"So what!" Uranus snorted as she brandished her Space Sword once again, cleaving the air menacingly.

"STOP!" Pluto ordered pointedly to Uranus, making the blonde Senshi gasp. "You cannot hurt them!"

"Got that right..." Trunks muttered irritably.

Pluto ignored Uranus' glare behind her back and faced Ranma. "Do you really have Juraian blood in you?"

Ranma sighed. "My grandpa, Yosho, told me earlier this week.  
After I got transported to another time by accident, my powers reawakened for some reason. I was tested by a friend in that world and she told me that I wasn't even human. Saiyajin, Juraian, and one other specie that she couldn't identify."

"Yosho? You're Yosho's grandchild?" Pluto asked.

Ranma shrugged. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

The green haired Senshi spooled her outward face, but inwardly she was still shivering at the thought. She said out loud, "We're sorry... for attacking you without thought. We were... uptight... these days."

Ranma waved his hands dismissively. "Nah. Forget about it. You wouldn't hurt me or Trunks anyway. Now if you'll excuse us, we still have to reach Nerima before sundown."

Pluto nodded her head. "As you wish."

Ranma and Trunks shrugged and continued on walking, their hands in their pockets as they chatted animately with each other. Ranma's red tail hung loosely down between his legs. They acted like nothing happened at all, which unnerved some of the Senshi.

Uranus fumed as she watched the two 'aliens' walked leisurely away from them. She gripped her sword angrily and prepared to give chase when Pluto's voice rang out in the air, "Don't even think about it,  
Haruka."

"Setsuna." The blonde Senshi's voice dripped with venom, "Why the hell did you let those two monsters walk! Are you actually afraid of them? You coward!"

))SLAP((

The other Senshi took a nervous step back as they watched Pluto pull her hand back to her side, coldly staring down Uranus. The other Senshi was caressing the reddening side of her face, with eyes full of curiosity and loathe at the one who hit her.

"If you go after them..." Pluto began, "You might... no... you -WILL- not live to see tomorrow."

"S-setsuna-mama..." Saturn shakily asked, "Who are they?"

Pluto sighed loudly. "I have yet to make certain of his claim,  
but if he really is a Juraian, it would be a grave mistake to attack him. Unless you want a whole fleet of Juraian warships against you."

Sailor Mars stepped up, irritation showing in her face.  
"Juraians? You keep saying that and still didn't explain!"

Pluto's red eyes suddenly snapped their attantion towards the raven-haired Senshi, which made her a bit nervous. She finally spoke,  
"The Silver Millenium didn't appear on its own, you know. The Juraians are, what we call, aliens from another galaxy. They were allies of the Moon Kingdom. Some of the kingdom's technology came from the Juraians.  
But for some reason, ties between the Moon Kingdom and the Juraian royalty faltered after some hundreds of years down on the line, deteriorating up to the point where they fell only in friendly terms. They are still friendly to each other, but they are not exactly allies anymore."

"They must've done something to upset Queen Serenity then"  
Jupiter added.

"That, I do not know. For one thing, Juraians are naturally powerful people, politically and in some aspects, in battle as well."

"What about the Saiyajins?" Sailor Moon asked.

Pluto suppressed a shudder. "Saiyajins were practically born and bred for battle. Their species strived for thrill in fighting. They were superior when they fight in physical combat. Physically, they were possibly the strongest fighters in the universe. They second to Juraians when it comes to internal energies as well. They were ruthlessly savage, and were called planet destroyers in some parts."

"P-planet destroyers, Setsuna-mama?" Saturn squeaked.

"Oh yes." Pluto nodded, "They were enlisted under a tyrant named Freeza. One of their offspring was sent across space via a capsule to a planet. One saiyajin was enough to destroy one world."

"Then, what are we standing here for? Let's go kill those bastards!" Uranus shouted in exhasperation.

Pluto glared at Uranus. "Three reasons. One, their aura is not of a normal savage saiyajin. Those two have peaceful aura, but not less powerful. Two, we can't even scratch them. How do you suggest we go do this? Third, if Ranma is really Yosho's grandson, then that will make him the crown prince of Jurai, a royalty of a far more powerful government. As I said before, unless you want a whole armada of Juraian warships gunning after you, go ahead and piss him off. But that's unlikely, because I know he can take all of us down with only his pinky finger."

Their conversation was interrupted when a nearby glass window panel shimmered. A young woman with long brown hair and tattoos on her face emerged from the said window. Her face was kind and she was smiling faintly at them.

"Oh noooo!" Sailor Moon wailed once again, "What is it this time?"

"Excuse me..." The long brown haired girl said hesitantly, "Have you by any chance, came upon someone who is this tall, has a really good looking body, the most wonderful blue-gray eyes, his firm... ahem!  
Anwyay, did he come by here?"

"Yes..." Sailor Pluto said slowly, "In fact, you just missed him. He went that way."

The woman looked at the direction Pluto pointed her at. She smiled at them and bowed, saying, "Why thank you, Sailor Pluto."

Sailor Pluto adopted a fighting stance. "Who are you? What are you? How did you come out of that mirror? Why were you looking for that boy?"

The woman's hand immediately went to her mouth as she giggled in embarassment. "Oh my, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Belldandy. I'm the Goddess of the Present. The mirror is my mode of transport, and as to why I search for the young man, I just need to confirm his well being before I go back in Heaven."

"Goddess? Who believes in that cra--" Whatever Uranus was about to say derailed when she and the rest of the Senshi watched as Pluto immediately dropped to one knee and addressed the woman.

"Megami! Forgive me Belldandy-sama! I haven't recognized you"  
Pluto said down on the ground, her head bowed down.

"A true goddess?" Jupiter felt awed.

Belldandy placed her hand on Pluto's shoulder. "Please get up,  
Senshi of Pluto. Since you last seen the one I'm looking for, can you tell me if he's alright?"

Pluto slowly stood up and nodded. "Hai, Belldandy-sama. Please tell me, what is so important about that person?"

Belldandy chewed her lowed lip as she replied, "Well... he is of great importance I think, because Kami-sama Himself took note of the young man's progress. But beware though, his aura is of pure chaos, and trying to view him in you Gates of Time will devastate you. Rest assured, that he will not be a threat to you. In fact, he may help you."

Pluto bowed. "I understand, Belldandy-sama."

Belldandy smiled sunnily as she turned to the mirror. The mirror glowed soft white as she stepped through. But before the light diminished, a voice was heard from the mirror. Her visage was still visible from the surface. "Please don't fight with Saotome Ranma."

"RANMA!"

Pluto was startled as she turned back to the Senshi. The others'  
gazes were trained on Uranus and Neptune, who were looking at each other in confusion.

"You know Ranma!" Uranus asked her partner urgently.

Neptune glared at her. "How did you come to know him?"

Then they said together, "He was my boyfriend!"

"WWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!"

Further questions were put on hold when screams were heard from the direction Ranma and his companion had just trekked. The Senshi looked at one another and nodded in unison. They turned to the direction the shouts of terror came from and ran towards it, leaving a confused Belldandy.

"Oh well..." Belldandy shrugged elegantly, "I guess I should return then." And with that, the serene girl's reflection slowly faded away from the mirror's surface.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

))ATCHOOOOOO!((

"Ranma..." Trunks winced at his friend, "That's the twentieth sneeze you had since we left those girls..."

))SNIFF((

"Don't I know it..." Ranma muttered to himself as he wiped his nose with a tissue vigorously, "I could've sworn someone was talking about me..."

Suddenly, their musings were cut short when a loud roar erupted in the middle of a shopping mall they were passing through. A huge explosion followed, showering the area with dust and dirt as the people ran around screaming unintelligently all over the place. Ranma and Trunks remain rooted to their position as they waited for anything possible, but hoping that for once they would be ignored.

Alas... some kami thought it would be fun to watch a group of Youma getting thrashed today.

The dust settled down and exposed five hideous looking monsters,  
their clawed hands held some glowing crystalline-like rocks. They were also surrounded by people who collapsed for some reason.

Trunks looked at Ranma, who sighed loudly. "Yeah, I know"  
Ranma muttered darkly, answering his companion's silent question, "Let's go destroy those... ewww... yucky things."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ah, yes. The youma were currently enjoying themselves. Humans cringing and crying their souls out here and there, heart crystals galore everywhere! Really, for these creatures, it was heaven. But let's not be biased in our description for them. The youma strive on energy based on living souls, so they needed it badly. It was really not their fault anyway, since their former forms back then during the Silver Millenium wasn't like this at all. They didn't have this craving for soul energy back before. It was when they were trapped in that dark dimension with their mistress, Beryl, that they lost an important part of them. In the end they mutated.

Beryl was a former princess in the House of the Earth. No one really knows why she went against the Moon Kingdom. Some rumors claimed that she was jealous of the Princess Serenity - Prince Endymion engagement. Some said that it was the demon Metallia that brainwashed her. While a limited others claimed that she saw the evil of the Silver Millenium, a magical kingdom where mind control was integrated to purge all evil from the hearts of the loyal subjects.

Well, no one really knows, really.

Okay, back to those youma, they were now about to depart the Earth realm to report back to their mistress. Their mission has been a success, having gathered a lot of heart crystals in just one go. As one of the youma was about to summon the portal, a scream of pain was heard from one of them. Turning to the source of that sound, the other four youma saw their fifth companion clutching at its head, after being hit by something. They looked around until they spied upon two individuals,  
who were hefting some rather large rocks on their hands.

"Hey you ugly... things! Whatever! Leave 'em alone!" The pigtailed 'human' was shouting in their direction.

"Yeah! What he said!" The purple haired one added.

((How dare they!)) The group of youma thought as one.

"STOP! THE MALL IS FOR THOSE WHO WANTED TO ENJOY SHOPPING! IN THE NAME OF THE MOON, I WILL PUNISH YOU!"

Ranma and Trunks sweatdropped. Ah yes, the Sailor Senshi have arrived.

Everything degraded at this point.

The youma turned to the two teenaged boys, totally ignoring the presence of the Sailor Senshi. It would seem that they wanted to take the heart crystals of the said individuals. They poised themselves and lunged for the kill.

The Senshi saw the group of youma ignore them completely and turned to attack the two boys they met earlier. They were about to jump in the way to help when Sailor Pluto motioned them to stay still. This caused some of the Senshi to react angrily, particularly, the Outers and Sailor Mars.

"Why did you stop us!" Sailor Mars glared at the green haired Senshi. Behind her, Uranus and Neptune nodded their heads simultaneously while they eyed Pluto with suspicion.

"I want to see how they fare in battle. If what I have seen and heard are true, then they wouldn't have any trouble in this fight"  
Sailor Pluto said simply.

The Senshi in question stood down and just laid back in watching the youma attack the two boys.

In the battle, Ranma was getting really bored. Aside from their truly grotesque figures, the monsters were really no match to begin with. What irritated him was that these same monsters took something out of the humans that were scattered all over the place that caused them to collapse. He felt no ki around him, aside from Trunks, the youma, their cargo and of course, the Senshi. He dodged and weaved sideways and under the barrage of claws and slimey hands that came towards him. He took note that three of the five were now ganging up on him.

At the other end of the pathway, Trunks was in a similar state of dismay. The things were only ugly... that's it. Sure, the monsters had strength capable of destroying the pavement that they managed to tag while he dodged, but it wouldn't matter to someone like him anyway. And what's with those girls with skirts anyway? He could see their underwear from here! He blushed at the implication and renewed his efforts to dodge the annoying enormous monsters first. He had to think of other things to avoid even giving thought about those skirts.

Suddenly, the monsters attacking Ranma had taken another strategy. One of them broke off from the attack and stood a bit further away from the group, charging up something with its hands. Ranma grinned slightly. He was impressed that such overly stupid looking creatures would think of something like this.

With a roar, the monster released the glowing green ball that it accumulated and reared it towards Ranma's direction. The two monsters attacking Ranma dodged to their sides at the last moment that allowed Ranma to see the menacing ball of magic aimed at him. The pigtailed boy frowned and casually backhanded the lame attack, hitting one of the monsters that attacked him accidentally. With a loud high pitching wail,  
the said monster disappeared in a whirlwind of dust. Ranma turned his attention to the two remaining monsters, who eyed him with caution.

Ranma smiled cheerfully. "One down, two to go!"

Trunks drove a fist into the youma's face, contorting it into a very uncomfortable figure. The black scaly monster backed off momentarily, allowing Trunks to close in and deliver three fast kicks to its side. He dodged to his right and watched as the clawed hand of the second monster make its way into the other youma's unprotected chest.  
The stunned youma could only scream as it felt its teammate's own hand burrowed into his chest. The youma crumbled into dust. Trunks saw a moment of hesitation in the part of the last youma and pressed his advantage. He delivered a powerful snap kick to its neck, severing its head as if it was made of clay. The youma didn't have time to scream as it dissolved into dust.

The Senshi just stood there in shock as they watched how efficient these two warriors were in dispatching their enemies. Pluto actually looked quite thoughtful when she gazed on Ranma, which didn't escape Uranus' and Neptune's attention. They ineffectively glared at the green haired Senshi's back, and fumed at the sudden complications that have arisen. Uranus and Neptune haven't even talked about their own problems about who gets Ranma yet, and now another one joined the fray?  
Their attention went back to the battle when they heard Trunks'  
irritated remark.

"Will you just stop playing around, Ranma!" Trunks crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against a crumbled wall as he absently watched the battle.

Ranma leapt back from his dodging and sighed. "Alright... you never let me have some fun." Ranma's face grew serious and blurred. One moment he was just standing some thirty feet away from the two remaining youma, the next was he was standing from a low crouch just behind the paralyzed youma. He stood up and clapped his hands together to remove the imaginary dust in them. The youma exploded into dust a second later.

"Finally!" Trunks sighed loudly.

In a far side of the quite destroyed mall... the Senshi were assessing the battle in their minds.

"Wow..." Uranus and Neptune whispered silently.

"Amazing!" Mercury said gleefully as she typed rapidly in her computer. Seeing the questioning looks the other Senshi gave her, she expounded, "Those two haven't exerted that much energy yet. In fact,  
their energy levels right now are below our Senshi forms and yet..."

"They're still are stronger and faster than our Senshi forms,  
right?" Pluto finished for her. While it was true that the Senshi relied on their magic augmented suits to strengthen their bodies against attacks and such, these two haven't got any traces of magic in them,  
well, aside from Ranma for some reason but Pluto knew that whatever magic Ranma had in him, he didn't use in the battle.

"It was all in the training."

A voice startled the heck out of all the Senshi that made them jump a bit. They whirled around to the source of the voice and saw Ranma, with his hands in his pockets, and Trunks, with his hands crossed across his chest, standing so near to them. They were shocked as to how they were not able to detect any signs of them having moved at all.

"It was all ki... if you're all wondering what the heck we did"  
Ranma reiterated as he leaned back to the balls of his feet.

"No... magic?" Jupiter asked hesitantly as she looked from one guy to another. She also took note that they look real handsome in those positions.

"Yep." Ranma snorted. "Try training for fourteen long years and add two more years of constant fights with rivals attacking at the same time and some more powerful than you."

"But ki... I thought the use of ki was only a legend?" the brunette haired Senshi of Mars asked.

Ranma raised his palm and concentrated. The Senshi watched wide-eyed as a blue ball of energy emerged from Ranma's outstretched hand. It was about the size of a baseball. "This is ki." he said solemnly.

Sailor Mars fought the urge to come near Ranma to take a closer look at the ball. "Wow... that much ki... people trained to their deaths just to be able to give out a battle aura... but you..."

Ranma shrugged. "Anyway, we really have to go now. My mom's waiting for me. Trunks, let's go."

Trunks nodded. "Right behind you."

"Thanks for the help anyway!" Sailor Moon called to them, as they walked away. Ranma replied by raising his hand up in the air. The Senshi were still standing there, probably thinking of what they should do.

What CAN they do in this situation anyway?

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"You know, Ranma... we should just fly to your house or something..." Trunks grumbled as they walked along the sidewalk. He wasn't really complaining about the walking part, but it was really getting boring and a lot of bad luck has been hunting them down.

Ranma for his part just snickered. "Exercise those feet, Trunks.  
They might rot sometime if you don't."

They were walking in downtown Tokyo, a little far from the place of the youma attack before. They were waiting for the signal light to go green so that they could cross to the other side. When it did, the two aliens walked among the populous in the middle of the street. It was lunchtime, and rush hour was evident because of the presence of a lot of students and people in suits. They were probably headed out to a restaurant for their lunches or something. This caused the streets to be a lot more crowded than normal, and the crossing they were walking upon moved at a low pace. Ranma and Trunks sighed as they waited for the line to move, and sadly they were in the farthest back of the pedestrians.

The 'walk' signal flickered and went red.

When the pedestrians left started running towards their goal, a loud irritating laugh was heard from one of the buildings on the other side of the road. Ranma and Trunks warily looked up and blanched at the sight.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! RED LIGHT MEANS STOP, YOU JAYWALKERS! FOR THIS, JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED! AND I, THE GREAT STRIKER, WILL PUNISH YOU IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE!"

Oh yes. A rather big-bodied man wearing a white baseball uniform with dark cape behind him and a dark mask that had the initial 'S'  
stitched at the forehead area stood at the rooftop of a chinese restaurant across the road. On his right hand he held a baseball that he was idly tossing from one hand to the other across his stomach. He exudes an aura of idiocy, which was really quite obvious if the costume was any indication.

Just when Ranma was about to shout a retort, a small police car suddenly stopped in front of the building. Two female police officers went out of the car and glared at the masked man who was calling himself Striker.

"Striker! I'm going to catch you this time!" One of the police officers angrily waved her fist in the air. She had a red brown hair that was in a Nabiki-type haircut, green eyes, and very athletic body.  
Her white upper buttoned shirt and blue long skirt uniform ensemble hugged her figure.

"Natsumi! We should call for back-up and cut of his escape routes!" The other police officer reminded her partner. Her black hair was long and tied in a long braid up to her waist. She had purple eyes and a face that kind of reminded Ranma of Kasumi for some reason. She wore the same uniform her partner had except that she had a vest over her buttoned shirt.

Natsumi snorted. "I can take him, Miyuki!"

Striker took notice of the police officers. "Ah! Homerun girl! I see you wanted another rematch, eh?" the masked man chuckled to himself.

Natsumi clenched her fist tightly. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Striker!"

The so-called man of justice laughed again, as he reached into... somewhere. He pulled out four baseballs and poised himself. "I must dispense JUSTICE! Those jaywalkers must be punished! Quadra-Throw Special, Quadra Lightning Strikout Throw!" And with that, he threw the baseballs toward the stunned people.

"NO!"

The two officers just watched helplessly as the balls darted quickly towards their targets. They were thinking that they would have to call the paramedics, for they kinda felt that it might be needed.

Just as the balls were about to strike, they suddenly disappeared into thin air. The police officers, the Striker, as well as the people just looked on in confusion.

"Feh... isn't hurting without thinking of the innocents about to get hurt a crime too?" Said a voice in front of the crowd. The crowd looked on as two young men stood defiantly at the former trajectory of the balls. In their hands were the baseballs, all caught without injuring anyone.

Natsumi and Miyuki just stared at the two. The first one had black hair which was done in a tight pigtail, and a pair of rather darker shade of blue with a tint of gray eyes that reflected the sun's rays. The other had purple hair and a lighter shade of blue eyes. He also had a sword strapped unto his back. The officers frowned at that.

The Striker's eyes focused on the balls caught by the two young men. "Whaaat! Who are you! How were you able to defeat my special technique!"

Ranma groaned. "Oh great. Another superhero wannabe."

Trunks snickered. "Well, Tokyo is really interesting this time of the year I guess."

"HEY!" They turned to see the Striker preparing another ball to throw, "I'M TALKING HERE!"

The Striker threw a fastball towards Ranma in blinding speed,  
faster than even Natsumi or Miyuki could follow. The crowd behind them quickly dissipated and ran towards some random direction, just away from the confrontation.

But for someone like Ranma, it just wasn't fast enough.

))WHAP!((

Ranma calmly plucked the offending ball out of the air and added it to the ones he started juggling.

The Striker almost fell from the roof of the bulding he was on.

Natsumi's jaw dropped. "I... I didn't even see it!"

Miyuki was just plain shocked.

Trunks looked bored.

Ranma tossed two of the three balls in his hands to Trunks. He then focused on the masked man as he said loudly, "That one is too slow.  
I'll show you fast!"

The pigtailed boy casually flicked his wrist and launched the remaining ball in his hand towards the offending man.

))SMACK!((

Half of a split second later, a groan echoed across the street.  
The Striker teetered on his perch as he struggled to gain some footing,  
with a large round bruise on his forehead, which still smoked after being hit with the ball.

Natsumi used the police car to balance herself upright, too stunned to support herself.

Miyuki had this glazed look in her eyes.

Trunks bopped Ranma's head. "You call that fast! It was still too slow!"

Natsumi and Miyuki facefaulted beautifully.

Ranma scratched his head in annoyance. "If I threw it faster, it might've drilled a hole into his head. It might've killed him ya know.  
No matter how irritating he is, he doesn't deserve to die."

Trunks just sighed. "Yeah... I forgot that humans... I mean,  
some people are really too weak. Hey, let's go! I'm bored here!" He turned to walk away from the scene.

Ranma nodded and turned to follow him, but he was held back by a rather stronger-than-normal-human-strength hold. He looked at the white gloved hand that gripped his arm, and looked into the green eyes of one Tsujimoto Natsumi.

Meanwhile, Natsumi blanched when she caught the stranger's arm.  
She watched him turn to her and saw his blue-gray eyes, which caused her insides to melt. She struggled to say something. "Uhh... w-who are you?"

Ranma tilted his head to the side slightly, which caused Natsumi to blush a bit. She was thinking that he looked real cute when he had that bewildered look on his face. Finally, Ranma replied, "Saotome Ranma. What's your name?"

"M-me?" Natsumi felt flustered for some reason. "I-I'm Tsujimoto N-Natsumi of Bokuto Traffic P-Police." She cleared her throat. "Uhm,  
what you did back there, it was so cool!"

Ranma shrugged. "Nah. It was nothing."

Natsumi shook her head violently. "No really! It was so cool! By the way, thanks for the help!"

Ranma smiled gently at her, which caused Natsumi's blush to deepen some more.

Miyuki walked up towards them. "Saotome-san, thank you for the assistance. My name's Kobayakawa Miyuki, Natsumi's partner."

Ranma raised his hand. "It really was nothing. I'm glad I helped you out somewhat. And by the way, Ranma's just fine a name."

"Ranma..." Natsumi said, "How did you do that? You threw the ball so fast that I didn't even see it!"

The pigtailed boy scratched the base of his pigtail. "Martial arts training for twelve years, constant rivals... nonstop for two years. Never fails. And also, I live in Nerima."

"Oh, Nerima." Natsumi and Miyuki said together.

Ranma grinned. "Oh yeah. If you think that's cool, then you won't believe the other things I can do."

The officers' eyes widened at that.

Ranma nodded. "Yep. Anyway, look. I gotta go okay? Gotta meet my mother before it's too late in the afternoon or something, so... can you let go of my arm now, Natsumi-chan?"

"What?" Natsumi glanced at her hand that was still clutched at Ranma's arm. She quickly pulled it back and laughed nervously, trying desperately to hide her blush. Ranma just smiled and bowed politely. He turned to the direction Trunks headed and waved back.

"Ja ne." Ranma said as he walked away.

"See yah!" Natsumi waved at him.

Miyuki just glanced at her partner, who had this lovestruck look in her face. "Natsumi..." Miyuki called to her partner, who still had the 'look', "What about Officer Tokairin?"

Natsumi quickly snapped out of her trance. "Eh! Oh! I dunno.  
I mean... oh hell! I'm confused!" ((I mean, how can I choose between steak and... a seven course meal!)) she thought frantically.

Miyuki just giggled as she tugged on her ranting friend and partner to arrest the still comatosed Striker.

"Wow... he called me Natsumi-chan..." Natsumi muttered to herself as she let her partner drag her to their capture.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The two aliens stood silently in front of a rather big house. On a mailbox, the name 'Saotome' was inscribed.

Trunks gazed at the house in awe. "Man, Ranma. Your house is HUGE!"

Ranma silently agreed. A three story house with a larger than normal size of a koi pond on one side. The large yard housed multitudes of plants which were strategically planted and trimmed vigilantly, as well as flowers in different colors and appearances. Behind the house itself, two large Sakura trees grew, which was probably there longer than the house was. Ranma really hadn't gotten a good chance of examining the house when he came home back then because he was sulking at that time. But now that he did... wow.

Who knew they had such a nice house? Eh. Beautiful house! As an afterthought, Ranma thought of how fast it was repaired, since the house was totaled after those crazy girls from Nerima raided his house for that fake engagement ring fiasco. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't look at his house all that much, since his mind was still set on seeing the Tendo Dojo as his own.

Trunks shook his head and gestured to the gates. There was an intercom installed at the gates even!

"Shall I call or will you?" Trunks asked.

Ranma shrugged. "Fine, I will."

Inside the house, the intercom buzzed loudly. The sound echoed across the halls, which alerted a certain dark red-haired lady that was tending her latest orchid collection at the backyard. She hurriedly stood up and stopped in the kitchen only to clean her hands before she went to the front door.

Ranma and Trunks saw a familiar red haired woman who quickly paced towards them and opened the gates. Ranma noted the absence of the family katana that was usually held protectively in the arms of his mother.

"Yes? May I help you?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma smiled warmly. "Mom. It's been a while."

Nodoka's face adopted a confused glance at first, then widened in shock. She stood there and gaped for a while as she valiantly tried to voice out something from her mouth. Instead, she just fell forward and clutched at Ranma's waist while she sobbed silently.

Ranma stiffened a bit, then relaxed as he returned the gesture to his mother. He could hear his mother mutter, "You're home... my son is home..."

Finally, the cries subsided as Nodoka slowly pulled herself from the embrace. "Where are my manners! Come inside! I'm sorry if I took too long to answer... our servant Maki is still in her vacation. After our house got destroyed the last time, she took her accumulated vacation days... she will return in a few days though..."

"Maki?" Ranma sounded confused.

Nodoka nodded. "Oh yes! She grew up with you back when you were a child. Her mother served as a matron back when she was still alive.  
When she was dying, she left Maki-chan to our care."

Ranma looked thoughtful. "Ah... I see." Then turning to Trunks,  
he said, "Mom. This is my friend, Briefs Trunks. He accompanied me in the world I was in after the accident. He came to visit."

Nodoka bowed a bit. "Briefs-san, thank you for helping my son."

Trunks blushed in embarassment. "There's no need for such honorifics, Saotome-san. And about me helping your son, it was the other way around. Ranma helped save the world I was in against all danger.  
He's a hero."

Ranma winced slightly when he saw his mother's face brighten.  
"Waaaiii! My son is so manly! Saving the world and such!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Nodoka gestured for them to sit down so that she could get some of her famous green herbal tea, which she took pride in preparing for her guests, all the while she studied the two of them. Ranma had changed a lot since his disappearance months ago. Ranma's hardened features showed maturity and determination that was not present before he disappeared in the accident. He was tall and broad, yet his muscles were not bulky but lean, that spoke of great strength from within. His graceful movements, however, spoke of a lithe form that he didn't have from the boy she remembered. He had obviously improved in the Art. His eyes were the feature that caught Nodoka's attention though. The blue gray pupils of his revealed hardships and experiences beyond his years,  
which at the moment surprised her. Nodoka was anxious to know what new adventures Ranma had faced. His companion was likewise powerfully built.  
Perhaps more powerful than that Ryoga person that she met once in a while. Trunks' muscles were bulkier than Ranma's, and his eyes were bluer than her son's. He has some scars all over the exposed areas of his body that were already faded, but to a trained eye it is easily seen. His gait was more of an overpowering sort than of speed, which he had yet to balance.

Her gaze finally went to the quivering red belt around Ranma's waist. Looking at Trunks, she found that he also had a furry belt,  
although brown in color. Now a belt isn't all that weird, but a moving one is really out of this world. She looked at Ranma with curiousity.

Ranma caught his mother's questioning look. "Long story mother..." Ranma deadpanned. Trunks just held his tongue. He knew that this is a conversation Ranma and his mother needed to have.

"Well..." Nodoka began, "We're not going to go anywhere. So I suggest you begin from the start."

Ranma sighed. "Mother... I know I'm not your real son."

Nodoka's eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean, son? You are my child! I gave birth to you!"

"It's okay, mother. It won't change things much. Tsunami told me everything."

Ranma's mother stopped when she heard Tsunami's name. Mouthing those words again and again, she suddenly stiffened and fainted. Ranma quickly rushed to her side and caught her while she was falling down.  
When he did, he finally noticed his mind was also shutting down. He keeled over and fell to his back, with his mother on top of him. Trunks gaped, unable to figure out what to do.

"Okay..." Trunks muttered, "This is not good."

Nodoka opened her eyes and saw that she was in a place where everything glowed in a soft blue color. She looked over to her surroundings and noticed huge trees circled around the place where she woke up. Her gaze went to something that caught her eyes beside her, and saw the unconcious figure of her son lying at her side.

"Ranma!" Nodoka cried out as she tried to shake her son awake.

"Do not worry." A soothing voice echoed across the valley of blue. "Ranma is just sleeping for the moment. He will wake up soon."

Nodoka spun around and looked directly in front of her. There stood a figure of a majestic woman in a breathtakingly beautiful white kimono with sakura petal design. She had blue hair tied up in a low ponytail that reached up to her ankles which flowed freely down her back. Her eyes were reddish pink that reflected kindness and tranquility. On the forehead, the woman had two dot like marks that Nodoka knew symbolized something important, but for some reason she had forgotten what it was.

"Who... are you?" Nodoka asked pensively.

The mysterious woman smiled at her softly. "Masaki Nodoka.  
it's time for you to... remember."

Nodoka's eyes suddenly glazed over. Like being unlocked after a long time of being guarded, her mind suddenly opened up. Years of forgotten memories surged into her senses, threatening to engulf her.

Her father, sparring with her. He was teaching her a swordstyle that reflects the greatest source of pride in the whole universe.

Her mother, a formal woman who has her own personal quirks. Most of her ideas about manliness were from her. Her mother Airi was a member of the Galaxy Police, a good staff officer at that.

Her sisters, Minaho and Kiyone. Kiyone was a bit more reclusive than she was, and she decided to stay here on Earth together with Nodoka and their father. Minaho went back to space with their mother, but they would occasionally visit... though she has always been closer with Kiyone...

Their true heritage... alien origins... Jurai noble blood...

A promise... of keeping a living seed from their goddess. Her consent to make her forget, up to such time it was deemed it should be given light.

The blue haired goddess... the one that stood before her.

Her name was...

"Tsunami..." Nodoka whispered in awe, as she finally recovered her memories.

Tsunami nodded slightly. "That's right, Masaki Nodoka, princess of Jurai. I see you remembered your promise. A promise to take care of an unborn child, which I planted within your womb all those years ago. I locked those memories inside your mind, for I wished that the child to have a normal life. But alas, his life is as chaotic as his name denotes..."

"I remember..." Nodoka turned to the sleeping Ranma, "You came to me one day, while I was practicing my art. You brought the seed to me, and you asked me if I would accept being the vessel for this child.  
I gladly accepted it, and with that came also the consequence of having some of my memories hidden away. It was also the time when... Ran was here. That man... was he alright? I don't remember that much..."

The goddess sighed. "After he came back from his momentary abduction by my older sister Tokimi, he was recalled back to defend his planet. But alas... his homeworld, Vegeta-sei, was doomed to die. He perished with the rest of the warriors that tried to defend Vegeta-sei from Freeza."

Nodoka deflated. "How sad... Ranma's father was..."

"Yes... it was sad..." Tsunami intoned solemnly, "But you have done a good job in raising his son as of late..."

The magenta haired girl shook her head. "No... I was a bad mother. I let my husband take him to that... training trip."

"Ah yes... but it was Saotome Genma's fault, not yours, Nodoka.  
I do not hold you against it, for you were tricked into it with false promises from your husband. I really despise your husband for doing some things to Ranma, though..."

Nodoka breathed out slowly. "Genma is not... really good in raising children. All he wanted for Ranma was to be the best martial artist, even if it killed our child. I have heard some of the things he did to him, the fiancees were witnesses to that..."

Tsunami reached out and rested her hand on Nodoka's head. "Do you wish to see what happened in that training trip?" Seeing the redhead nod to her question, the goddess closed her eyes, placed her other hand unto Ranma's forehead and glowed, her aura seeping from her hands and spreading throughout Nodoka's and Ranma's bodies as well.

A sudden bright flash of light engulfed the whole area. After a span of several seconds, Tsunami finally stopped the flow of memories.  
Nodoka backed away and staggered, trying to integrate and sort out the memories she saw. Tears sprouted from her eyes as she remembered everything that Ranma experienced since he was separated from her.

Those countless nights of loneliness, of crying out for his mother, and of Genma beating him up for being a weak little girl...

Genma selling Ranma like a piece of property for just meagers of food, even table scraps, just for the fat fool to eat...

Genma making tabs from restaurants and other eating establishments under Ranma's name...

Ukyo's short time friendship with him. Genma asking him to choose between food and Ukyo. Genma finally running off with the dowry he has been promised in exchange for engaging Ranma to Ukyo. Ranma did not understand the meaning, and thought that Ukyo was only waving goodbye...

That horrible technique called the Neko-ken. The darkness, as well as the painful rakes of claws against Ranma's young skin. His cries for help were left unheard inside the pit. He was tossed again and again into that pit, with Genma ridiculing him about being a weak little girl.  
After countless throws in the pit, his vision became blurry, and a dark shadow emerged from the ground, silencing the cats around him. Feeling a soft soothing warmth before he was hauled off once again from the pit,  
his father throwing him down to the ground for being a weakling. Finally he snapped at the next throw, escaping into the depths of his mind,  
letting his instincts control his actions...

Being chased by wolves while carrying his father on top of him on a sofa...

Being tied up with a moving train, making him run all the way while Genma rode in luxury inside the train...

More promises of engagement to other families by Genma...

Waiting for three days because of a duel with his friend Ryoga.  
Genma knocking him out and taking him away...

Jusenkyo... knocked by a huge panda into the Spring of Drowned Girl mercilessly...

The Amazon village... Genma tricking Ranma into eating the first price for the tournament with him, making Ranma fight for it...

Making Ranma swim from China to Japan...

A world full of hardships... and moments of happiness were crushed by his father... all for the sake of the Art, or so he says. A petty reason since the one teaching never did have any honor to begin with...

Nodoka gathered her knees to her chest and hugged them. She let her tears fall down her face. Her despair over her husband's lies about everything that happened in that... damned... training trip. Eventhough Ranma was never really her son, she did give birth to him, and some of her attributes were passed unto the child from the short time he was connected with her in Nodoka's womb.

"Mom?"

Ranma's voice cut through the feeling of despair that Nodoka felt at that time. She turned her tearful face and regarded Ranma, as he looked back at her with a tint of worry in his eyes.

"Oh Ranma..." Nodoka broke down again, unable to stop feeling guilty, "I'm such a horrible mother to you!"

Ranma slowly made his way to his mother's position and hugged her, whispering, "It's alright, mom. It wasn't your fault. You never knew how the panda would treat me when you gave me to him. I don't blame anything on you for it..."

"But..."

"Shhh..." Ranma hugged his mother tighter. "Don't worry about it. Everything's fine now, right?" He suddenly took notice of their location. "Uhmm... mom? Where are we?"

Before Nodoka could answer, a familiar voice filled the air.  
"Welcome back, Ranma-kun."

Ranma released his hug from his mother to find the source of the voice. He saw the smiling face of the goddess. "Ah! Yo, auntie!" he said cheerfully, raising his hand up in greeting.

"Ranma!" His mother chided him, "Please show respect to the goddess!"

Tsunami giggled and shook her head. "No need for that now. My nephew is so adorable like that!"

Ranma blushed at the comment. He pouted cutely and turned to face his mother, whose expression is back to despair. Cocking his head sideways, he asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Nodoka wiped the tears that streaked down her face. "I'm not really your mother..."

The red tailed boy scooted closer to his mother and hugged her tightly. "So? You took me in despite of that. So you're still my mom." He faced Tsunami without retracting his hug from his mother. He said, "But that doesn't mean my blood mother isn't my mother."

The goddess looked down, nodding, "I understand. Ranma-kun. I cannot begin to know how to beg your forgiveness..."

"Actually..." Ranma cut Tsunami's statement, "It's not me you're gonna have to apologize to, it's to my real mom, right?"

Tsunami blanched, but nodded meekly. "She's so angry at me. I don't know how I will apologize to her..."

Ranma shrugged. "Talk to her. Then tell her about me. She'll forgive you eventually..."

The blue haired goddess nodded. "I will, Ranma-kun. Do not worry, you will meet her soon, as well."

Ranma smiled sunnily, making his mother giggle. "That's good then!"

Suddenly, everything brightened once again.

Ranma squinted his eyes as he struggled to sit up. He turned to his side and saw his mother just getting up as well. He saw his friend Trunks, with a worried expression on his face.

"What happened?" Trunks asked anxiously. He's been watching the both of them for the past fifteen minutes or so, unable to think of doing anything. He also heard them mumbling to themselves, although it wasn't decipherable to his ears.

Ranma clutched at his head as he tried to will the buzzing in his head. "Uhm... Tsunami just said hello."

Trunks snickered. "Oh."

"Ranma?" A tired groan was heard from their side. Ranma's mother wobbled to right herself. "Was it all a dream? Tsunami? Everything?"

Ranma shook his head. "No mom. Tsunami did talk to us a while ago. She talked to us in her realm... we collapsed in the physical plane."

"Ah." Nodoka said calmly. Suddenly her eyes brightened. "When are you going to visit the Tendo Dojo again?"

The pigtailed alien scratched his head. "Now, I guess. It's still early in the afternoon."

Trunks nodded. "Yep. I still can't understand why we just don't use that Instant Transmission of yours. It would be easier getting there that way."

"Because, I wanna enjoy the sights." Ranma deadpanned.

Trunks snorted. "Oh sure. Just like those Senshi girls, right?"

"Shaddap."

"Girls! Waiiii! My son is so manly!" Guess who said that.

"Awww mom!"

"So true, Saotome-obasan... so true..."

"Anyway Ranma, if you want to reach the dojo by nightfall, we should leave now." Nodoka cut through the incoming banter of the two young men. "I will go with you. It's been a while since I have last seen that no good husband of mine." Turning to her, they nodded and stood up to prepare for their visit.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the shrine, about forty-five minutes after the last youma battle...

Ten'ou Haruka and Kaiou Michiru were sitting face to face, while the other Senshi members look on with interest. Minako and Makoto were sitting in one of the couches, and Usagi with Mamoru sat in their loveseat. Ami was also for once not paying attention to her computer as her gaze lay from one girl to the other as they continued their staring match. Rei was sitting on a mat, clutching on her manga absently.  
Setsuna had commandeered another couch with the dismayed and curious Hotaru on her beside her, the green haired Senshi's face reflected some amusement in the situation. In all honesty, this was a surprise for her.

As the titanic silence stretched on, Haruka finally sighed. "So what's your story? How did you meet him?"

Michiru sat back a bit. "I was about ten years old I think.  
Ran-kun and his father stayed at a hotel while they learned some martial arts stuff from a nearby dojo. I was playing in the park alone when this boy came into the sandbox I was at and looked at me curiously. He had this blue-gray eyes with the cutest pigtail ever. Anyway... he asked me why I was all alone and I told him because I was too 'brainy' and too 'sophisticated' to those around me. Actually, he didn't understand those words because he was a year younger than I was, but he nodded and waved my explanation away, saying that it doesn't matter. He offered to be my friend and I accepted. We grew pretty close and went out to 'dates'. We even played 'doctor'... and he also called me cute ((Oh kami I feel warm!)). Then after two months of being together most of the time, his father came to take him away to their trip. I asked for him to just stay but he said that he must go. I kissed him by the cheek and made him promise never to forget me..."

Everyone watched in amazement as Michiru blushed heavily under the scrutiny.

The light green haired Senshi sat up straight and gazed evenly at Haruka this time, who adopted a 'deer-caught-in-spotlight'  
expression. The blonde haired tomboy sighed sullenly, and began her tale.

"I met Ranma when I was fourteen years old. He was my junior when we were in the old all-boys school in downtown Juuban. Before he came, I usually grabbed the first place in track and field and such. All of the sudden, he breezes by and rakes all the glory. And he doesn't even seem to care about the importance of it all! At first that irked me quite a bit... but as time grew by and watched him, he really was a sweet and simple guy. He just does what makes him and those around him happy. There was also this one student, Hibiki Ryoga, who always got trampled during the lunch scuffles. That boy challenged Ranma to a duel when school's out. Well, Ranma beat the tar outta him, but not in a horrible way. In fact, he just roughed Ryoga up a bit, then took the boy to the clinic. He will utterly demolish his enemies, but he would be sympathetic of them in the end. He's that kind of guy. And I asked him to the school dance, which it turns out that he's a GREAT dancer.  
Something about Anything Goes Martial Arts of Ballroom Dancing. The next day, he was taken to another training trip by his no good father again.  
Sigh, I loved it when I danced the tango with him..."

The Senshi sweatdropped when Haruka sported a bit of a drop of drool in the corner of her mouth.

"So basically..." Makoto began, "You both of you were left behind by the same guy at different points of time because his father dragged him away. Now you swore your womanhood to be given only to him. Is that it?"

Haruka and Michiru were about to retort, but were unable to find a suitable response to that one. So they just nodded slightly, as they looked at the plush carpeting of the floor.

"Well," Minako took on a sage-like tone, "As the saying goes,  
'When it rains, it drips.'"

Ami coughed slightly. "Uhm, Minako, that's 'When it rains, it pours.'"

The blonde haired Senshi of love just waved her hand dismissively. "Same difference."

The rest just groaned in irritation.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

))RRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!((

"Amazing, Ranma! That's how many attacks in one day?"

"Just, shaddap Trunks... just shaddap."

"Is this... normal, Ranma?"

In front of the three travelers stood several youma that terrorized the marketplace in downtown Juuban, nearing the Nerima border. They had just came from Ranma's mother's house and decided to walk the way towards the train station. They were about to step unto the steps leading to the station when vegetables of various sorts flew in all directions just behind them. The loud roar also added to the effect that some monsters were attacking... again.

"Damn... some kami must be laughing out there right now..."

"Ranma... swearing like that is unmanly."

"Uhm... sorry mom."

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

"Trunks... you're always eager ya know."

And the battle was on... again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The sun was still quite ways high up on the sky as the horizon revealed three figures walking down the streets of Nerima. One of them with the pigtail had his hands laced behind his head, while calmy walking beside his purple haired companion. The last one was a woman who had something long wrapped in linen strapped at her back.

The citizens of Nerima quickly fled the streets in desperation of trying to avoid the said individuals. They easily recognized the resident chaos generator Saotome Ranma. Now armed with companions, it would mean that someone close to Ranma was crazy as well.

Better safe than sorry, so to say.

Finally, the three stopped in front of a familiar dojo.

Tendo Dojo.

"We're here, mom." The pigtailed young man turned to their female companion.

The woman nodded. "Let's go knock and say hello, shall we?"

The purple haired man just nodded as he followed the other two.

Inside the dojo, Kasumi was humming to herself as she hustled to finish the huge dinner she promised to set out. Earlier this afternoon,  
Auntie Nodoka just called and said that Ranma had just returned from the incident with the artifact, along with a friend. Nodoka also told her that they will come this evening as well, hence the preparations.

An urgent knock reverberated over the house. Kasumi poked her head out of the kitchen door, only to see her father and Uncle Saotome oblivious to anything except their shogi game. She sighed as she set her meals to simmer as she answered the knock.

Outside the door, Ranma just tapped his foot lightly against the hard wooden floor as he waited for someone to answer the door. Beside him was the ever-composed Nodoka, and Trunks, who was looking around and admiring the homely atmosphere that the house radiated.

Just as Ranma was about to knock once again, the door slid open,  
exposing a young woman with a serene expression as her long brown hair smoothed down her back. Her eyes darted from person to person until they rested upon the eyes of the familiar young man with the pigtail. Her eyes immediately watered at the sight as she lifted her hand to his face. She caressed that face gently and tried to memorize his features.  
Her throat was dry as she looked at him with an unreadable expression.

Ranma was taken aback by the young woman's gaze. Was it happiness, joy... longing? Regret? He was tempted to flinch away from her questing hand, but found that he could not. Her eyes held tears that tore into his soul.

Of all the people in Nerima, it was Kasumi that he never wanted to see saddened.

Slowly regaining his composure, he smiled at her softly, which made Kasumi smile back at him despite her tears. In a low voice, he proclaimed, "Yo, Kasumi. I'm... home."

Kasumi hiccupped lightly that continued in giggles and replied,  
"Welcome home, Ranma-kun."

Inside the house, the idiotic duo composed of Soun and Genma were still much into their game of shogi. Which meant that they distract each other to cheat and win against one another. But right now they seemed to be a bit out of it as well. Since Ranma disappeared several months ago, their hopes and dreams of retirement to live with their heirs' hard earned futures were crushed. Those long months of searching for a way to get Ranma back were all for naught. Even Cologne had to sigh and give up from their 'fool's quest' as she termed it. As far as they understood, there was no way to get Ranma back, that is until they grab the Nanban Mirror from Happosai, which was quite a task for them.  
So much they were concentrated on finding a way to get Ranma back that they almost missed the way Ryoga snaked his way into Akane's fragile heart. Well, too late for that now. Akane was quite smitten by the fanged boy due to her heartache, an dishonorable tactic but effective as hell. But for some reason, the Tendo heir was still unable to decypher that Ryoga was her P-chan. Why? They shrugged at that one.

A voice broke their reverie.

"Father! Mister Saotome! Ranma's back!" Kasumi's voice echoed loudly in the silent halls of the dojo. Immediately, life came back to the eyes of the two co-conspirators of 'idiotic plans to marry two people'.

They totally ignored the excited emotion that accompanied Kasumi's voice as she voiced out the announcement.

The two stood up and raced towards the entrance. Finally, Ranma and Nodoka who was led by Kasumi came into view, followed by a purple haired boy with a big sword strapped at his back.

As expected, tears sprang out of Soun's eyes.

And Genma? Well... his mouth really did it this time. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU UNGRATEFUL BOY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WH--"

))SLASH!((

A cold draft went over to Genma as he felt his gi explode into tiny pieces. He looked over to his wife, who just locked her katana in its scabbard with a smug expression on her face, and fainted.

Ranma flashed his mother a satisfied grin. "Cool multi-strikes,  
mom."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I haven't seen anyone with that much skill for so long."

Nodoka blushed slightly at the praise. "Why thank you Ranma,  
Trunks."

Ranma turned to the eldest Tendo daughter, who had this genuine smile on her face. One thing we have to understand about this girl is that her oblivious smile is usually a cover.

What? No it's not blasphemy. Since their mother's death, Kasumi had taken into herself the role of being the homemaker of the family.  
Actually, each of the daughters took up their own roles to compensate on their mother's death. Kasumi the homemaker, Nabiki the money-maker and overall finance consultant, and Akane... well... the brat. Why the brat?  
She was coddled by everyone in the family since the tradegy, so she never really learned how to take care of herself properly. She can't cook. She can't keep her temper in check. Go figure.

For Kasumi, being the homemaker was the only thing she knew she could do to help her family. She sacrificed her own happiness to make everyone around her happy, eventhough no one, well except for Ranma,  
gave her the credit she was due for a long time. Her sunny smile was to make everyone around her feel comfortable. Even through rough times such as daily squabbles and such, her smile was the only constant in the equation. She had to show everyone that she was happy, for she was the homemaker.

Yes, it's a front.

But this smile that she just gave Ranma, it was the unforced smile that she seldom shows everyone. Why? Because Ranma had come back to make things interesting again, and also a huge bonus that the real evil man called Genma was punished. The look on his face alone!

The family finally settled down to the table. Ranma noticed Akane's absence, because Trunks took her place instead.

"Where's Akane?" Ranma asked. For a moment, silence reigned over the table. Nabiki was about to reply when Kasumi finally came to the table with the food. The question was forgotten when Ranma shrugged.

He assumed that Akane was at a friend's place, probably Yuka or Sayuri.

The dinner was a quiet affair, aside from the questions the others asked Ranma and Trunks. The two aliens answered patiently. They understood the family's curiousity. Ranma found out that he was gone several months in this time, as opposed to the more or less two years worth of stay in the future. They both edited their stories though, for they talked about it when they were going to the dojo a bit earlier.  
They kept to themselves about their true ancestry. Mainly, the alien stuff.

Finally, the banquet ended. Ranma immediately stood up, and everyone turned to look at him.

"I'm gonna go to Akane." And with that, the pigtailed boy touched his forehead with his middle and index finger and blurred. He disappeared without a trace and left a stunned crowd, except Trunks.

"What that hell was that!" Nabiki was first to speak. She knew that Ranma can learn faster than a normal human, but this was a bit too weird even for him.

Trunks just shrugged as he ignored the questioning looks. "He learned the Instant Transmission Technique."

"Oh my. I hope he forgives Akane..." Kasumi looked distressed,  
which was quite an unusual sight.

Nodoka turned quizzically at the eldest Tendo daughter. "What do you mean, Kasumi-chan?"

"Well..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The park was lit up in a soft yellow light, and the moon hung above the sky, its face was a bit larger than a normal crescent. It was a nice night to take walks on, as the wind billowed around.

The figure of Ranma suddenly materialized near a large tree. He was curious as to why he appeared here. Apparently, Akane had taken a walk instead of staying at a friend's house.

A sound of "SWEETO!" brought a huge grin to Ranma's face. He waited for a bit and felt cold water drench him. He turned to a she,  
apparently.

"My Ranma-chan! You came back!" Happosai glomped at the dangling breasts in front of Onna-Ranma.

If possible, Ranma's grin became more evil as she reached down and clamped on Happosai's head. She lifted him up to her face level and snarled, "Glomp this, freak." She punched Happosai in the groin area,  
causing the old pervert's face to contort in pain. The old man gasped for air as Onna-Ranma lifted him up to the air.

"See ya later, creep." And with that, Onna-Ranma threw the gasping Happosai into the night sky. She drew a thermos from.  
somewhere and drenched herself back to maleness. A glint of light from the ground caught his attention. He saw a mirror which was taped rather crudely laid on the ground. Ranma shrugged and picked up the mirror,  
that he recognized and identified as the Nanban Mirror when he saw it up close.

As he put his hands in his pockets to walk a bit to find his fiance, he heard a giggling sound from the back of the large tree he appeared nearest to.

"Hey! Did you hear something?" A familiar female voice was heard.

"I dunno, Akane-chan. Forget about it! Kiss me again!" A VERY familiar male voice answered back.

"Really, Ryo-chan. You're really a hentai!" A girlish giggle was heard once again.

Ranma just stood there, shocked beyond belief. ((Akane? My Akane! And... Ry-Ryoga! Ryo-chan! What the hell!)) He summoned all his strength to stagger towards the direction of the voices. He hesitantly peeked behind the tree trunk that covered a clean patch of grass that was well hidden from those who pass by the pavement. His keen eyesight registered two forms, kissing as if they had no care of the world.

His vision darkened, and it wasn't because of the darkness of the night. He just can't believe it! Akane cheated on him! And with Ryoga too!

Ranma's faltering steps finally hit an empty can of soda, which alerted the two kissing figures. They looked around and froze when they saw Ranma's dumbfounded face.

Akane saw Ranma, whose face melted from shock to indifference.  
She was caught, red-handed, by her own fiance!

Ryoga's momentary shock was turned to rage when he saw his hated rival back once again from somewhere.

"R-Ranma... it's not what you think!" Akane tried to explain her situation. She mentally slapped herself. ((Baka! It was what he thought it was! I betrayed Ranma!))

Ranma's face adopted a vision devoid of emotions. His cold glare focused on Akane, who flinched guiltily. "At least I was a victim of circumstance, whether you believe me or not. While you... you really.  
ahem. Anyway... sorry to have disturbed your 'fun', Tendo-san." Ranma whirled around and started to walk away from the scene, his hands still planted in his pockets. But if one would look into it closer, one would see that he was clenching his fist inside those pockets. He just removed all emotions from his heart and concentrated on the Soul of Ice.

Akane shivered at the coldness of the voice that regarder her,  
while Ryoga stood up angrily.

"DAMN YOU RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryoga threw a punch angled towards the back of the departing Ranma's head. Ranma's expression didn't even change as his right arm whipped over his face and caught Ryoga's fist before it made contact. Enraged by the lack of enthusiasm on Ranma's part, the bandanna-clad boy growled and threw fast-paced punches, while Ranma just dodged and weaved around the blows.

"Both of you, stop it!" Akane said in distraught. She was still guilty when she saw Ranma caught her 'making out' with Ryoga, believing that he would never come back. She also knew how strong Ryoga is now,  
and that she was afraid for Ranma's sake. Yeah right.

Ranma's gaze slightly shifted to the short haired girl, and this distraction was all Ryoga needed to land a blow. Ryoga grinned maliciously as he felt his jab crunch into Ranma's unprotected belly.  
Ranma grunted as the strong blow threw him backwards, sliding him for about a few meters before halting.

"You're getting soft, Ranma!" Ryoga gloated exultingly. His mirth melted however when he spied on the ire of his hatred remained standing, calmly dusting his midsection. The piece of cloth that covered his belly was already ripped, so Ranma just tore it away without any conviction. Ryoga and Akane were treated with a sight that shocked them tremendously.

Ranma removed the destroyed sash across his belly.

A red furry belt emerged from under it. The belt itself twitched and uncoiled by itself from around his waist, dangling down his back unsupported.

It was wriggling from side to side.

Ryoga and Akane's eyes followed the wagging piece of appendage that is currently being sported by the currently irritated Ranma, who was busy patting himself down. Finally noticing the silence, the pigtailed boy saw his current companions' gazes and followed it, finally resting on his red tail.

Well, it was certainly a bad day. Not that Ryoga's punch really proved anything that could damage him at all, but it was the principle of the thing, destroying his rather 'in good condition' clothes that he worked so hard not to damage at all. Thanks to a cowardly attack from behind, now his tail has been exposed for the world to see, not that it mattered to him anyway. His mom explained it to him, and he readily accepted the fact that he WASN'T related by blood to Genma Saotome.

That was a good thing.

Then there is also this other heritage, namely, his being a prince together with his cousin. A prince to this rather powerful ruling planet of an intergalactic proportion. After finding that one out, his grandfather finally disclosed the truth, about being born after he was magically removed from the womb of his real mother Tokimi, and was transferred to Nodoka Masaki's. Then there is this other thing about an unknown in his DNA, a lost factor. Add these to the fact that he just traveled to another world and went on to save it again and again just to find a way home, then to find out that the one reason he came back is currently in a liplock with his so-called friend/rival/enemy/whatever.

What was her reason for that again? Oh yes... she thought he would never come back... as if that was a good reason to begin with.  
Only several months passed in this world, while two years passed in the world he was in.

Oh yeah! He was also technically gonna age real well, so it seems.

Ranma really felt his anger was totally acceptable as of right now. Yes, totally acceptable...

Still, despite the little thought of being thought more of a freak now more than ever, being able to free his tail like this is somewhat... exhilirating for some reason.

Oh yeah, the two are still gaping at him.

((Idiots...)) His mind stated simply.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the two gapers are coming out of their self-induced shock.

Akane was the winner though. "R-Ranma!" Akane stammered, her finger shook as she pointed towards his back, "W-what the hell is that!"

Ranma looked at the girl like she's stupid or something. "DUH.  
a tail, what else?"

"S-since when did you have a t-tail?"

"Since the day I was born." Ranma scratched his chin with his right index finger. His other arm crossed across his chest. "Grandpa said he had my powers sealed right after I was born. When I got to the other world, somethin' happened and my tail grew back."

"You..." Ryoga said menacingly, " - really are a freak!"

"Ryoga!" Akane chastised him.

Ranma snorted, turning away from them, "Whatever, as if I cared what you say, P-chan. If you think that's surprising, ya better ask mom what I am really. This ain't the only secret they have from me." He started to walk away. "Anyway, fights here ain't a challenge to me now.  
I got too powerful already."

"RANMA!" Ryoga bellowed, poising to go after Ranma if necessary, "Come back here you coward! Have you no honor!"

Ranma froze in halfstep. Without turning, he replied, "There's no honor in fightin' somethin' too weak to begin with. Ya gotta thank me, I'm savin' yer life, eventhough we know how worthless it is"  
Looking over his shoulder, his gaze stopped Ryoga's scathing answer, "I could destroy the whole world and eat tuna for breakfast without breaking a sweat, Ryoga. I am no martial artist no more... I'm a warrior now."

" . . . " Ryoga's eyes narrowed in anger.

The pigtailed boy just turned back to his walking. "A martial artist defends those who are weak, and tries their very best not to kill. A warrior defends those who needs it, and doesn't give any second thoughts on killing those who deserved to be killed."

"Damn you Ranma!" Ryoga's eyes flashed as he focused his rage,  
"Do you think that will scare me? I will kill you!"

Akane couldn't believe it. One moment she heard Ryoga screaming obscenities against Ranma, then when she blinked, Ryoga just flew back.  
Ranma was now in front of her, his arm outstretched towards to where Ryoga was thrown. At the moment, her eyes saw betrayal, anger and pain in those blue gray eyes of Ranma's that she loved so much.

"Shove it, piggy." Ranma spat out, "You weren't even a challenge to me before, what makes ya think you're up to par against me now? Heck,  
I'm not human even. To think I even considered you a friend... I'm so wrong." Turning his hateful eyes towards Akane, eliciting a soft whimper from her, he said softly, "Thanks a lot, Akane. Only seven months passed by here, but for me it's two years. Imagine what I had to go through. And you betrayed me just like that." Shaking his head, he continued, "Even if I'm gonna forgive ya, I can't ever trust ya. Never again."

"R-Ranma..." Akane could only stare at the boy... no... man in front of her. The one she betrayed. She tried telling him something, but she was silenced by his outstretched hand.

"Don't bother, Akane." Ranma said dryly. "I'm not gonna listen to it no more. Do you even know his secret?" Seeing a blank look on her face, he chuckled, "Damn... I can't believe ya just let it slide like that. Pathetic." And with that, he walked away.

"W-wait... Ranma!"

"Go away, Akane. I'm gonna go back to the dojo and get my stuff.  
Then I'm gonna go someplace where you people can't find me. I'll go as far as using the Nanban Mirror... just to get away from this hell. I won't go after ya anymore, Tendo-san... ya don't deserve my time. You're gonna be the best of Nerima again, though I ain't gonna be there to save ya anymore. No more." Then, his form blurred and vanished completely.

Akane fell down to her knees, sobbing.

Trunks almost jumped up from his seat on the Tendo kitchen when the shimmering form of Ranma suddenly materialized in front of him. When his breathing was normalized, he stood up and huffed up at Ranma,  
saying, "Ranma you idiot! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Ranma looked on in shock. "Wha? How did I do that?"

Trunks looked at him quizzically. "Instant Transmission, right?"

Ranma shook his head. "No way. I didn't concentrate on any given target. I just thought about this place for some reason then, poof! Here I am!"

Trunks shrugged. "I dunno. Some new power?"

Ranma sighed. "Perhaps. It seems that I still have some powers that I don't know."

Trunks breathed in and out for a few more times before relaxing.  
"What now?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don't have anythin' here left to come back for. You, my friend, should go back to your mother in the future. I'll go for an extended trainin' trip or somethin', away from all this nonsense."

"You sure you'll be alright?"

Ranma nodded. "I should try to cope. I'll live a long life, so I should learn to cope."

Trunks smiled and snickered in understanding. Just then, a loud shout was heard from outside. Sighing, Ranma turned to the door and walked out, with Trunks trailing behind him.

Outside the door, the two Saiyajins found Akane with Ryoga in tow approaching them, with the boy shouting profanities against Ranma.  
Nodding once towards his companion, Ranma bounded over the rooftops and beelined to the park. Seeing Ranma roofhopping, Akane pulled Ryoga with her and followed the pigtailed boy.

Once in the park, Ranma landed on a green field where he waited for the pursuers.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryoga bellowed as he launched his fist towards the waiting pigtailed Saiyajin. Ranma's tail uncoiled itself out of its confinement around his waist and immediately whipped upwards, the fur standing on one end. Ranma automatically caught Ryoga's ki-aided punch, which caused a slight tremor in the air.

"Ryoga! Stop it now!" Akane cried out desperately.

"He's going to get annihilated." the purple haired boy calmly stated as he walked towards Akane's side.

Akane turned to Trunks sharply, shouting, "Why aren't you stopping them!"

Trunks faced Akane. "Are you kidding me? Even with the power I have, I can't match Ranma at all! It's suicide!" He winced when he saw Ranma crush Ryoga's arm mercilessly. Ranma lifted Ryoga by the same crushed fist, making the bandana-clad boy scream in pain. Ranma's face didn't show any emotions as he threw Ryoga across the clump of trees with a flick of his wrist. The trees were mowed down as Ryoga shot right through them.

"Ranma! Stop it right now! Poor Ryoga..." Akane almost whispered the last part.

Trunks snorted. "Poor Ryoga? POOR RYOGA! Have you ever thought of Ranma's hardships that he had to endure? Did you even know how many women practically threw themselves to him, and he casually brushed them off? Have you ever thought of how many planet-destroying creeps he had to face across and KILL just to pave a way for him to get back to you? And to think he didn't even have to bother to help us... yet he did! He even had to endure the fact that he isn't human at all..." Trunks wanted to continue but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. His eyes trailed to Ranma's face.

"Trunks." Ranma said silently, "Let's just get out of here. I need a place to release some energy." Ranma ignored the fact that Akane was there gaping at them.

Trunks looked apprehensive, but he voiced out, "Sparring?"

Ranma shook his head, much to Trunks' gratitude. "I'm just gonna go somewhere alone, away from here... before I really start destroying things by accident just because of my aura..." In response, a golden aura streaked with purple suddenly leaked out from his body, throwing everyone down to the ground. Even Trunks was blown back by the sheer force of Ranma's ki. When Trunks nodded numbly, Ranma turned to the sky and started to float upwards, still not listening to Akane's pleas to listen. When he was high enough, he eventually turned to Akane, saying,  
"Thank you for everything, Tendo-san. I now declare our engagement officially, over. You are free."

Upon hearing those words that remained echoing in Akane's mind,  
she fell down to her knees muttering to herself, "No... no... no"  
over and over again. Trunks really wanted to go and pity the girl, but from what he had seen, he would've done the same thing Ranma did if he did catch his own fiancee cheating on him. ((Her loss...)) Trunks thought to himself.

Ryoga shook himself awake and saw Akane fall down to her knees.  
His eyes momentarily widened as he saw Ranma floating up there. But his astonishment was banished by his burning hate of his rival. He gathered his depression energy into a huge sickly glow and stood up, ran towards the scene, bellowing, "RANMA! FOR THE PAIN YOU CAUSED AKANE, I WILL KILL YOU! PERFECT SHI SHI HOKODAN!" He fired a huge dark green wave of energy towards Ranma's current location.

Ranma's aura suddenly flared up as he felt his anger take immediate brief control. He turned towards the wave and took the blast head on. The smirk that appeared on Ryoga's face as he watched his chi blast envelop Ranma's body disappeared when the green ball was suddenly encompassed by a huge gold-purple twister of an energy. When the miniature tornado disappeared, Ranma appeared unharmed from the smoke,  
glaring at him in those cruel blue-gray eyes. Ryoga shivered involuntarily as he felt his fear creep upon his spine. ((How can he survive that...)) he thought frantically to himself.

"Ryoga..." Ranma said in a whisper, barely even registering to those in front of him, "Prepare, to die." His head whipped upwards, as he struggled to control the torrents of emotions that wanted to come forth. Pain, suffering, betrayal... everything is coming out now. Years of torment and violence that he had tried to avoid had somehow managed to make itself come to the fore right now. The purple golden corona of ki that was swirling around Ranma exploded outwards, literally obliterating the nearby trees that didn't stand the pressure. Even the earth below him creaked and groaned as the strain was too much.

Trunks blanched as he watched Ranma release some of his self-installed limiters in his body. He felt dwarfed at the immense power overflowing out of the pigtailed boy's frame. He turned to Akane,  
who was still paralyzed from shock, and flew to her. He grabbed her and blasted with her out of the area, out of the destruction that is about to occur. He could hear Akane muttering, "Ranma... please... come back..." He felt the winds suddenly grow stronger as the ki emitted steadily grew exponentially. He even wondered if the planet would survive the strain.

Ryoga quickly gathered himself and limped towards his backpack.  
He rummaged in the container a bit as he watched Ranma gave off power in waves. With a small yelp of joy, he clutched at a very familiar small mushroom that he kept for emergencies such as these. A sudden self doubt entered his mind, but he quickly banished it as his hatred towards Ranma became more evident. He knew that this was a dishonorable way to defeat his rival, but he was not about to take any chances.

The bandanna clad boy finally stood up and shouted, "Ranma! Come here and face me like a man! Or are you a girl to hide up there where I can't reach you!" Ryoga smirked as he felt Ranma's ki strengthen a bit.  
Ranma finally relented and swooped down to the ground and eyed Ryoga warily.

When he saw Ranma settled down on the ground, Ryoga immediately launched himself straight towards Ranma, who just stood defiantly. The fanged boy cocked his fist back and unleashed a feint punch to Ranma's chest.

The pigtailed boy was a little surprised at Ryoga's tactic, and hadn't really thought of it when he felt his throat constrict a bit. He opened his mouth to say some words of protest when a soft object lodged itself into his mouth. Ranma fought a gag reflex and swallowed, which made Ryoga's grin into a full blown laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! Finally! Taste my revenge, Ranma!" Ryoga danced around a bit.

As Ranma felt the foreign object descend into his stomach, he finally realized that something was wrong with his body. He fell into a fetal position as he desperately clutched to himself. He could hear his bones readjust with cricks and groans, and saw his vision blurred at the moment.

When the painful burning sensation finally subsided, Ranma opened his eyes and looked at himself. His eyes widened at the sight.  
Gone was his older body, but was replaced by a younger version of himself. His mind clicked as he remembered something from the past...

The growth mushrooms...

((Shit.))

Akane was quite surprised when Ranma fell down on the ground,  
clutched at his throat. She saw him writhing painfully and was compelled to go to him and care for her now former fiance but Trunks' hand clamped down on her shoulder. She struggled in vain for her freedom.

"Let me go!" Akane hissed at the purple haired half saiyajin.

Trunks just shook his head and gazed worriedly at the scene.  
((Ranma's... shrinking? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?))

Akane and Trunks' eyes bugged out as they watched the groaning Ranma shrink down deeper into his clothes. Akane remembered this incident not long ago, where Ryoga brought something like a mushroom that shrunk them both.

Akane finally realized that Ryoga just took advantage of it again.

Ranma struggled to his feet and almost stumbled on his now loose clothing. Looking at his once mature hands, they now sport young and smooth small hands. He felt betrayed at this dishonorable tactic that his rival employed on him. But he soon banished the thought just as quickly as he thought about it, for it was his own folly that he let Ryoga get close enough to throw a feint like that. A warrior fights whether his enemy is honorable or not.

He should've known about this. He growled menacingly as he glared at the dancing Ryoga.

Ryoga was currently hopping into his little victory dance. Sure,  
he beat Ranma unfairly, but it was highly fair for him to be this strong in such a short while, so this was just trying to even the score. ((Yeah!  
Just trying to level the playing field!)) Ryoga tried to convince himself, but he can't help feeling a bit of self loathing at what he did. His rejoicing stopped short when he felt an ominous energy exploding from Ranma's direction. His gaze lifted towards it, and he felt his knees buckle at the sight of Ranma who, although with a small body and looked particularly funny swimming in his clothes, glowed fiercely in an unearthly light of shaded dark yellow and purple. All this energy was directed to him.

Ryoga was compelled to whimper, but his mouth was too busy as it was hung out on the ground.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Her spatula fell down with a clang as she felt the earth tremor strongly. Then Ukyou felt it; Ranma's ki was literally out of control right now. She felt his anger pushing her down to the ground. She turned to Konatsu, who was staring right back at her with his eyes as big as saucers. "Ranchan..." Ukyou muttered as she ran outside her shop,  
followed by Konatsu.

Cologne suddenly felt a huge headache as she continued to monitor different ki buildups in the vicinity. "By the ancestors!" she screamed as she tried to placate her headache, "That's... muko-dono"  
She turned to Shampoo, who was shivering in fright, and Mousse, whose jaw fell down to the ground. "What have they done!" she shouted as she pogoed outside with Shampoo and Mousse hot on her tail.

In the Tendo Dojo, Soun and Genma were shocked when their shogi board was split into half, the pieces strewn everywhere at once. They looked at one another and they knew about the sense of dread that they feel right now. Kasumi and Nabiki approached them, they were slightly shaken. Even if they weren't adept ki users, they could feel the winds that blow within the house, and they are not natural. They immediately piled up outside and saw a huge amount of ki build-up from the park.  
They were about to run towards it when they heard a loud thump from behind them. It was Nodoka, who was clearly afraid of the omen. "My son..." Nodoka said softly, but enough to be heard by those who were around her.

All of the Nerimian resident martial artists and friends met up in front of the park.

Suddenly, as sudden as it all began, the ki winds died down, and Chibi-Ranma once again became visible as his aura flickered out of existence. He breathed slowly, trying to placate his currently boiling blood. His soul was screaming for vengeance, at the same time it is also screaming to just leave everything behind. His small body twitching every now and then, barely spent in baring that much energy.

Everyone looked up and watched as the now small boy slowly descended to the ground.

"Muko... Ranma... are you alright?" Cologne asked pensively. She was nervous even before when Ranma was normal, now she's scared spitless. Even with the visibly small body, Chibi-Ranma's ki was still as strong as ever, although quite dampened as of now.

"I... I don't need to spill unnecessary blood just to quench my thirst for a fight. I just want to go as far away as possible from this place." Chibi-Ranma turned to his mother. "My body... it's back to being a kid..." his laugh was a shallow one as he leveled a glare to Ryoga's direction. He was pissed off at the fanged boy.

Nodoka struggled to compose herself and tried to ignore the current need for revenge on the Ryoga person. "Ranma... is there a cure for it?"

Chibi-Ranma smiled warmly at his mother before nodding. "Yes,  
mom. I need to find more of these mushrooms. But it's in a place hard to find. Only an idiot who gets lost so often could accidentally find it"  
Then he looked over her shoulder to the rest of the Nerimians. "I guess you want an explanation for this. Let's go to the Tendo Dojo and there you can ask your questions, before I head off to find the cure.  
again."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Chibi-Ranma gazed on the people around the table. Basically,  
almost everyone was there. He sat on his normal position, with some slight changes around him.

Trunks was on his right as he looked on with amusement as always.

For some reason, Kasumi was on his left, demurely straightening some imaginary crumpled area on her dress. For some odd and totally random thought that came to Ranma, he thought the reddish tint on Kasumi's cheeks while she did what she was doing right now really made her a lot cuter.

Across him, Nabiki looked curious at what he was about to say,  
and was glancing back and forth at his tail and Trunks' sword.

Shampoo and Cologne remained impassive in the corner, but Ranma saw the tensed muscles in Shampoo's position. This meant that she was ready to do a glomp sometime. Mousse was... well... a duck. Currently,  
Cologne held the duck by the neck.

Akane sat at Nabiki's right, trying to look as small as possible. Her guilt was really eating up on her, but Ranma knew he could never trust the girl again. He mentally snorted and pointedly ignored her.

Ryoga was on Nabiki's left, who tried to glare at Ranma, but instead he looked nervous. He was still a bit shaken up by the aura expelled by Chibi-Ranma so casually.

Soun sat on his usual place, in the head of the table.

Genma's... a panda, somewhere in the corner behind Soun.

Ukyo sat beside Ryoga, who had this forlorned look on her face.

His adoptive mother, Nodoka, sat beside and a little behind of Kasumi. Her hand was poised at the hilt of her bundle. Whether it was to control the impromptu violence that was about to commence, or to control his father, he didn't know. Either way, it was acceptable to him.

The Kuno siblings were taken cared of, probably still stuck in their roof after they had been punted by Ranma and Trunks (Ranma kicked Tatewaki, Trunks soccer-kicked Kodachi).

Ranma sighed and spooled his expression. "Well, as you have known I was thrown out of this dimension by Happosai's weird artifact"  
Seeing all the nods of agreement around he continued, "I wasn't really thrown into another dimension, rather I was thrown far into the future."

"What was it like in the future?" Ranma internally smirked. He just knew Nabiki would have asked that, and she did.

Ranma shrugged. "What can I say? Aside from flying cars and weird gadgets that shrink into capsules, it was basically the same.  
Although, mutated humanoids and some aliens are quite normal there."

Ranma raised his hand to forestall any questions. "Mutants,  
meaning, some look like dogs that walk on hind legs, pigs that talk"  
he glared at Ryoga, "Cats changing shape... those kinds. The aliens,  
well, some defend the Earth at that time, while most just go there to conquer the planet. Also, there was this Kami of Chikyuu that was really and alien from another planet. He's the guardian of the planet Earth.  
Well anyway, when I got there... I was involved in an accident, which caused my real heritage to awaken." He paused for a while and debated whether to tell all of the story or not.

"What are you, then?" Nabiki asked as she raised her eyebrows.

Ranma sputtered a bit, but recollected himself just as quickly.  
"What do you mean?"

Nabiki scoffed. "I mean, with you having tails and all, you're really not human..." Seeing Ranma was about to retort, she cut him off,  
"Don't bother denying it. I'm really observant, and I'm not stupid. That furry tail of yours may pass up as a good sash for anyone who didn't know what to look for. That other guy's sash is brown. They are connected to your vertebrae. They're really not sashes, but tails. So out with it. What are you, really?"

Ranma stayed silent. But Trunks smiled and laughed a bit.  
"Amazing. You're really observant!"

Nabiki's brows narrowed. "You still didn't answer the question."

"Very well." Trunks nodded. "I'm half human, half saiyajin."

Soun finally spoke up. "What's a 'Saiyajin'?"

Trunks smiled gently. "According to my mother, Saiyajins are one of the universe's greatest warrior races. They were born and bred for battle, even when they were still in toddler stage. Their planet was called Vegeta-sei, which was destroyed by the one who enlisted them in his army, Freeza, the tyrant. My mother is human, while my father is not. My father is very proud of his race."

Nabiki nodded in understanding. "So... how many of you are left?"

Trunks sighed. "My father, Vegeta, was the prince of the Saiyajins. Goku, his son Gohan, me, and Ranma. The others either died or were destroyed with the planet. Raditz, Goku's brother, was killed by him when he tried to conquer the Earth. My father's loyal servant,  
Nappa, was also killed. So all in all, there are five Saiyajins left in the entire known universe. Only two of them are full blooded Saiyajins,  
only my father and Goku are pure blooded."

"What about Ranma?" Shampoo asked hesitantly.

"I'm part Saiyajin, part Juraian, and some other DNA that hasn't been identified yet. In other words, I was never human." Ranma replied.

Gasps were heard from the audience. Nabiki and Kasumi stared at Ranma in disbelief, while Akane was shaking her head in defiance. Ryoga growled and muttering something about unfairness. Soun started wailing about the schools never going to be joined, while Genma just sat there in shock. Nodoka's face was calm though. Trunks still had that smirk on his face.

"Juraian?" Akane's small voice broke the silent interlude.

"They are a race of powerful individuals who ruled most of the galaxy sectors. They have an intergalactic government, and currently as far as I can recall, the royal princesses of planet Jurai are on this planet, which by the way is still not part of the alliance. Earth is still too primitive to be included their political system." Nodoka continued at this point.

"Most interesting." Cologne was nodding her head.

"Aliens? Here? Why?" Nabiki asked worriedly.

Nodoka saw the concern in the middle daughter's eyes. "No need to be alarmed. They have no intention of interfering in any of Earth's affairs, even more so have no interest in conquering Earth. As for why they are here, well, the princes they were promised to reside on this planet. Two princes, one who is a Juraian-Human hybrid, and the other.  
let's just say... had an exotic blood. Still Juraian, but... let's leave it at that."

Nabiki stayed silent for a while, then nodded. She turned to Genma and smirked. "So I guess you're not Ranma's real father.  
Figures... he was never like you. Heh... everything makes sense now!"

Genma stood up angrily and glared at everyone. "I'm Ranma's father! Boy! You better do as I say and take back those things you said!  
You are my son and my heir, you will marry a Tendo to continue the art of Anything Goes!"

Ranma snorted. "You forgot 'bargaining chip' and 'money generator'. And what are you gonna do about it, beat me up? Hah! That will be the day..."

With a loud kiai, Genma launched a kick towards Ranma's direction, who just leaned back lightly and caught his foot. Ranma twisted Genma's ankle a bit then threw the man into the dojo. Ranma stood up and looked apologetically at his mother, who nodded in return.  
With that, Ranma walked casually towards the dojo hall and closed the doors behind him.

Sounds of loud meaty thunks echoed all over the house as the rest of those who were left in the dining hall looked at one another.

Nodoka cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "By the way, I'm not Ranma's real mother. Before you ask, no, I cannot tell you anymore than that. His real mother is a bit more... complicated to explain. His real father was a Saiyajin, but his mother... well.  
that's all I can say, really."

Silence just reigned the entire household, with the pounding noise as well as the loud girlish screams from the dojo the only background noise that can be heard. Their thoughts were on the heart of the matter.

Ranma was not human at all.

((But still...)) Kasumi thought to herself. ((Eventhough he was never human, he was really nice and patient with everybody. If I were to be asked, he was more human than the rest of the people around him.))

Even when Ranma finally returned to the table, everyone was just silent in contemplation. Ranma breathed in as he gathered his courage to say what he had to say.

Ranma finally uttered the words. "I'm leaving Nerima."

The people around him jerked a bit in surprise. But before they could protest, he continued, "I will not stay here any longer. Also"  
he took out the badly taped together Nanban Mirror from his pocket, to the consternation of Shampoo, Cologne and Akane, "Not only will I leave Nerima, but this world as well." He glared at everyone and dared them to dispute his words.

No one dared, though.

But it didn't stop their curiousity.

"How did you get the mirror?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma laughed softly. "Met Happosai somewhere and grabbed the thing. He was about to glomp when he threw a bucket of water."

Ranma relaxed and reached into his other pocket. He took out a small leather pouch and gave it to Trunks. "The capsules are in there. I won't need them anymore."

Trunks opened his mouth to say something, but he just sat back and nodded.

"You're going back to your time too, my friend. I need to do this alone."

The purple haired boy nodded once again, for he understood Ranma's intentions.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The next day, the park was filled with the most destructive members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew.

Chibi-Ranma was shaking Trunks' hand. He will really miss his friend, but this journey of his was something he had to do. He grinned at Trunks one more time before letting his hand go.

The chibified boy strode up to his surrogate mother, who was struggling to keep her tears from falling. Ranma gazed sadly at his mother. She may not be his real mother, but Nodoka was the one who literally birthed him and gave him the support, no matter how short it was. Ranma smiled at her, who smiled back in return despite of her sadness. To see her 'son' go, it was so hard on her, but she knew it would eventually come someday. She lowered her body and hugged her boy tightly. They clung to each other for a long while Before finally disengaging.

Genma was still in comatose state after Ranma's beating, so it was understandable that he wasn't present.

Ranma walked up to Soun and shook his hand. The Tendo patriarch wanted to make him stay, but he knew he couldn't do anything, so he just wailed louder. Ranma dodged the large streams of water that erupted from Soun's eyes, averting his curse rather well.

Ranma turned to Nabiki, who had red swollen eyes, apparently from crying late last night. Ranma approached her and held out her hand.  
He placed a stack of yen notes in those hands. Nabiki's eyes widened in surprise, and tried to return it to Ranma, who just shook his head in amusement.

"I got more of those..." Ranma chuckled.

Leaving the shocked Nabiki's side, he walked up to Shampoo and Cologne. He bowed slightly, saying, "Sorry, Shampoo. I can never be your husband, with or without ever finding out about the truth behind my existence."

Shampoo just kept silent, not knowing how to respond to that.  
Cologne merely nodded and said, "I knew that from the start. It has been fun teaching you, Ranma."

Ranma nodded and turned towards Ukyou. "The arrangement between the Saotome's and your family cannot be fulfilled. If you want to pursue it, take it up with Genma. But I just hope that you will still be my friend. If not, I would still understand."

Ukyou stayed silent for a while. After a short moment, she nodded to herself and looked into Ranma's eyes and said, "You're my best friend, Ranchan. That will never change, alien or not."

Ranma beamed happily and hugged his bestfriend, who hugged him in return.

Ranma then turned to Ryoga, who glared at him in hatred. "Good riddance to bad trash." Ryoga growled to him.

Ranma just stood there, amused. "Really. I don't care. At least,  
an alien like me has more honor than someone like you. Ryoga, I warn you as early as now, tell Akane everything about you. If not, then live your life in dishonor. I always thought of you as a friend, a rival... but I was so wrong. The bread feud, the fight you forfeited... even your Jusenkyo curse. They're all YOUR fault, P-chan."

Ryoga's fist flew towards Ranma, who calmly caught his hand and redirected the force of the blow. Ryoga fell forward on his face on the dirt.

Akane was about to ask about something when she heard Ranma interrupt. "Ask him about it, Tendo-san. You believe his innocence more than mine anyway. You'll just say, 'You pervert!' or 'You liar!' or 'Why can't you be more like Ryoga?'. Well guess what? I'm glad I'm not like him." Nabiki, Cologne and Shampoo couldn't help but chuckle at Ranma's remark.

The small pigtailed boy walked to Kasumi and hugged her by the waist. Kasumi finally broke down and hugged at the boy in desperation.  
She lowered her lips to his ears and whispered something. Ranma's eyes widened as he disengaged from Kasumi, who nodded her head with a blush.  
Ranma then kissed her cheek and whispered something back, causing her to blush deeper.

At the end of his rounds, he took a step back and took out the Nanban Mirror from his pocket.

Chibi-Ranma took one last look at those people who he lived with for the past three years of his life. He adjusted the straps of his backpack, which looked huge that contrasted to his currently small physique. He didn't feel the need to poke into his eye because he felt his tears falling down voluntarily. He just waited for the tears to come.  
Sure enough, a lone tear streaked down the mended mirror, activating its power probably for the last time.

He was supposed to wish for the mirror to take him to where the cure for the growth mushrooms were located, but at the last moment he felt that he needed something more.

With a sigh, Chibi-Ranma almost whispered, "Take me to a place where I can never be found, and I am needed."

With a bright flash, Chibi-Ranma's body slowly dematerialized in front of the stunned crowd. He shot them one last look before his face faded from view. The mirror fell down to the ground and broke into smaller pieces, making repairs an impossibility.

Trunks sighed and floated in the air after he said his farewell to the Saotome Matriarch. His aura flared as he shot off, to the direction of the forest where he could get the privacy he needed to activate his Time Machine.

The rest of the people left just stared at the spot where Ranma used to stand on a while ago. Akane broke down and cried her heart out.  
Ryoga screamed to the heavens saying something about everything being Ranma's fault. Soun just cried harder than before. Shampoo left with her great grandmother Cologne to return to the Nekohanten, for it was a business day after all. Nabiki just held a quietly sobbing Kasumi in her arms. Nodoka just stood there silently.

In their minds, there was one thing clear.

Ranma Saotome has left them, probably for good.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Shimmering stars circled his eyes as his tear reached the mirror. He gazed sadly at those around him, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Then it happened, the same familiar feeling that coursed his being long ago when they used the Nanban Mirror to go back in time.

'Take me to a place where I can never be found, and am needed.'

That was what he really wished to the mirror. Finally the lights that surrounded him disappeared.

He also remembered what Kasumi whispered in his ear and blushed.

'I love you so much, Ranma-kun.'

((I never would have guessed it.)) Ranma mused.

He felt himself floating in the air.

He started falling down, but then remembered how to fly. His fast descent halted when he finally activated his ki. Not that he would be hurt when he fell anyway, but it's best because he might get his clothes dirty.

Yeah right.

Chibi-Ranma raised his small hand in front of his face and contemplated while holding it there. His transformed state isn't all that bad, but the lack of reach as well as the currently imbalanced ki was a bad sign. Although he still had much much more ki than Ryoga had now, his current ki was still far off from the original level that he had achieved. His body couldn't handle the excess power at all. He noted that his reddish tail was still there, which shrunk together with his body. He sighed as he banished the sad thoughts in his mind.

He slowly descended to the ground, taking note of everything around him.

The place looked familiar. A lot of trees were scattered across the area he appeared into. As he slowly rotated in his position high up above in the air, he eventually came upon a shrine of some sort. He flew with a little haste towards the shrine, in a hurry to ask directions.

As he approached the shrine, he saw a rather small sign that looked old. But that wasn't what caught his attention. What irked him was what was written on the sign.

Masaki Shrine.

"Grandpa's shrine?" Chibi-Ranma said to himself as he slowly ascended the long winding path that sloped upwards. He neared the Masaki House when he caught sight on a quiet old man with black hair that was tied in a low ponytail, who wore white priest robes and was currently sweeping the top most area of the road that led to the shrine.

The man stopped his cleaning and looked on the pathway. He adjusted his spectacles and saw a small boy of about eight to ten years of age wearing an imitation of a uniform apparel of some school, which was dark blue shirt with dark blue pants. His waist was wrapped with a red furry sash. The young boy also had his hair worn into a pigtail,  
which caught the old man's fancy. He found some familiarity with the child, but it was impossible. The boy had an unmistakenly Juraian energy, or part of it that is.

The man also feels depressed lately, for after quite some two centuries passed, he now feels quite lonely in this world. He had to leave his beloved wife back in his homeworld. He left his home and his wife, to pursue the wanted criminal who almost destroyed Jurai. He has finally chased down the demon into a planet far out of Jurai's jurisdiction. After he finally defeated a demon he chased to this planet all those years ago, he sealed her up in a cave a few ways from the shrine itself.

He traveled around the world, and gathered as much information as possible. Besides, he can't go anywhere else, for his space tree, Funaho, nearly got destroyed. He just replanted the seed in this land, right at the middle islet of the lake surrounding the land. When he came back to the shrine after a long time, he found out that a priest and some of his followers took the land and replenished the land. They took care of the trees that he planted real well, and for that he was grateful, though he didn't voice it. He applied as an additional caretaker so that he may bask unto the tree that he missed for so long. The shrine reminded him of his old world, Jurai.

Looking at the young child in front of him, the man's experienced eyes could feel the same aura from the newcomer. It was outworlder's aura.

"Can I help you, child?" The man asked.

Chibi-Ranma seemed to have snapped from his daze. His mouth opened, but no sounds came out. He wasn't sure what to say. The fact that his grandfather didn't know who he was quite dampened his spirits.  
Couple that with him sporting a currently young body. "D-Do you have a daughter named Nodoka?" he asked in a small voice. Gone was his rich dark timbre when his body transformed.

The man shook his head after some thought. "I do have a wife, but she is not in the Shrine at the moment. But a daughter, I don't have one yet."

Chibi-Ranma just stood there, shock was reflected from his expression. "Oh... is that so...?" he softly said to himself, totally livid of his surroundings as of now.

"Why do you have my Juraian aura?" The other man decided to be direct, seeing that he should use this tactic to somehow get some information from the young boy that he needed to confirm his theory.

"W-what? I..." Chibi-Ranma was still suffering from the shock,  
but he answered anyway. Well, tried that is.

The priest chuckled. "You're part Juraian, aren't you?"

The boy gawked at the person. He took a nervous step backwards.  
"N-no! You... must think I'm crazy or something... I'm sorry... I'd better go now!" He quickly turned to walk out of the shrine, but a gnarled old hand landed on his shoulder, compelling him to stay.

"Tell me about it, young one." The man coaxed him. Chibi-Ranma turned to him with a shocked expression, making him smile. "What? You think I would not be able to read your aura?"

Chibi-Ranma just sighed, tears starting to form in his eyes.

The man patted Chibi-Ranma's shoulder. "What happened, young one? Have you traveled back in time? Are you from another dimension? And lastly, it would seem that this is not your original age."

The boy coughed violently for some reason. "Wh-what? You believe in those?"

The man just smiled. "Come inside and have some tea for a while.  
I want to hear all about it. By the way, my name is Masaki Katsuhito,  
and I am the priest of this shrine."

Chibi-Ranma nodded slightly and replied, "Saotome Ranma... just passing through."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Heaven, Kami-sama's office...

Skuld just walked into the hollowed halls of the big office,  
which was covered with a jungle like setting that always made her think of why her Father liked it much. After some time, she never knew how long, she finally came upon the oaken table that loomed on the horizon,  
with her Father behind the desk itself.

Kami-sama lay back comfortably on his huge chair, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He was currently garbed in a dark blue robe, wore a semi-oval tall hat that matched colors with His robes, and an eyepatch over his left eye. Rumors speculate that this was his true form.

Skuld took hesitant steps as she slowly approached Kami-sama.  
Her thoughts were in the lines of that she had done something wrong that warranted the attention of her Father, and that she would be punished for it. Was it because she was hacking Ranma's file?

"YES, SKULD. IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE TRYING TO HACK INTO RANMA'S FILE, EVENTHOUGH I GAVE SPECIFIC ORDERS NOT TO TAMPER WITH IT."

Kami-sama's voice loomed across the darkened room which made Skuld jump a bit in surprise.

"Uhmm.  
I'msorryFatherIdidn'tmeantoIjustfeltsocuriousaboutitI'mverysorry!" Skuld said frantically in one breath and at the same time bowed and looked down the marble floor, embarassed.

Kami-sama chuckled loudly, which produced undulating rich baritone that wafted throughout the room. He patted on his outstretched knee and gestured Skuld to take her place unto it. Skuld nodded meekly and quickly padded to the offered knee. She received a boost from Kami-sama as he sat her on his knee, like a father would do to his child. Finally He spoke, "IT'S ALRIGHT, SKULD-CHAN. BUT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS THINK OF WHAT YOU WERE DOING. THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON WHY I ALLOW AND DISALLOW THINGS." Seeing Skuld nod, He continued, "I WANT TO TELL YOU A STORY. YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE THREE GODS THAT DEFEATED THE ANCIENTS LONG BEFORE THERE WAS EVEN MIDGAARD RIGHT?"

Skuld thought for a moment before nodding. She said, "That's about the gods of Righteousness, Nightmare and Chaos, right Father?"

"THAT IS CORRECT, DAUGHTER." Kami-sama replied. "THAT STORY IS ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE ONE ABOUT THE FOUR MORTAL GODS THAT ROAM THE COSMOS. DO YOU REMEMBER THEM?"

Skuld scrunched up her face in an attempt to remember her lessons back then at the Asgardian school. Her face lit up in recognition. "Yes Father! Wait... I only remember being taught of three mortal gods. They were Fate, Destiny, and Death right?"

"THE INFORMATION WAS LEFT INCOMPLETE, BUT IT WAS INTENTIONAL.  
THE LAST MORTAL GOD WAS UNPREDICTABLE, FOR HE GOVERNED MOST OF THE JURISDICTION THAT THE OTHER MORTAL GODS HAD. THE LAST MORTAL GOD WAS CHAOS ITSELF."

Skuld almost slipped off Kami-sama's knee if she wasn't being held down by her Father's gentle grip. "B-but... w-what does this have to do with...?"

"ALL IN GOOD TIME, DAUGHTER. ALL IN GOOD TIME. NOW COME ALONG,  
YOU STILL HAVE BUGS TO HUNT, RIGHT?"

"I-I... yes, Father. I'm sorry again for what I did..."

Kami-sama patted Skuld's head before He settled her down the marble floor once again. "IT'S ALRIGHT, DAUGHTER. NOW GO, YOU STILL HAVE A JOB TO DO..."

Skuld giggled and bowed to Kami-sama, then she turned and skip-hopped towards the exit.

After seeing His daughter hopping outside, Kami-sama turned thoughtful as He looked on the computer screen terminal in front of Him.

"FINALLY..." He said to himself, amidst the darkness of His office, "IT ALL BEGINS, ONII-CHAN..."

A chuckle echoed across the hallowed halls of Asgard, which made gods and goddesses shiver a bit.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O To Be Continued... O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

NEXT CHAPTER:

Ranma fell into the far past. But was this still the world he grew up in? What difference does his presence make in this world? Will he be able to cure his condition? Does he need it anyways?

Dunno.

Next up! Cooking with Style. China and Food. That's right!  
Cooking galore!

See the young and brash Katsuhito... I mean... Yosho! Ranma will also learn how to use his disguise field. Being a child is a pain, but at the same time it is an edge. You will find out how he plans on using the field.

Will Akane ever figure out Ryoga was P-chan!

Also... some of the main bad guys will be described there.

And... what's up with Kami-sama!

Guess which anime I hooked up this story to... heheheh.

Just stay tuned and read on.

AUTHOR RANTS:

Whew! Finally done this part.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Hehe... most will be wondering about Ayeka's current dillema. Think about it, though...

Son of a goddess, versus son of prince.

Not to mention, not at all wimpy. No offense to Tenchi, but he is too meek for the spitfire princess. Besides, he's already got Ryoko giving him the willies. And also I think Sasami/Tsunami would be more appropriate as incoming for that position as his first wife. Anyway,  
it's just a 'maybe' you know. I just paved the way for future tie-ins.

You might be wondering why Ranma's curse was activated only a couple of times or less. To tell you the truth, the curse was affected when he got in touch with some kami back in the future. Remember the Kami of Chikyuu, and Bastet?

His luck was affected for some reason, and the bad luck has been toned down.

He will still change most of the time in the upcoming chapters at more or less weird situations, although not as often as before. I'm still wondering whether I would give control of his curse.

Hell, why not? But still, it would be a long time before I would get to that part. I still enjoy his luck.

Ranma's speech pattern is a bit better from the brash one before, but he would still have occasional slip-ups and might revert a bit to that. But it is getting better folks!

About Ranma's sudden blow-up with Akane... well... how would you react, catching the one you've been pining for two years, killed a god for, and another two years of waiting lost in time smooching with the pig, I mean, Ryoga?

Yes, this is the end of the line for Mirai (future) Trunks. But it's definitely not the end for the DBZ/GT thing. A different person will accompany Ranma's travels.

Sailor Senshi... too much 'goodness' or preparing a future where only 'good' exists is a dull place. As the other fanfictions might have depicted it, I wholeheartedly agree that the Senshi being obsessed in rebuilding their Crystal Tokyo where all traces of evil are removed will be a really bad future. How dare they assume that it is for the good of everyone! If that was the case, Asgard would've destroyed Nifelheim if that's the case!

I am a hard believer in balance, and it also helps that my life has its own sense of chaotic tendencies.

Look, they're not evil, they're just too... goody-two-shoes!

Ranma's relationship with Haruka and Michiru... I just thought it made sense somewhat. I think I got the idea from one fanfic I got at Tannim's... I just forgot the title. No need to worry, I'll mention it in the next chapter. I have to thank the one who thought of Haruka's lesbian shift was because of her bad experience with a relationship.

In my fic though, and according to what I figured out when I read Sailormoon comics (original japanese mind you... it was really hard!), Haruka's lesbianism was actually just borderline Tomboy and Hatred for Heterosexual relationship. The cause? I didn't want to get deeper into that one, but I guessed she just had some bad juju with men.

If you wanna comment on that, feel free. But I wanted everyone to know how I saw it, and it was kinda appropriate in the fic I'm writing, and to the plot I created.

About Michiru... now she's just along for the ride. In fact, she plays the 'female' in the relationship, right? So it was easier to justify her relationship with Ranma, and her reason for the shift of preference.

Kasumi's parting words to Ranma... surprising? Of course not. If really thought about, of all the females wasting their energies in chasing Ranma, Kasumi would have been the right choice eventhough she didn't take part. Tofu, as far as some depictions I have read, his age was way too much for Kasumi. Also, as the Ranma series went on, Kasumi's view of Ranma's immaturity changed somewhat near the end. (Shrugging)

An older woman for Ranma (actually if you think about it, Ranma and Kasumi are more or less now at the same age... by the Kami! I'm right! It was an accident I swear!).

Hehe... Chibi-Ranma, hehehehehehe.

Yes, I know. The idea was from the DBGT wish thingie. Well, it's sorta fun to mess with Ranma. How will he get cured? Stay tuned in that one...

With regards to the crossover with Tenchi Muyo, I combined the ideas of Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 and the OAVs and stuff. Dunno how I did it, but I did! And I got major plot from that! HAH!

Oh yeah! Natsumi finally caught the Striker! Take that, Masked Idiot of Justice! Hah!

Thanks for reading this.

-Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	4. Chapter 3a

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: "If the Pen is mightier than the Sword, then why the heck did we invent the Sword then! Stab everyone in the eye with a Pen then!"

Author Notes: Some scenes are... well... hmmm... forget it.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 3A - COOKING WITH STYLE

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Approximately in the year 498 A.D., in Outer Space...

The sky was dark that night. Technology and other advanced sciences were all unknown in this day and age. That was why the people in of Earth wasn't warned about the incoming meteors that came far from the other side of the galaxy.

When the bright metallic rock of ice entered the atmosphere, the already lighted fire that trailed behind it intensified and became a bright spectacle to the unsuspecting humans.

The great meteor suddenly broke into two.

A smaller part of the meteor fell into a part known as China, where it would be used into creating various things that may help of destroy civilizations as we know it.

It was deep into the night, and the crater that was formed was shallow,  
surrounded by a large body forests. Most of the greens were burned to a crisp. The hole was smoking from the impact, and heat permeated into the piece of rock itself. Suddenly, the rock cracked open, exposing a number of odd looking black spherical shaped objects that throbbed rhythmically. One of the dark spheres broke and split into two. A rather quivering clawed hand with three fingers was exposed in the night air.  
It was followed by another of the clawed hands, and a body that was slimey from whatever it came from. The other spheres followed their brethren, cracks and pops sounded off in the night, coupled by loud shrill cries of freedom.

In the morning, only the remains of the cracked spheres and various ores were found by a wandering holy man. He took the materials and created the magical devices known as the Magical Cooking Utensils which was powered by some unknown magic from the meteorite's composition.

The bigger part broke into another two parts, one of them crashed near a Japanese deserted island, which caught the attention of some observers from the mainlands. The other part landed in a remote area in the middle of the main island of Japan itself, which was by this time rules by lords and the Shogunate. These two meteors imbedded themselves deep into the ground, which pretty much barred everyone from viewing what they were without the help of much more modern equipments and such. So the last two were left alone to themselves.

One burrowed itself into the ocean, just outside the shoreline of the deserted island.

The other one dug a hole deep into the heart of Japan. Because of the uneven terrain and some dumb weird luck, the soil and rocks that surrounded the newly drilled hole closed in on itself.

That was more or less a thousand years ago...

Oh yeah... this will be the beginning of the whole world's headaches.  
a motherload of problems...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Cooking to conquer the world... who would've thought it would be possible?

But in the world we live in, stranger things have happened, and people cannot dispute with that.

The Super Chefs... China's greatest Elite Chef group, were the greatest people in the country aside from the Emperor.

Liu Mao-Hsing of Schezuan province claimed the title at the young age of thirteen.

This young boy was proclaimed as the new Super Chef, a rank that was bestowed only to those who pass the Super Chef Test. It was widely known the Super Chefs were considered almost as gods when it comes to cooking skills, and they were ranked third of the most respected people in China. Liu Mao-Hsing, or Mao in short, passed the Guangzhou Super Chef Test, which was considered to be the most difficult of all the tests that was held once every four years. His proclamation as the youngest chef ever to win such a title brought out hope from the people of China.  
Their cooking legacy was safe with this young boy.

Mao was accompanied by Mei-Li, daughter of the famous Chouyu who was the head chef in the equally well known restaurant called Yosen Shuka. And Shilou, the half japanese boy they have met during the initial stages of their journey who proclaimed himself as Mao's student.

It was a fine day, with the sun shining high up in the sky. The restaurant Mao and his little group ate in was currently thriving real well. The aroma of good food swirled around the air. Mei-Li helped herself with some of the morsels that they have earned quite well.  
Shilou was currently gnawing on a steak bone that he had ordered and added the now empty plate to his own stack of plates. He apparently ate quite well. Mao was no different, who was patting his stomach in pleasure.

They were now currently in Star Way Village, and the restaurant they were in was called Star Way Restaurant. It was the well known dining establishment in the village.

Mao and his friends just came from the Jade Palace, with which whom the owner of the mansion was manipulated by an evil high class chef. The chef cooked a forbidden substance associated with the poisonous red mushrooms, which induces hysteria and addiction-like state. Apparently,  
the chef wanted the deed for the said mansion, and Mao was just in time to stop the evil plot to work.

"""Wow... that was good food!""" The young Super Chef commented.

Mei-Li nodded in agreement. """Uh-huh! It's a good thing too, I was getting hungry back when we were at the road... but Mao, do we have enough money to pay for all of these?"""

Mao grinned at Mei-Li. """Of course! Because of our part time work we did back when we were at the road, we collected enough money, so don't worry Mei-Li!"""

"""That's right!""" The white bandanna clad boy who had an x-scar across his left cheek (viewer's perspective) said, """We have the money right.  
here?""" he trailed off as he searched his clothes for the money.

When Shilou's search finally came to his pockets, his expression dramatically fell when he felt his fingers punch through a hole in it.

The money was gone.

Mao and Mei-Lin sat straight in shock. When they finally broke out of their trance, they immediately grabbed Shilou and almost tore into his clothes, despite the youngest boy's protests.

The commotion attracted the attention of the proprietor of the restaurant. A group of hired help from the restaurant circled them. The three kids finally noticed their situation and gulped rather loudly.

"""Are you going to pay or what?""" One of the men sneered.

Mao looked apologetic as he replied, """Uhm... no, but we could work for it! We could cook for you, clean..."""

Mei-Li stepped up. """We could wash dishes!"""

"""Please!""" Shilou sounded desperate, perhaps knowing that it was really his fault they were in this predicament after all really dampened his pride.

The group just growled and grabbed the kids. They brought them back to the entrance and hauled them out. A rather good looking long haired fellow with a Senior Chef insignia displayed on his left shoulder (his perspective) walked up to them as he smoked his thin cermic pipe luxuriously.

"""I'm the head chef of Star Way Restaurant, Senior Chef Harry. You should be punished because you failed to pay for my services.""" Harry announced haughtingly.

They were about to beat them up when suddenly, a soft fluttering sound broke their bickering.

Silence reigned as the two cloaked figures stood near the commotion. One was smaller in height than the other. After some tensed silence, the figures moved to remove their coats.

"""It's hot out there!""" The smaller one declared loudly, inducing a mass facefault except his companion. He was obviously male, from his voice alone. He had long black hair that was tied in a pigtail, and blue gray eyes that was quite weird in this part of the world. He had a small but firmly muscled body, that was quite covered in his dark clothing. He had a red belt that held his oversized pants as well. He looked smaller and younger than Mao and Shilou.

"""You complain too much, Ranma.""" The taller one replied while he draped his cloak on his arm. He had long dark hair that was tied in a low ponytail, and kind eyes that reflected mirth and tranquility. He had some sort of wooden sword handle on his belt. He wore some sort of a white priest's robe from another town or country.

Chibi-Ranma snorted. """Yeah? Try dressing in dark clothes in this heat and we'll see who's gonna complain! Darn it Yosho, we should eat, my stomach's rebeling on me!"""

Yosho laughed softly. """I know. You said that in the last town, right?  
Anyway, it's good that you took up the chinese and mandarin languages.  
It helped you, right?"""

The small boy sighed. He remembered that his former grandfather had convinced him to learn the language. """Yeah yeah. Now let's eat shall we?"""

They both turned to the silent restaurant and sweatdropped. Finally they noticed everyone was staring at them wide-eyed and gaping. Ranma suddenly felt defensive.

"""What! Is there something on my face!"""

BAM!

Mass facefault number 2.

"""Hey...""" Ranma's brow narrowed dramatically as he noticed the disheveled appearances of the three kids, especially the girl. Aside from her having her girl form's looks, his idea of defending those who can't defend themselves immediately sprung up. He strode up to Harry,  
who seemed to be in charge of the group of the harassing adults and glared at him. """What's with the big idea of you picking on little kids?"""

Of course, his tone and glare would have been effective if he hadn't looked a lot younger than those he was defending. The result was for the group to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

A man on Harry's right stepped forward and grinned evilly at the young boy. """Better get away kid, before I hurt you.""" His hand moved to push Ranma away, but to his surprise, his hand was quickly slapped away.

"""Don't touch me.""" Ranma's soft retort was as clear as a bell amongst the silence. Mao, Mei-Li, and Shilou struggled to stand up and gaped at the young boy, who stood defiantly in front of those who were apparently stronger than he was. The three of them slowly edged away from the heated staring match towards the still calm Yosho, who gazed at the incoming confrontation with indifference.

"""Aren't you going to help him?""" Mao asked the young boy's companion.

Yosho chuckled slightly, which earned him curious gazes from his three fellow travelers. """He could take an army by himself if he wanted to.  
What's a few men to him then? Besides, he won't like that at all.""" The curious gazes turned into disbelief, but nevertheless they turned their attention back to the group.

Meanwhile, Ranma was internally pissed off. The audicity of some people to prove their superiority over others by their size is really deplorable. Since he became small, he felt a little bit more of sympathy to those who were small. But now was not the time to think about it. He still had a situation to resolve.

"""Well? Are you just going to back off and leave them alone or are you going to pursue this? Mind you though, I might have to get rough with you.""" Ranma sported his superior smirk, which caused those in front of him to simmer in rage.

A lanky man on the right growled. """You're gonna die, kid."""

Mei-Li just stared incredilously at the boy. For some reason, there was a tone of maturity in his words. This 'Ranma' person was really.  
mysterious. Now that she scrutinized the two newcomers more, she realized that this 'Ranma' was about eight to ten years of age, while the one called 'Yosho' was in his twenties or older. If she heard the boy right, he called the older one by name, which meant equality between the two people with a huge gap of age difference. What's going on here!

Harry felt his rage reach its peak when he heard the boy's words. He gestured to all his five men. They all nodded back and quickly launched themselves unto the boy.

Mei-Li was probably the only one who saw Ranma smile.

Ranma flicked his cute pigtail behind his back and wove along the multitude of fists that came barreling towards his head. He leaned a little to the right and watched a foot that missed him for about half an inch wide. He then leaned back and calmly caught an errant foot that came a little close to him. He shoved the same foot towards the path of another foot, causing two of the men to fell back in shock, their legs interwined in a weird sense. Ranma ducked and lifted his hand upward,  
tapping a fist that passed by. After he'd seen the owner of the fist overextend his arm, the boy delivered a quick jab to the guy's stomach.  
The thug felt all the air in his lungs expelled forcibly outward. He doubled over and kneeled to the ground as he gasped for air.

The red haired girl watched in fascination as the smaller frame of the boy just twisted and turned every now and then to avoid the blows coming to his body. She saw the boy's hands blur for a moment, which she thought that her eyes played tricks on her, and the punches were deflected impressively without any visible effort.

Ranma snorted as he inclined his head a little to the right again. The men that were set on hurting him were really pathetic. Even if he were tied up and wore a blindfold, he could beat them without any real effort at all. Why was he even gonna bother about this then? He wanted to finish this quickly, and he just had the thought of the century on how to.

Yosho's right brow twitched when Ranma shot him an evil grin. He turned to Mei-Li and said, """Little lady, I suggest you close your eyes on this one. This will not end prettily."""

Mei-Li looked at Yosho in confusion. """What do you mean?"""

Ranma backed slightly and calculated the stances of the men. Perfect!  
With a short laugh he leapt into the fray again, his foot lashed out.  
right between the men's legs.

CLONK! CLONK! CLONK! CLONK! CLONK!

Yosho, Mao, Shilou and Harry, as well as most of the males in the crowd that were watching the fight, winced and clutched at their groin area in reflex. They all had one thought in mind.

That has got to HURT!

In a flash five men lay sprawled on the ground, their legs eagle-spread.  
There were short whimpers that came from their mouths.

Yosho strode up to Ranma and sighed. "You were in a hurry, weren't you?"

Ranma looked up to him and grinned. "Oh yeah. Didn't wanna waste time on losers."

Mao, Mei-Li and Shilou carefully approached the two strangers, and sometimes looked on the muggers that were twitching on the ground.

"""A-no... excuse me...""" Mao said hesitantly.

Ranma turned to him. """Yep?"""

Mei-Li bowed to Ranma. """Uhm... thanks for the help little one. We weren't sure if we could've gotten out of that mess.""" Turning to Shilou, the redhead glared, """This was all your fault, Shilou!"""

Shilou waved his arms in the air. """H-hey! It's not my fault my pants had a hole in the pockets!"""

Harry briskly walked up to them. """You little brat! Those kids...""" He pointed to the trio, """Wanted to take off without paying! Now how are you going to pay for this!"""

Ranma clasped his hand in the back of his head as he looked boredly at the Senior Chef. """And you think beating them up is better? Feh!"""

Harry sneered. """Why you little brat!"""

"""Harry, just forgive them.""" A voice said.

They all turned to the source of the voice and saw a man in green clothes. He wore a light blue colored turban over his head that covered most of his brown hair. He slowly walked up to them and flashed an embarassed smile to the children.

Harry spat to the ground. """Stay out of this, Igle! You have no right to---"""

Whatever he was about to say died down when the sound of hooves pounding on the ground interrupted his rebuttal. Soon, the crowds parted as a red carriage stopped in front of the restaurant. The crowds broke into murmurs.

"""That's Master Yang's carriage!"""

"""He's the owner of the Starway Restaurant!"""

"""Look! Someone's coming out!"""

Sure enough, the door of the carriage opened. A young woman, probably in her teens, came out of the door and stepped down daintily to the ground.  
She was followed by a big-set old man with gray hair and mustache.

Mei-Li saw the man called Igle's attention was currently on the girl with long light purple hair. She noted that his look was caused by something like fondness or love.

Harry shoved Igle aside as he quickly walked up towards the girl, lifted her right hand to his lips and kissed it. Ranma and Yosho rolled their eyes at Harry's quick change in demeanor.

"""Ah, Lady Laia and Master Yang! How can we help you?""" Harry's sudden cheerfulness almost made Ranma gag.

Master Yang graced them with a wide smile. """Ah, Harry! I came to make sure everything about the upcoming wedding would be in order, and also,  
to check up on the restaurant!"""

Harry smiled back. """As you can see, master, the restaurant is always the best there is. I always make sure of that!"""

Master Yang nodded in agreement and turned to his daughter Laia. """See that, dear? You are so lucky to have a fiance that will be an appropriate heir to take good care of the restaurant!"""

Laia just sighed forlornly and lifted her head to look at Igle's direction. Mei-Li noticed once again that Laia also had that 'look'. She just knew something fishy was going on. She watched as Igle took on an expressionless mask and bowed slightly. He then spoke up, and said, """I feel happy for you, Laia-san."""

The sad girl just closed her eyes and lowered her gaze once again.

Mei-Li just stared at the sight thoughtfully. She had deduced a lot of things in this little confrontation. Her musings were cut short when she realized that the old man Laia was with started to refer to them.

"""What was happening here? Why the crowd?""" Master Yang asked as he gestured to the group of five (Ranma, Yosho, Mao, Mei-Li and Shilou.  
Shilou gathered his wits and proudly stepped up to the man.

"""Are you in charge here?""" Shilou asked. When he saw Master Yang nod,  
he continued, """Then could we should be asking you to allow us to pay for the meals we ate by working in your kitchen, right?"""

"""Master Yang...""" Harry cut Shilou's speech, which earned him a glare from the small boy, """They were about to run and leave the bill, so we should punis---"""

"""We said we're going to work for it didn't we?""" Shilou retorted. Mao and Mei-Li nodded in agreement.

Before the agitated Senior Chef could reply, the owner of Starway Restaurant already nodded his consent and said, """That is alright,  
Harry. I don't want any troubles so near to the day of the wedding. Just send them up to my mansion later."""

Once again, Ranma and Yosho rolled their eyes as Harry flashed a really obvious faked smile and nodded. """Of course! That's a great idea, Master Yang!""" Harry reminded Ranma of how Genma once was... a startling likeness. So... fake.

After Ranma had seen that the three kids (actually, they were all looking older than he was) he turned to Yosho, who nodded, and started walking to the exit of the village. Just as they were about to get out of the now thinning crowd, a voice called out to them.

"""Hey, mister! Wait!""" A female voice, apparently.

Ranma turned and watched as redhead ran towards them. She was followed by the bluehaired boy who wore a red cloth hat and another younger boy who had a white bandanna and x-scar on the face.

When the trio finally reached them, it was Yosho who spoke. """Yes,  
children? Is there anything we can do for you?"""

Mei-Li struggled to catch her breath for a while. When she did, she looked into the pigtailed boy's blue-gray eyes and said, """We haven't thanked you for saving us."""

Ranma just scratched his head. """Uhmm... yes you did. Just a while ago,  
back there before the old guy came."""

Mei-Li blinked. """Oh. Are you travelers? Do you have any place to stay?"""

Yosho smiled at them. """Ah. Yes, we are travelers. And no, we don't have a place to stay. We planned on camping outside to spend the night. We found a nice patch of trees near the village that's ideal for camping."""

Mao shook his head. """No way. Just come with us. We're travelers also anyway. You can work can you?"""

Ranma thought for a moment. """Well... I dunno."""

Yosho patted Ranma's shoulder and said, """No need to journey alone, when you can be with company."""

The pigtailed boy sighed and looked at the expectant look on Mei-Li and Mao's faces. He nodded. """Alright. If that's okay with you."""

Mao smiled happily. """Of course! The more the merrier!"""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"""By the way,""" Mei-Li said as they walked back into the village, """My name's Mei-Li."""

"""Oh! How rude of us! I'm Liu Mao-Hsing, a traveling chef.""" The red hatted bluehaired boy added.

"""I'm Shilou, apprentice to Mao!""" Shilou announced proudly.

Ranma nodded. """I'm Ranma, and my companion..."""

"""Yosho.""" The long blackhaired man finished for him.

Shilou suddenly appeared beside Ranma, which quite unnerved him a bit.  
"""Hey, how'd you do all those cool moves!"""

Ranma had a blank look for a moment, then finally nodded in recognition.  
"""Ah! Martial arts. Been training since I could walk."""

Mei-Li was awed. """Wow... someone as young as you and you're already pretty good.""" She was really very observant, because she noticed Ranma had winced when she commented on his age. It would seem he didn't really agree with that. She planned on asking about that later on.

"""You're not Chinese, are you?""" Mei-Li asked.

Ranma smiled. """Yeah... we came from Japan. We're on a training trip."""

Mao looked curious instantly. He was on a training trip too. """What kind of training trip?"""

"""Martial arts training trip.""" Yosho replied. Silence ensued once again for a bit.

"""Where are we going anyway?""" Ranma broke the short silence.

Mao pointed to a tall structure right in the far end of the town, across the small river. """We're going to that mansion. I'm going to work as a cook, while you can help Mei-Li and Shilou with whatever they might ask them to do."""

Ranma grinned. """Sure no prob. Yosho could use a little more speed training though..."""

The tall man snorted. """If you remember, I beat you in that last spar."""

The pigtailed boy crossed his arms across his chest. """Only because my reach was a little off at that time. It won't happen again and you know it.""" And with that, he walked a bit quicker and catched up to Mao and Shilou, who went a little bit further ahead.

Mei-Li smirked as her gaze trailed the boy. """Definitely a fighter.  
Cocky, isn't he?"""

Yosho just sighed, much to the surprise of the redhead. """He's loyal to his Martial Arts, and he's also correct in that assumption."""

"""Eh?""" Mei-Li whined in confusion. """What does that mean?"""

Yosho looked at her calmly. """It means, he really will have an easier time in beat me the next time. He has this talent of adjusting real quickly. Do not doubt that for a second. When it comes to learning new skills and adaptations, he's probably the best. So far, most of my surprise attacks worked only twice or thrice, before he learns them and defends against them."""

Mei-Li fell silent in contemplation once again as they continued to trudge towards the towering gondola.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A serene aura bathed the surroundings outside the backyard of the Starway Mansion. The three-story five thousand square meters of land sported an ochre walled and yellow roofed building. Around the huge building was a generous portion of land that was riddled with grass and trees. When one viewed on the top floors, the long narrow river of Small Galaxy, named after its magnificence of glittering spectacle at night,  
that separated the mountainous area of where the mansion was located from the valley of the village proper. One distinct bridge closed this gap, which connected the two parts of the village.

It was still light outside, and it was quite in the middle of the afternoon. Mao, Mei-Li and Shilou left to tend for the needs in the mansion. Meanwhile Ranma and Yosho broke off and went to entertain themselves at the backyard, where the huge trees were located.

When they knocked at the gates a while ago, they were greeted and introduced formally to Lady Laia and the owner of the mansion, Master Yang. Mao was immediately drafted into the kitchen, while Mei-Li and Shilou assisted in the preparation for the wedding. Ranma and Yosho were left with nothing to do, so they were offered to go on a tour, which was politely declined. They insisted that a nice view of the trees they saw while they trekked towards the mansion would suffice, so they were obliged in their request.

Ranma and Yosho walked side by side as they passed through the groves of the old trees. Yosho was at home here, for his planet had forests upon forests of Juraian space trees. The holy groves that housed their trees were the homes of their souls, a part of themselves. Juraians have counterparts with these trees, which were also the source of their slow ageing and also their spaceships.

Ranma was still trying to cope with the feeling of his sudden loss. He knew exactly what he lost, which was Akane. He still remembered that time before he voluntarily flung himself into this time, whenever this was. He just wanted to lash out at everyone, and he felt scared when he almost lost control over his emotions.

All his life, he was trained to reign in his emotions. A martial artist was supposed to know when and where to expose them. The tidal waves of emotions that lashed out on his wall of control almost destroyed the reigns he set himself up. He was sure that he heard himself that he wanted to strangle Ryoga to death. He considered the pigboy his friend,  
and to come back just to find out that your friend managed to sneak past his love's defenses --- yes he had accepted it a long time ago. He loved Akane, and now he lost that one as well. Every vision he had of his future at that time collapsed instantly, and the Saiyajin blood that coursed through his veins boiled in defiance and anger.

Control. Right now his control was a little bit at a loss. His life was chaotic, that much he knew, but this was just too much for him to handle right now. He couldn't even get himself to look into Akane's guilty eyes at that time.

He never cheated, even amidst the belief otherwise of Akane. Shampoo's glomp is really an Amazon work of art... one captured in it would be near impossible to pry lose. You have to touch a certain no-no part to be able to break the hold, but as he said, it was a no-no. The brand of the pervert would never leave his name if he did that, so he just wisely sat still and let the glomp take its course, even going as far as wishing for Akane to punt him away. That's how amazing that technique was.

His best friend Ukyou, now here lay a conflict. Actually, a conflict when it came to honor. Ranma wasn't really able to picture the okonomiyaki chef as a woman he would want to marry, but rather he viewed her as 'one of the guys'. But her claim was as legitimate as it goes,  
because Genma stole her yatai. Even using Ranma's childish innocence as a blaming point. His father was a good martial artist, but as a human being he failed miserably. The bad thing with that was Genma being nonchalant about it.

Kodachi... nevermind. He really hadn't wanted the gymnast anyway. No offense to her, she's just plain nuts sometimes. Her delusions were probably best blamed on the toxic fumes that she probably inhaled while making those potions she so obviously were proud of. And there's also the fact that she was a Kuno... and for some reason insanity flowed in the family. And the laugh... ugh.

Ranma never felt so lost before, so broken. That's what he felt when he first appeared at the old shrine all those months ago. He met his future adoptive grandfather, though now he couldn't bring himself to call him that. They agreed, rather, Yosho pounded it into ihs skull that he under no circumstances should be called 'grandpa'. Yosho had a point though,  
for he looked a little older than Ranma's true age.

And then there's this problem with his own body. A Jusenkyo curse,  
age-reduced to a toddler, alien hybrid to boot... such chaos for someone oh so young. His shape changing curse he already accepted it. No matter how he tried, fate seemed to deflect all possible means of being cured.

Actually, he was quite grateful when Happosai drank the barrel of Nannichuan. He only found out about the combining curses when Trunks and he returned from the future. He also wondered why he even tried to bother looking for a cure, after all his curse was an advantage in some occasions. Besides, variety is best.

Ranma mentally slapped himself. Pervert.

Probably, Happosai knew of the complications, that's why he drank the damned thing. But he wasn't about to thank the old pervert just yet. He was responsible for Ranma's predicament in the first place.

Oh boy, speaking of predicaments. He has yet to meet his real mother,  
and according to some of the things he heard from his grandpa back in the future, Tokimi was a goddess of chaos. Makes sense though, chaos ruled his life so chaos must be his mother. They also mentioned her dark intentions for the entire universe, which he felt that it must've been highly overrated. Evil or not, blood was thicker than water. Not that he was about to pledge his life for evil anyway. He just believed that his mother was just misguided. Most people are.

Ranma already mentioned this to Yosho, who at first almost lobbed his head off. The Juraian prince was enraged to find out that he was the 'devil spawn' of the 'evil Tokimi'. But after calming him down (beating him to submission, just barely won against that) they talked about it and Yosho finally gave him the benefit of the doubt.

His curse was met with nonchalance, and Ranma was a bit grateful for that. When he thought about it, it was not really all that weird compared to being an alien prince who pursued a very powerful spacepirate (well, he said Ryoko was a demon actually, but Ranma corrected his assumption) all over the galaxy and ended up in this far away planet. Not to mention getting stranded when your space ship blew up, and left only a seedling afterwards.

For the months that they traveled together, Yosho had been watching him like a hawk does his prey. It was only after three months of travel did the Juraian prince finally accepted that Ranma wasn't evil. Ranma even managed to make Yosho spar against him, and they traded secrets. It was only fair afterall.

They planned on searching for the forest that those ageing mushrooms were from. Actually, more like hoping to stumble into it. Yosho made a valid point at some random time. He stated that Ranma should just let his body age normally. Ranma wasn't about to go anywhere in the first place. The pigtailed boy was about to retort but stopped himself. It was rather easier that way. His body was to age only up to about nineteen to twenty, then slow down dramatically up to twenty-two or so, then stop all together. Yosho was a proof of that.

Yosho watched Ranma in the corners of his eyes as they walked up the dirt path. Earlier, he was greatly awed as to how much of the foliage existed in this planet. He planted his spacetree Funaho, back in the forest situated near the Masaki Shrine. The soil here was not as rich as those in his homeplanet Jurai, but it was passable. It would take some time before the tree took its roots in this planets, but it was on its way. He felt for his belt buckle, and smiled when he groped the one he seeked. The Master Key Tenchi-ken... his energy sword and legacy.  
Outside, it looked just like a piece of old tree bark that was shaped like a hilt of a sword. But this piece of wood was made from the strongest of the Juraian spacetrees. His Tenchi-ken also had on its tip the three gems the space pirate Ryoko used to get her power. He planned on keeping the gems to prevent the so-called 'demon' from reawakening once again.

Yosho saw Ranma's expressions as it changed from awe to indifference,  
then depression. When he first met the pigtailed kid, he felt the strong connection to Jurai from him. Yosho also found out how Ranma got into this world, and that the boy was his own grandson in the future. When Yosho asked Ranma to explain his presence, the boy did not hesitate. It was as if he knew that he was persistent as hell when it comes to secrets. It came to little surprise when he found out about Ranma's heritage, although he was a bit wary of Ranma's direct connection to Tokimi. He wanted to kill him at first, but after being defeated in battle (his first in years!) and was not killed for it, he just had to give the boy some degree of trust. He also respected the amount of control Ranma had, after all his explanations and stories, Yosho just respected Ranma for still being sane.

The Juraian prince offered to teach the young Juraian. At first, Yosho's reason was because it just won't do if someone as strong as Ranma should be left gallivanting around the world with those powers unrestrained and untrained. This was where he found out that Ranma was also part Saiyajin, and some other race that was not clarified even to Ranma. But as time went on, he began to enjoy his spars with the little boy, well,  
young man if the stories were really true. Those ageing mushrooms were interesting enough though, as interesting as his Jusenkyo curse. He felt sorry for the young man though, who had four curses all at once.  
Jusenkyo, Age, Species, and of course the old chinese proverb: 'May you live in interesting times'.

Yosho sighed. Such hardship for one so young.

Ranma turned to Yosho when he heard the prince sigh. "Thinking about something, Yosho?" he asked in their native tongue.

Yosho grinned at the boy. "Yeah. Reminiscing, I guess."

Unknown to them, two shadows followed them as Ranma and Yosho entered the miniature forest of the mansion. They have been observing the duo for quite some time now.

Mei-Li and Shilou left Mao to take care of the banquet after they talked to Lady Laia. There they found out about Laia and Igle's relationship,  
and Igle's supposed to be upcoming proposal to the purple haired girl via his gift of a Pearl Bangle. Pearls were rare in this part of China because of its distance from the ocean, so a pearl gift was a very special way to express one's love in these parts.

They were about to step out of the mansion when they spied on Ranma and Yosho at the backyard exit. The two wanderers just exited, so Mei-Li and Shilou decided to follow them. They have no idea who these people were,  
so gathering some information from them seems to be adequate as of the moment. Their breaths caught in their throats when they came upon the sight of a heavily greened forest just behind the mansion. They saw that Ranma and Yosho were also awed by the sight. Their thoughtful looks that reflected in their faces proved to be so.

Their contemplations were cut short when Ranma finally spoke. Mei-Li scrunched her face in confusion. It wasn't chinese, and she hadn't ever heard of such dialect before. The man called Yosho also answered in the same tongue. Mei-Li turned to Shilou, who had this shocked look on his face. She tapped on his shoulder, which caused him to swivel his face towards hers and saw her unvoiced question.

Shilou nodded and whispered fiercely, """There were speaking in Japanese...""".

Mei-Li cocked her head to one side, momentarily ignoring her two targets' conversation for now. """Japanese? As in Japan? You're half japanese right? Can you understand them?"""

Shilou nodded once again. """Yeah. Good thing mom taught me when I was younger. It will come in handy with these two. Don't worry, I'll translate for you.""".

They both turned their attentions back to the conversation, with Shilou doing the translations for Mei-Li.

Back to the small clearing, the two travelers snickered.

"The look on your face alone when I beat you... hahaha!" Ranma clutched at his sides as he laughed a bit.

Yosho snorted. "Pure luck, that's what it is! By the way, why are you not using your disguise field? Surely, you can do it in your sleep right?"

Ranma immediately sobered. "Yeah. I just figured being a kid without having the difficulties would be nice for a change. Besides, this way,  
women won't come after me again!"

Their two shadows became quite interested in that one. Disguise field?  
the two thought at the same time.

Yosho groaned. "Spare me the explanations, Ranma. Your ego is showing again."

Ranma hmphed and crossed his arms across his chest. "Yeah, well, let's see you handle being chased by women all the time."

Yosho sighed in exasperation. "Whatever."

Ranma grinned. "Say, wanna spar? I still can't figure out some of your techniques."

Yosho smiled back. "Well, even you can't take in those techniques at one glance. Are you going to use a weapon?"

Ranma shook his head. "Nah... that's for next time."

The ponytailed man suddenly reached into the sleeves of his robe, and pulled out a wooden stick... much to the surprise and curiosity of Mei-Li and Shilou. Ranma leapt back a bit and leaned over to his normal battle stance, meaning, none at all.

"You better use your disguise field. You must also practice on all forms you know." Yosho said seriously. Ranma just nodded and closed his eyes,  
in which for a moment, nothing happened. Then all of the sudden, a faint glow of blue outlined Ranma's frame.

Mei-Li's eyes widened as she watched the small boy grow in height. His face also lost the slight baby fat and became older, about Yosho's age if she wasn't mistaken. His muscles swelled as his clothes grew with his body. His pigtail also grew in length and is now reaching below his neck. The only constant in his look were his blue-gray eyes when Ranma opened them. Shilou was just plain stunned, so much that he fell silent.

Ranma looked down on himself and looked back at Yosho, who was grinning triumphantly. "There, you happy?" he snapped, which caused Yosho's bright face to brighten up some more.

With a small yell, the two warriors leapt to each other, one with a bokken raised, the other with his foot extended for a kick.

The two spectators in the dark shadows of the bushes were treated into a what was called a high speed fight. Blurs and clacks of wood against flesh resonated all over the confines of the clearing. Mei-Li and Shilou, not fighters in any sense, only saw momentary flashes of white and dark blue. The ground beneath the two blurs were littered with debris and small craters, and some more craters appeared after some time. Exactly thirteen minutes of non-stop fighting (I timed it of course, not them) did wonders to the landscape.

They focused their attentions once again on the field as the two forms materialized a bit far away from each other. Ranma, in his older body,  
was alright in a sense, but a bit tired as indicated in his labored breathing. Yosho on the other side held his bokken, whose tip was splintered and the sharp side flattened unevenly, which seemed like it was from a being hit by a blunt object. They were both tired,  
apparently.

Finally, Yosho stood up straighter, while Ranma fell down to one knee.  
The pigtailed boy carefully unwrapped his white sash and tossed it aside. Underneath the white cloak, another sash which was colored red emerged. Much to Mei-Li and Shilou's growing surprise (again), the sash twitched and uncoiled itself from Ranma's waist. The somewhat sash-looking red thing swung on the air all over the boy's back. He grunted as he stroke his tail and leveled a glare to Yosho's smirking expression.

"That was uncalled for, ya know." Ranma winced once again as he touched a sore spot on his tail. He forgot to focus his ki on his tail once again, hence his untimely defeat.

Yosho threw the ruined bokken aside and grinned. "Sorry about that, but as you always say, 'Anything Goes' right? I took the advantage of hitting your special appendage right there."

Ranma stood up shakily and complained loudly, "Yeah yeah, but you didn't have to use your special technique just to pound on that one spot on my tail. No matter how resilient it is from attacks, they still sting."

Yosho just shook his head and reached into his sleeves again. This time,  
instead of a bokken, he took out a water balloon. How did he get that?  
Ask him. He looked up to Ranma mischievously, who was still inspected his tail with an annoyed expression. Yosho lifted up the balloon over his head, and threw it.

Straight into Ranma's face.

SPLASH!

Instant Onna-Ranma. "Watcha do that for!" Her high pitched voice echoed across the clearing.

This time, loud gasps were heard from the bushes, which also shook for some reason. This sound combined with the rustling noise alerted the two combatants of other presences at the area.

Onna-Ranma blurred.

Mei-Li and Shilou panicked, after they saw the redhaired female Ranma disappear in an instant. Suddenly, they felt some taps on their shoulders. They slowly turned and paled.

Onna-Ranma stood right behind them, tapping her foot. """Spying, eh?"""

When they failed to answer, the pigtailed redhead grabbed the two stunned-into-silence teens by the scruffs of their necks and carried them to where the amused Yosho stood.

"""Mei-Li! Shilou! How are you this afternoon?""" Yosho asked a little bit too cheerfully.

At this point, Shilou started to fidget and panic. """I-it wasn't what you think! We didn't see anything! It was an accident! Waaaaahh! Don't get rid of us! It was Mei-Li's fault---urk.""" Ranma pulled her tightened fist back from Shilou's head, who slumped down to the ground in a blissful sleep.

Yosho bopped Onna-Ranma's head. """Idiot. That was way too much."""

Onna-Ranma snorted. """He's annoying."""

Finally, Mei-Li turned to face an almost mirror image of her own face,  
only... her counterpart's chest were a bit more... ahem. Anyway. Mei-Li looked into Onna-Ranma's blue-gray eyes and asked, """H-how?"""

Onna-Ranma sighed as she sat down beside Mei-Li, who thankfully was too stunned to flinch away. """It's a curse. I turn into a girl with cold water, while hot water changes me back to a guy."""

Mei-Li still looked unconvinced. """C-curse? As in m-magic?"""

Onna-Ranma nodded. """Yeah, you can say that. There is a training ground here in China that has a hundred different springs with bamboo poles sticking out of them. You balance unto those poles and spar over them.  
But the problem is, the springs are cursed. When you get wet into those springs, you get turned into those who drowned in them. I was splashed in the Spring of Drowned Girl. Compared to the other springs, I kinda thought I lucked out. The other springs there have animal curses in them. Imagine if I fell into the Spring of Drowned Pig.""" She winced at the memory.

The green-eyed redhead sat there as she digested the information fed into her brain. Beside the two redheads, Shilou still lay unconscious.  
Mei-Li suddenly straightened as she remembered something.

"""You grew. How did you do that? You grew up from being a child into that firm body.""" Mei-Li's eyes widened and her cheeks reddened when she realized what she just said.

Onna-Ranma's cute face grimaced. """That... is a bit harder to explain.  
You see, I really am at this body's real age. I was reverted to a child's body after I ate some age-altering mushrooms. My friend Yosho taught me how to use my ki to alter my age and appearance so I may not feel too bad about being transformed into a child."""

"""So... you're really that old?""" Mei-Li asked as she pointedly looked over Onna-Ranma's current older form.

Onna-Ranma smiled. """More or less."""

Mei-Li's face brightened. """Wow... real magic. Can you get back to being a male again?"""

Onna-Ranma was about to answer when a splash of hot water drowned her, I mean, his reply. Ranma sputtered for a bit, which caused Mei-Li to giggle, and glared at Yosho. Ranma turned back to Mei-Li and said, """By the way, could you keep this form of mine a secret? The one where I get older? I want the others to keep on thinking I'm a child. As for the reason... I dunno. Ask me another time when I have the answer to that one. Regarding me becoming female, it would be hard to keep that one,  
because I have little to no control whatsoever over the Jusenkyo curse.  
You see, I became some sort of a water magnet when I got cursed. Water finds me in odd and mysterious ways."""

The redhead nodded her agreement. """Alright. It's a secret then. Don't worry, we'll tell Shilou about it also. By the way, you are Japanese right? Shilou understood some of what you were saying a while ago. He's half Japanese..."""

Ranma shrugged. """That's right. We came here in China for training."""

Mei-Li sighed. """Wow... I knew there was something about you when we first met. I mean, the way you took care of yourself was so mature, much more so than your physical age."""

Just then, Mei-Li's attention went to the wriggling appendage that hung at Ranma's lower back. The redhead shakily pointed a finger at it and said, """A t-tail... is that real?"""

Ranma groaned and looked down to his tail, willing it to wrap around his torso, which did so. """Yeah... strange ain't it? One thing's for sure.  
I'm not human. I guess you're gonna run around and scream bloody hell right? Sorry for keeping this from you, but I can't risk on people knowing too much about me and stuff."""

Mei-Li shook her head. """No... not really. I mean, it's really weird and all but... I think I can handle it. And so what if you're not human?  
Wait... what are you then?"""

Ranma shrugged. """You won't believe me even if I tell you. Let's just say that I am not from this world.""" Well, actually even Yosho is also one, but no sense in putting him into the spotlight now right?

Mei-Li sighed. """As long as you're not doing anything wrong, it's okay,  
right? Besides, I think it's kinda cool!"""

"""Wait... you don't think I'm a freak? A pervert?"""

Mei-Li frowned. """Why would I think that?"""

Ranma smiled sadly. """I change into a girl. I have a tail. I have multitudes of curses. Most people from where I came from think that I am a freak and... a pervert."""

Mei-Li moved herself closer to the raven haired boy and touched his hand with hers. She smiled softly at him. """You're not a pervert. You have no control over your curse. Even if other people with think that way, don't worry. I won't think of you as that."""

Ranma nodded slightly. """Thanks, Mei-Li. I needed that."""

Mei-Li beamed at him. A loud groan interrupted their conversation, and they were greeted with a wide-eyed sight of Shilou. After a repeat of the lengthy explanation about the weird things, and also something about Shilou promising not to blurt out anything without Ranma's permission,  
everything went back more or less to normal.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The group of five now stood at the entrance of the cooks for the Starway Restaurant when they spotted a very beautiful ice sculpture of an open winged Phoenix. Chibi-Ranma, shrunk once again to prevent confusion and to keep his secret, lifted himself up into tippy-toes to see the work.  
It was currently surrounded by a lot of people, who were also admiring the knife skills of whoever sculpted the great piece of artwork.

"""Wow...""" Was the only word the five newcomers said after gazing at the work.

One of the patrons turned to them. """This is Igle's work."""

"""Igle?""" Shilou said quizzically, """You mean this is Mister Third Rate Chef's work?""" This statement earned him a slap on the head from three different directions, mainly Chibi-Ranma, Mao and Mei-Li.

Another patron sighed. """But I feel sorry for him, though..."""

That peeked at Mao's attention. """Why is that?"""

The patron looked at the sculpture once again. """Igle made this for Lady Laia."""

"""Eh!""" Mao, Mei-Li and Shilou all resounded. Chibi-Ranma and Yosho just shrugged in indifference.

"""But that would mean...""" Mao and Mei-Li looked to one another in alarm, """Igle is still in love with Laia!""" they said in unison.

"Cool... relationships were not one of my strong points..." Ranma said warily towards the snickering Yosho. Shilou chuckled as Mao and Mei-Li turned to look at the pigtailed boy, confused.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"""Now tell me again why I was roped into this?""" Ranma whined loudly as he felt himself dragged by Mei-Li. The redhead just tightened her hold on the young man-boy and quickened her pace.

"""We should find Igle and confront him!""" Mei-Li said. For a moment there, Ranma thought she would pose herself in a heroic manner. He shivered a bit as he shook his head. I spent too much time dealing with Kuno. he thought grimly to himself. Behind them, Mao and Shilou only nodded their heads in agreement, while Yosho was looking from side to side and took on the scenery with maddening glee.

A cluster of jabbering men and women got their attention. As they squeezed themselves to get into the heart of the crowd, they had a sinking feeling who was being talked about. Sure enough, a beat-up form of Igle lay on his back in the middle of the commotion.

"""Igle!""" Mei-Li rushed to the unconscious man's side. She cradled his head on her lap and looked imploringly at Ranma, who sighed and nodded his head. The pigtailed boy reached and grabbed the front of Igle's shirt and hoisted him over his shoulders. Because of his current height,  
Igle's feet and legs were dangling on the ground. The crowd gasped loudly at the show of feat in Ranma's part. Of course, a child smaller than Shilou lifting up someone thrice his weight easily without being hampered is a sight to behold after all.

Moments later, the crowd finally dispersed, which left the group and their unconscious cargo alone in the middle of some tables, where Ranma lay Igle's body. Mei-Li was applying cold compress over the man's face until finally, Igle's groan was heard.

"""Are you all right?""" Mao approached the man as Igle took unto his surroundings.

"""Yeah...""" Igle said groggily. Suddenly, he sat up straight, and his eyes flashed for a moment. """Oh god, Laia! I've been so wrong! Harry was a bad person! I heard his plans of taking over the restaurant and making money out of it for his vices! I should've never let Laia go...""" he said as he sat there, dejected and hurt.

"""Too late for that. Laia said that she will forget about you"  
Shilou's conspiratorical tone didn't really appease the troubled man too well. He got a smack from the wet cloth Mei-Li was using a while ago.

Mao was at the moment silent in his own corner. He was eyeing the pearl bangle Igle had taken out to show everyone. It was his gift for the Lady Laia. Finally, the blue haired boy stood up, walked to Igle and said,  
"""Igle, can I please see the bangle?"""

Mei-Li looked skeptical. """Do you have an idea, Mao?"""

Mao nodded. """If cooking was for people's happiness, it can also be used to reassure love between two people."""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The wedding finally came. Important people from all over the town as well as some from the nearby neighboring towns attended. They all awaited for the union between Lady Laia and the Senior Chef Harry.

At first, everyone hadn't taken notice of the way Lady Laia hadn't taken any attention on her wedding. In fact, she seemed reluctant at the whole affair. When the presentation of the rings finally came, her reluctance grew, as with her hands that shook as they slowly attempted to place the symbolic ring of marriage on Harry's wedding finger.

Imagine her relief when an unlikely source of disruption came in from the front doors of the hall. Mao, Shilou and that smaller pigtailed boy came in carrying what it seemed like a metallic bowl which was covered,  
followed by Mei-Li and the other taller stranger. Laia's relief was so much that her nerveless hands let go of the wedding ring that she was supposed to slip into Harry's finger. The ring fell down the ground with a clink.

"""What is the meaning of this?""" It was Master Yang's voice, but instead of irritation it was more of curiousity.

Mao smiled widely at everyone, especially to Laia. """It's a gift from someone. Mei-Li, Shilou, the windows!"""

"""Okay!""" They both chorused as they ran up to the windows and opened them. In effect, the candles around the hall went out, leaving the room darkened a bit. Finally, Mao opened the metal bowl. Everyone gasped as they gazed upon the truly graceful dish that was presented unto them. It was as if the stars were plucked from the heavens and were sprinkled all over the black soup of the dish.

"""Amazing...""" Was all everyone could say as they watched the lights play havoc on the sparkling surface of the dish.

Mao nodded. """I call this my Galaxy Noodles! A story wherein two stars,  
Altair and Vega, were rumored to be lovers turned stars and were separated by the Milky Way. They only get to approach each other for once a year, meaning the Star Festival."""

Everyone aahed and took samples of the dish. The expressions of happiness in their faces were testament to the amazing taste of the noodle dish.

"""An amazing dish for just the right occasion. Tell me, how did you do this?""" Master Yang asked.

Mao immediately took his cue. """It's made out of cuttlefish ink soup stock with recently made noodles. The stars I made out of... pearls."""

The last statement jolted Laia out of reverie as she adopted a surprised look. She gazed on Mao as he nodded to her, acknowledgeing her unasked question. Her tears started flowing down her face as she thought of 'him'... of Igle.

"""Stupid boy!""" The irate Senior Chef Harry growled out. """Why have you done this?"""

Mao hadn't taken Harry's presence at all. Instead he addressed to Master Yang and said, """Master Yang, Harry only wanted to use this marriage to get Starway Restaurant and use it for his own means."""

Harry took an involuntary step backwards. """How dare you! Master Yang,  
would you listen to the word of this kid! He has no certifications or anything!"""

Shilou was busy untying the cloth that was wrapped around Mao's left arm. """No certification huh? How about this!""" He finally unwrapped the cloth and let the emblem of a coiled green dragon exposed for everyone to see. The crowds gasped as the symbol of the most coveted position in the cooking world, the Super Chef Emblem, was shown to them, and it was in the hands of a boy.

Master Yang finally recognized him. """You were the boy that passed the Guang-Zho Super Chef test! Liu Mao-Hsing!""" Turning to Harry, he drawled out, """Harry, was it true!"""

The man blanched when he saw the symbol. He shrugged and said, """Oh well, I was so close... too bad.""" He quickly lunged at Mao. But his progress was halted when he was viciously kicked at the stomach. Harry flew back to the back wall and crashed through it, creating a neat hole in the cement.

Ranma slowly retracted his foot from the kicking position. He figured out how Harry's muscles tensed when he was about to launch himself to Mao, so he was in time to stop the assault. He kicked Harry in the stomach, carefully taking note not to add too much pressure into it.

After being treated to the sight, Mao turned to Master Yang and bowed.  
"""Master Yang. You already had a good chef in your hands. It doesn't mean that if someone was a Senior Chef, he's a good chef all in all."""

Master Yang sighed. """I'm sorry Laia, I only thought of what was good for the restaurant. I hand't really asked how you felt about it..."""

Laia shook her head and smiled. """It's all right father..."""

"""Lady Laia...""" Laia's attention turned to Mao. The blue haired boy continued, """Here is the bangle Igle was supposed to give to you as a gift. I kind of used some of the pearls. By the way, he is waiting at the place where he promised he would give that bangle to you. Go to him,  
Lady Laia."""

Laia was elated as she nodded and sprinted towards the exit, to go to the love of her life. Ranma and the others hung back in the background and watched the scene. The pigtail boy sighed and looked forlorned for some reason. He remembered his broken past, and he felt a bit envious at this reunion between the two lovers.

Mei-Li turned slightly to Ranma when she heard him sigh. She noted that his face reflected a huge amount of grief for a moment, before it vanished as he resumed his neutral expression.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After the fiasco and the heart-warming reunion of the two lovers in Starway Village, the group traveled once again and reached the place called Chicken Town. This sort of town reflected the symbolism of its namesake. For some odd reason, the whole area was saturated with chicken farms. Chickens flew here and there and were scattered all over the place.

They finally figured out later on that the town was actually THE center of chicken commerce for the whole of China. So it was understandable that the area was so full of chickens. Right now, the town was full of bustling people because of the upcoming Chicken Dish Competition. This contest centers on various Chicken Restaurants in the town proper to pit against each other with their unique chicken dishes.

Chibi-Onna-Ranma and Mei-Li were currently walking ahead of the group.  
Ranma's girl form is no secret for Mao at this time, because while they were camping out the day before, a passing rain accidentally (yeah right, as if anything water related to Ranma was an accident) turned the pigtailed boy into female. After two to three demos of the curse and the usual Jusenkyo explanation, Mao was able to understand the situation.

Anyway, the smaller redhead's hand was currently held by the taller redhead, who for some reason refused to let Ranma's hand go. After a few feeble attempts (Ranma was tempted to throw her over his/her shoulder,  
but that wouldn't be nice) Chibi-Ranma just shrugged and let herself be dragged off by the chattering Mei-Li. Mao was in the middle as he carried a small pile of books that was tucked in one hand, with the other held an open book that he was reading. Yosho and Shilou hung on the back and watched out for Mao, if ever he came in any danger because of not watching where he was going.

After walking around for a while, Shilou and Ranma's stomach growled in unison.

"""I'm hungry!""" Shilou announced rather loudly.

Chibi-Ranma smiled sheepishly. """Me too."""

Mao laughed and was about to retort when his stomach growled in reply.  
He had the decency to blush after that one.

Mei-Li looked down on Ranma. """I can't believe you two. You just ate a while ago!""" she chided softly. Her stomach then grumbled, which earned her some laughs from her companions. Her cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment.

"""I think we are all hungry.""" Yosho said. He then looked curiously at Shilou, who was reaching at something on a tree.

"""Shilou!""" Mao walked up to the boy, """You mustn't take something without asking!"""

Shilou climbed up the fence to gain higher ground. """Yeah? Well nobody will notice because the tree is inside this crummy old house!""" He was about to reach the weird orange fruit when his hand was casually swatted away by a bamboo pole, which caused Shilou to unceremoniously fall down the ground on his behind, hard.

Chibi-Ranma walked up to Shilou, who screamed profanities and wiped his butt in askance, stuck her tongue out to him and said, """That one you had coming."""

"""'Crummy' house you say?""" A woman with short dark green hair in black chinese garbs looked at the groaning boy with amusement.

Shilou quickly pulled himself up to standing position and glared at the woman. """What the hell did you do that for!""" he said menacingly, which he received three bops on the head.

"""I told you it's a bad idea to take something without asking.""" Mao said solemnly.

Chibi-Ranma snorted. """As I said earlier, he had it coming."""

Mei-Li growled at Shilou. """Watch your mouth! You better apologize to her!"""

Shilou looked at Mei-Li like she had grown another head. """Whaaaat! You expect me to apologize to her after what she did to me!"""

Mei-Li bopped Shilou again on the head and turned to the woman. She bowed and said, """We're sorry for our friend. I would like to apologize in behalf of him."""

The woman shook her head. """Nah, forget about it. What he took, he can eat it.""" She looked briefly at Shilou, who took a bite on the fruit,  
which proved to be a mistake because his eyes watered and his mouth immediately spewed out its putrid contents. """Those were perfume pomegrenates. They're used for decorations and stuff. Anyway, my name is Tia, and this house is really a restaurant called Black Wing. Come inside for a while."""

The group followed Tia into the gates of the restaurant and immediately noticed the fallen sign and the harsh words scrawled on the walls of the restaurant.

They were treated in a humble meal, which consisted of rice and some meat. Shilou made a comment about not being served chicken dishes eventhough it was a chicken restaurant, which earned him bops on the head once again. Tia was inspecting some of the books Mao bought.

"""Hmmm... so you bought all this books instead of food. You are too positive.""" Tia commented as she flipped on the page.

Mao nodded. """Yes. Uhm, would you mind telling us why there are no people in this restaurant?"""

The woman placed the book down and sighed. """There are no people here because I don't cook chicken."""

"""EH?""" Shilou looked at Tia in wonder.

Chibi-Ranma looked up from her meal. """Why not?"""

Tia growled. """Because I hate chicken."""

That night, Ranma and the group were led to the shed where they opted to spend the night. The warm bales of hay produced enough insulation, not that Ranma needed it in the first place. The pigtailed girl sighed as she tried to get some sleep, only to be awakened once again when Mao sat up urgently. Ranma stood up and follow when the blue haired boy stood up and scrambled outside. There they encountered the black chicken, which looked quite intimidating with the totally black plumage that it displayed.

When Mao was about to touch it, Tia came out and stopped him from doing so, and gave a reason about it bringing bad luck to anyone who touched it.

When they asked about it, Tia explained about how she once lived with her brother Crow in that restaurant. Her brother had this dream of breeding the perfect chicken, and brought home a pair of black chicks.  
It was proven hard, because black chickens lay weak eggs, and some die at an early stage. If this happened, Crow would go out and find another black chick to take home. This went on for a long time, until rumors circulate that the chicks were cursed. Some of the patrons of the Black Wing Restaurant had suffered weird illnesses which caused their deaths.  
Their business dropped dramatically because of this. Apparently, Crow fell ill one day, which caused more hardships for Tia. On his last breath, he still proclaimed his dream of breeding the perfect chickens.

Mao's eyes glinted and immediately grabbed one of the chickens. He inspected it thoroughly and nodded. He looked up to Tia and asked,  
"""Have you ever cooked one of these chickens?"""

Tia looked confused. """Huh? No, why?"""

Ranma yawned. """Mao has 'the Look' again. He's got an idea."""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The competition day rolled in, and as expected, the thralls of insults against the Black Wing Restaurant and its unique black chickens were tremendous. The people were thoroughly convinced that the chickens were ominous, just because of some measly circumstances that they cannot explain and had the need to pin it on something. That was how shallow minded and superstitious people were back then those days, and Ranma was just starting to realize it.

It was rather annoying, actually.

If a little coincidence rocked their world, how will they react to his curse then? A riot will ensue, probably he will be hunted down to the ends of the earth. People with pitchforks and torches running behind him, shouting, "Witch! Warlock!" over and over, and the vision of a tied up Ranma on a stake with a huge bonfire lit at his feet.

Sure... nice vision eh?

Cough, cough...

Anyway. After the judges finally deemed the entry of the Black Wing as legitimate (though in their eyes it said a whole volume of difference)  
the contest finally started. Ranma and Yosho nodded in approval at the amazing display of skills the various chefs around the stadium proper were demonstrating.

"I don't know if Mao knew about this, but he uses his chi to add speed and power to his cutting arm." Ranma commented to Yosho as they stood at the sidelines.

Yosho looked surprised. "Chi? Not ki?"

Ranma shook his head. "Nope. Mao adds the power of his emotions into his cooking. It's evident in the sharp blue aura. Confidence and pride of a person, as they say. That's chi. Ki is something from the surroundings,  
from 'no-emotions'. Usually colored white, grey/silver or black."

Yosho looked around and nodded. "Oh... I can even feel the other cooks using minute amounts of their chi. Not as strong as Mao's, though..."

All in all, the effort Mao had put in his cooking led him to victory,  
once again his Super Chef status was declared in the end. As one of the judges of the contest, Mister Touri, had said it, """Opening the huge doors and walking the path has always been the hardest part when starting anew."""

Black Wing Restaurant was declared the winner of the competition. The black chickens were identified by Mao as the infamous Silkie, a legendary bird that was said to be sent by the gods to Chicken town.  
Mao's special dish, which consisted of plain rice which was stuffed inside a Silkie and was baked in oven flame. The essence of the chicken was absorbed into the rice thoroughly. This brought the taste of the Silkie into full bloom.

Add that to Mao's unconscious use of his chi to enhance the taste of his dish, a plain looking rice turned out to be a chicken dish delicacy.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After Mao's triumph in the Chicken Dish competition, everyone together with Tia bore flowers as a tribute for Chef Crow's grave. Mao's win not only brought recognition for the hard-earned success in the breeding of the perfect Silkie, but also opened a door that was once sought out by Tia's brother Crow in pursuit for the tasteful black chicken.

Tia was telling them about Crow's training journey to Guangzhou, where he became best friends with one of the talented chefs there.

As they approached the grave, they found out that there was already someone there. Whoever it was, the person was obviously a guy (probably because his physique is a guy's) and had his back turned to them.

Suddenly, the guy spoke, """Mao, what is the mission of the Super Chef?"""

Mao's face reflected confusion at first, then recognition as a small smile played on his face. """To make people happy! Master Chouyu!""" he said and sprinted towards the figure. The man stood up and faced the young chef, with green hair and wore dark blue clothes. His face showed wisdom and age, as well as sterness that defined a true teacher.

The blue-haired boy stood straight and bowed in front of Chouyu. """Liu Mai-Zhing, reporting the success of his training journey!"""

Tia smiled. """Chouyu-san helped my brother while he stayed in Guangzhou.  
They became best friends because they have similar dreams."""

Mei-Li gasped. """Eh? Father?"""

Ranma looked at Chouyu, then at Mei-Li. """Frankly, I can't see the resemblance."""

Yosho appraised the man. """Well, it would seem that he has great stature and a good heart."""

Shilou started shaking. """T-that's... Mao's sensei? Scary..."""

Mei-Li quickly bowed to her father, who looked on with a neutral expression on his face. """Father... I'm sorry I took off without your permission..."""

Chouyu sighed and rapped his daughter on the head gently. """Hmph. Who are these people?""" he asked as he gestured towards Ranma, Yosho and Shilou.

Yosho stepped forward. """I am Yosho, a traveler, together with Ranma here. We were in the area when these children passed by and raised some commotion.""" Yosho eyed the nervous children with mirth. Chouyu caught the gesture.

Chouyu nodded. """I see. So they've been causing trouble.""" He turned to Shilou, who tried backing away but was caught on the scruff of his neck.  
"""So you are?"""

Shilou tried to stay calm, and failed miserably. """I-I'm Shilou... Mao's apprentice..."""

Chouyu smiled (oh boy, not a nice smile). """Good, I will take over your training from now on."""

Shilou blanched. """Noooooooooo!"""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After finishing their business in Chicken Town, the group finally went on their trip back to Guangzhou. They were currently camped out in a densely forested area just between the towns of Guangzhou and Chicken Town. They diverted from their path a bit and cleared up a small clearing where they could pitch their camp.

This was where Ranma and Yosho declared their intentions of breaking from the group, much to the dismay of their companions.

"""Are you sure you have to go now?""" Mei-Li asked Chibi-Ranma in a small voice.

For some reason, the man behind the child was a voice of reason for them. He saved them once too often, and supported them in their endeavors. The fact that Ranma was really interesting to begin with didn't matter for her opinion, and that his cursed form suspiciously looked like her. Mei-Li also enjoyed watching Ranma and Yosho spar by themselves early in the morning when they thought nobody could see them.

Chibi-Ranma looked up to Mei-Li. He really should be going right now,  
and he can't stay. He and Yosho were currently on a journey, and as for a goal that was what they were looking for in the first place. Sure, he wished to be here, but there was always a reason for everything,  
especially as to why he was sent here in the first place. Besides, he wanted to see the old world during this time, and probably irritate an amazon or two.

After a moment of contemplation, Ranma shrugged. """I guess so. We can't stay here too long. I attract too much chaos. Besides, there are still some things that Yosho and I need to find by ourselves. We're going around the world for this one..."""

Mei-Li sighed. She really wanted to talk to Ranma just a bit longer. Her face brightened up when she finally thought of something. She grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled him up behind some bushes.

Shilou and Mao looked at the path where Ranma and Mei-Li disappeared to and shrugged, while Yosho and Chouyu looked at each other in amusement.

Ranma, Ranma... so innocent... Yosho thought to himself. His mind was jolted to the present when he felt a spike of energy just in front of them. He stood up and pulled out his bokken as he gazed on the direction where he felt the energy. He was sure it wasn't Ranma because the pigtailed boy went to the other direction.

Yosho's sudden movement surprised the rest of the party. They stood up and looked at Yosho with curiousity. They saw the man's eyes grew serious, his muscles tensed as if preparing for something.

A loud rustling of leaves alerted them of another presence in the area.

"""Stand behind me.""" Yosho commanded. The rest nodded and stood behind Yosho, who gripped his bokken tighter and waited.

It seems he didn't have to wait any longer. A black figure leapt out of the brush and attacked.

Meanwhile, in the deeper part of the forest...

"""Ranma... can you like, turn adult right now?""" Mei-Li asked with a hint of hesitation and embarassment.

Chibi-Ranma looked mystified, but nodded and grew up in size. """Uhmm.  
why did you ask me to?"""

Mei-Li marveled at the change. She trailed her hands across Ranma's chest and felt the hard muscles underneath the clothes he wore. Ranma's dark clothing consisted of a spandex-like material, provided by none other than Yosho himself. Rather than allowing the clothes to get destroyed, the Juraian prince had taken into liberty of providing the suitable clothes for him. For Mei-Li, she haven't felt anything like it before. The material used for Ranma's clothes were foreign to her, thus strengthening the proof of the pigtailed boy being someone from another world.

Ranma almost flinched away from Mei-Li's questing fingers. For some reason, her look was almost like the one his buddy Ucchan once had when she looked at him. It was rather scary.

The redhead suddenly hopped and latched unto Ranma's neck, much to the pigtailed boy's dismay, and kissed his cheek in the area which was dangerously close to his lips. Actually, the kiss DID brush against some minute portion of his lips. The redhead lowered herself and burrowed her head into Ranma's chest.

"""I'm going to miss you, Ranma.""" Mei-Li said after a short time of silence.

Ranma sighed. """Likewise, Mei-Li. But I cannot stay."""

Mei-Li looked up to Ranma, her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. """I know that. It's just---"""

SNAP!

Ranma quickly drew Mei-Li into his arms and scanned the area. In front of him stood two large figures. The moonlight finally illuminated across the area they were in, and gave them a clear view of what was out there.

The figures were taller than a human and was on all fours. The body was a a bit larger than a van (the car) which was covered with coppery black scales. The head consisted of a cross between a grotesque lion-like figure and a dragon that sported huge sharp teeth. The two front feet were adorned with talon like fingers. The hind legs were shaped like an elephant's, big and huge. On its back were huge leathery bat like wings that fluttered against the night air. Out of ten, the intimidation factor was a flat out eleven.

The two monsters took one good look at them and roared, which echoed all over the empty darkness of the night. They brunched themselves and leapt for the kill, their talons bared towards Ranma and Mei-Li.

Ranma saw the monsters tensed and deduced correctly that they were about to attack. The figures leapt high up with their pairs of huge three-fingered talons aimed towards their throats. Ranma was particularly surprised at the speed the monsters were displaying,  
especially since their size doesn't look like it had speed at all.  
Mei-Li haven't got the time to scream as Ranma scooped her feet from under her and cradled the girl. The pigtailed boy leapt upwards and hovered. The monsters crashed down the ground with a loud noise and struggled against the mass of broken trees and rocks to stand up.

Mei-Li's stupor was finally broken when she screamed and struggled in Ranma's arms. The boy grunted as he received some nasty elbow strikes from the near-hysterical girl. He gripped her firmly and whispered,  
"""Mei-Li, calm down! It's alright! I got you!"""

The redhead slowly calmed down and fearfully took her gaze downwards.  
After she saw herself high up in the air, she turned to Ranma and asked,  
"""Y-you can fly?"""

Ranma snickered. """Yeah. Weird huh?"""

Mei-Li was about to reply when the growls of anger interrupted her. They both looked down towards the path of destruction the two monsters made.  
The gruesome two-some stimped angrily as they flapped their wings in the air. Slowly but surely, they started to rise up in the air.

"""Damn... they can fly too.""" Ranma commented dryly as Mei-Li whimpered in his arms. With a gust of wind and a mighty flap of their wings, the two figures darted towards them. Ranma quickly darted sideways left and right and took Mei-Li with him. They barely avoided the razor sharp claws that whistled against the wind as the monsters passed by them.  
Ranma turned and fired a medium burst ki attack, which instead of normal blue was white with purple streaks in it. The attack hit the monster on the left, pulverizing its left flank. It hung weakly on the air as it seemed to assess its situation. The other just dodged away from the detonation and floated higher up.

Ranma watched closely as the figures just floated there, not doing anything. Suddenly, the damaged monster started shivering a bit. After a few moments, the lost limbs sprung back out from its body, which greatly surprised Ranma and Mei-Li a great deal.

Great... it regenerates. Just my luck. Saffron comes into mind right now... Ranma thought warily. A high pitch whine which was followed by a low growl told him that the fight goes on.

Back to the other side, Yosho was panting heavily as he faced off once again against the same hulking figure. With a loud battlecry, he launched himself at the beast once again, cutting both its forearms in the attempt. He danced away of the dark green goo that came out of its mouth. The substance had already burned much of his arm and one of his spare bokkens.

Yosho's danger sense flared up as he dodged at the right moment to his side, when a dark blue figure with a streak of yellow and red came barelling down to the ground. A loud boom resonated as the figure impacted against the ground, which caused a crater to form. When the dust finally cleared up, Yosho, Chouyu, Mao and Shilou peered over the crater. Ranma was down on his back getting his bearings back, while holding the frightened Mei-Li in his arms. The pigtailed boy clearly protected the redhead's body from the impact and used his own body as an insulator for the damage.

A rather loud flapping sound interrupted his assessment. Yosho looked up and saw two more of the creatures floating overhead.

"""Cough, cough! Yosho... damn those things are tough!""" Ranma complained as he lifted himself and Mei-Li up to their feet. He bent his back to get rid of the kinks that were produced by the fall.

Yosho groaned. """Yes. It would seem so. I think I have seen these things before, though where and when I am not so sure."""

Ranma nodded as he walked to the group's side. He let go of Mei-Li, who ran to her father's arms in tears. Chouyu shot a silent thank you gaze to Ranma, who nodded in return.

The alien duo stood in their battle stances as they assessed their situation once again. One of these things was already tough enough, but three? Life wasn't so fair after all...

Their luck changed when with seemingly an unknown signal, the three juggernauts looked up to nowhere and whined in a high pitched sound.  
Then they took unto the skies with their massive wings and disappeared into the night. Ranma fell down to his knees as he silently prayed to the kami that sent them good luck his gratitude. Yosho used his beat-up bokken as a crutch.

"""R-Ranma?""" A rather timid voice broke the silence. Ranma turned and saw Chouyu and Mao looking at him with wide eyes.

Ranma looked down to his body and winced, slapped his hand to his forehead and declared, """It's a long story..."""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After that terrifying ordeal, Ranma and Yosho had escorted the group back to the town of Guangzhou, where they finally bid their farewells to each other. Mei-Li was really upset about it, but finally relented when she grabbed to Chibi-Ranma and kissed him full on the lips. Mao and Shilou snickered at the shocked look Ranma sported on his small face while Chouyu smiled knowingly. Of course, the action did not escape those who worked in the restaurant and began to ask questions. Too bad for them because Chouyu was already back and the glare he gave them forced the workers back to their jobs.

"Manticores?" Ranma asked his companion as they walked on the dirt path.

Yosho nodded. "Yes. If I could remember it right, they were used as biological weapons back then by the Planet 3591-095. The Juraian Government banned the use of such weapons and ordered the destruction of the planet. I know, I know, it was too much, but the idea of the existence of such monsters was still uncomforting."

Ranma groaned. "Damn... they have these sharp claws, acid spit, some kinda energy projectile and those bodies of theirs regenerate like crazy."

Yosho sighed. "They also can fly, and it would seem that they isolate those who have stronger energy and elmiminate them. So far, they are very intelligent. We have to find their colony and destroy them all, I guess."

"And how do you propose we do that? You saw how we fared with those three. Imagine a few more of those on our tails." Ranma deadpanned.

"I don't know, Ranma. Seriously, I don't know."

The world was not as peaceful as it seemed, for the seeds of torment were already planted.

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To Be Continued...

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Author Rants:

Uhm... Well, here's part one of the third chapter. One of the enemies has just been unveiled. How do one defeat those things?

Heh. Find out soon.

This chapter is just a preview of what's to come. Why Cooking Master Boy? I needed the part of the plot. The comet, if you've been wondering what that was. Besides, my sis tried cajoling me into writing some stuff about the anime, so I obliged. It suited some of my ideas, so why the hell not?

Mei-Li does look like female Ranma, except the eye color. Actually, she can be compared to Nuku-Nuku... like a twin.

Anyway, there you go. A tame preview of who's who and what's what.

Ranma already known how to do the disguise field here. Yosho's orders...

If you're gonna ask how far back Ranma was thrown, about four to five hundred years back.

Yawn so there. I'm sleepy.

Next up, probably some insights on what's happening back in normal time space Nerima. The next cross, probably Flame of Recca. Oh... or Inuyasha. Probably Inuyasha first.

See yah.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	5. Chapter 3b

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Someone asked if I should just cut and paste one of the currently existing disclaimers lying around somewhere. But I wrote back,  
'What about the disclaimer for that disclaimer?'

Author Notes: A bit of descriptive decapitation in the beginning paragraphs, but that's all. If you hate those, just cover your eyes and press the down button to skip it. Otherwise, enjoy.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 3B - A VIEW OF THE HOMEWORLD: ARRIVAL OF TWO STRANGERS

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In the era where time had no meaning, where everything was nothing but empty space, there was a great war. The Ancient War between two opposing forces of those created by the Darkness... the first sentient being in the cosmos.

The Ancient Gods... modern times called them Titans... waged war for control over the entireness of existence. Against three of those who were direct descendants from the Darkness itself. The Trinity of Power that were granted the powers of creation itself.

When there was only the Darkness, nothing ever existed in the span of space. Nothing but the bleakness of despair and loneliness that went on for thousands of eons, allowing the Darkness to gain its own sentience.  
Finally, as a forethought, the Darkness pulsed and created the first species of the Universe, the Ancient Gods, as a catalyst to begin and supervise the creation of life within the span of nothingness.

Planets and galaxies emerged from the Ancient Gods' divine hands,  
thousands of newly created lower species were used as experiments on evolution and adaptation.

All were at peace... but it was not to last.

The Ancient Gods reveled on the powers they have received from the Darkness, which in turn corrupted them. They started creating other species that were stronger and much more powerful than those of the first created. The Titans finally tasted their first view of bloodbath... deaths of civilizations by their creations, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Balance of Existence was upset greatly, which definitely had an effect on the Dark Void, the Darkness.

The Darkness finally unleashed its final creations, in an attempt to salvage and rescue the innocents that were caught in the mega coliseum that the Ancient Gods have made out of the Universe. Its last bursts of power led to the creation of the Trinity of Power, Righteousness,  
Nightmare and the Chaos.

The Trio of Darkness' descendants finally got to work, and established a somewhat balance in the wavering existence. With Chaos in control of the loss of order, everything was slowly gaining its balance once again.  
Until the time where the Ancient Gods declared a war against the Trinity of Power.

The Titans were not happy with the Trio's 'intrusion' of their 'domain,  
and were not about to give up their playground that easily.

The war took many eons, avatars from each side battled one another,  
which claimed lives here and there. Angels and Demons on one side,  
Manticores and Carrions on the other. The war devastated many stars and planets, whole galaxies disappeared in a span of a second when the fighting ensued. But the war was decided when Chaos itself joined the fray, and slew the creations of the Ancient Gods with Its own hand.  
Chaos finally reached the center of the Universe, the Alpha Prime Point of Existence, where the Ancient Gods housed themselves. With Its last powers, Chaos used Its ultimate attack, the Chaotic Disruption.

Time and Space warped around the Ancient Gods, who screamed for defiance as they fought their way through the surface of the trap that was set-up by the Chaos. Finally, the Mother of Black Holes became the Ultimate Prison to the Ancient Gods.

But it was of not of no price, for Chaos cannot hold Its existence after such an exhausting attack and finally dispersed Itself throughout the Cosmos. Righteousness and Nightmare both mourned for their lost comrade,  
and vowed to protect the order of the Universe, thus the Doublet System was created.

It was to ensure that both parties would work hand in hand in order to maintain their balance, and so as to avoid conflicts between interests.  
There were squabbles, but Righteousness and Nightmare ended them with compromises.

Righteousness finally became Kami-sama.

Nightmare became Hild-sama.

They continue to wait for their lost comrade Chaos, who was believed to accumulate itself once again after many millenia.

The Seal of the Ancient Gods was said to be the most powerful, and yet it was not forever. Eventually, it will wear down.

When that time comes, it will be the Twilight of the Gods, Ragnarok.

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The place, Asgard... the time, actually time is irrelevant in this place.

Anyway, back in the Heavenly Plane, Kami-sama's office...

"WHAT'S THIS? THIS HAS GOT TO BE A MISTAKE. IT WAS TOO EARLY FOR THEM TO APPEAR..." Kami-sama almost crushed the monitor of His computer as He finished reviewing the data from a certain timeline.

The Lord of Heaven sat back to His comfy chair and sighed. "SURELY.  
THE ANCIENT GODS ARE RARING TO GO INTO WAR ONCE AGAIN. THOSE... THINGS THEY CALL THEIR 'BOUNTY HUNTERS'... SUCH VILE CREATURES. THEY ALREADY REACHED ONII-CHAN'S AREA... I WAS REALLY NOT EXPECTING THIS."

Kami-sama grumbled under His breath. "ONII-CHAN'S BODY HASN'T AWAKENED ITS POWERS YET. HE IS NOT READY TO BATTLE AGAINST THEM YET. BUT.  
ONII-CHAN ALREADY DISPLAYED AT LEAST SOME PROWESS IN SURVIVAL. I JUST HOPE HIS LUCK WOULD LAST..."

On the screen of His computer, the picture of a huge coppery scaled mammoth was shown. Ominous green eyes adorned its feline-like face, its huge silver talons raised high above in the air in a gesture of supremacy. The hind legs were built for power, as well as holding its enormous weight. A pair of large leathery black bat-like wings potruded from its back, and a black tail that protruded out of its backside.

The Manticore... applicable comparison to class one category 2 demons that roamed over the cosmos. Found and developed as a biological weapon by an ancient planet that was ordered destroyed by the Juraian Government when found out about its existence. These monsters were used to eradicate whole galaxies, moreso than the dreaded Saiyajins. Their intelligence were superb, but mostly follow their instincts to destroy.

What's worse... is that they evolve.

And the Carrions haven't been revived yet.

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Meanwhile, in somewhere really dark and spooky...

A pair of eyes gleamed in the dimness of the surroundings, glowing dark blue.

"D3!" A feminine voice bellowed from those eyes. "What have you found out about my sister's actions of late!"

The said loyal figure materialized once again in front of the imposing figure of Tokimi. D3 knew no one could never hide from those dark blue eyes.

She gives the word 'Terror' a reputation.

D3 replied in a strange monotone, "Well, I thought you might want me to find out about the temporal distortions first, but then as I looked into it, Tsunami and the rest in the Masaki household is connected to it. Two time travelers emerged from the distortion and stopped by the shrine for a week. I found out one of the travelers' name... Ranma Saotome I think.  
And according to my readings... he is of... huh? Tokimi-sama?"

Tokimi's eyes were wide in disbelief as she heard the name.

Ranma. Her Ranma.

"A-Are you sure about the name? R-Ranma?" Tokimi asked hesitantly.

D3's confusion turned into surprise as the minion watched Tokimi's face sport several new emotions. D3 never saw the master do this before.  
Remembering the question, D3 continued, "Hai, Tokimi-sama... Ranma Saotome. Is... it important?"

"Where is he now, D3?"

D3 was silent for a moment, then a soft beeping sound echoed across the darkness and as D3 replied, "Earth, Tokimi-sama. It is the planet that is somewhat like a black hole to us."

Tokimi suddenly stood, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Prepare my scrying talisman! I need to talk to Tsunami, NOW!"

D3 immediately went back to duty, more questions popping as Tokimi continued to look pensive and panicky.

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Parallel Past, where Ranma was 'dumped'...

It was deep in the night, when the silence of the forest was mind-numbing. Animals of all shapes and sizes took refuge from the night, not only because of the cold or the darkness, but of something else.

Suddenly, branches were broken as a figure came out of the darkest parts of the forests, panting and crying its heart out. When the light of the moon momentarily lit the figure, it was evident that the figure was female. She wore a white colored kimono that was littered with what looked like sakura leaves. The measly clothing hugged her figure and was cut just two inches high above the knees. She stumbled on a stray root that potruded on her path. She cried out as she fell down the ground,  
her hand lashed out to catch her face as she fell. The young girl, whose raven hair was tied up in a high ponytail, lifted her body up and forced her legs to work as she heard the faint howls of her tormentors from where she came from. Her knees, having been overworked for too long,  
buckled under her. With a small yelp, she fell unceremoniously on the ground below her. Her small sobs of anguish wafted through the darkness of the forest.

Broken branches cracked far from the direction she was from, and as the footsteps neared her position, she bit back a whimper. Her village had been attacked by youkai, and for once it was defenseless. The sentries for the youkai attacks became lax after months of having no trouble from the youkai. The gruesome monsters worked their way down from the adults to the children, drank their blood and ate the rest of the bodies. Only bones were left of the inhuman onslaught. She barely escaped the sudden attack on her village when she bolted out of the house that she shared with her parents and older brother. As she ran past the confines of the forest, she still heard the agonized screams of her family while they were skinned alive by the youkai.

And now, it was her turn.

Yes, she's very afraid. But this was probably the fate that was handed to her. It was her punishment for leaving her family like that.  
Eventhough they had screamed for their youngest daughter to get away from the chaos, it was still not right to just up and leave them to die.

It was her fault. And now she was about to pay for it.

As she lay on her back against a tree trunk, she could feel the light tremors of the ground from the slight stampede caused by the incoming mosters. She prayed to her gods that she would be sent to the place where her family was. The trees in front of her suddenly burst apart,  
exposing five wolf-like youkai. Their silvery fur reflected the slight moonshine that filtered across the enwly renovated forest area. Their faces were screwed in a deep snarl, drool gushed down the sides of their mouths as they stared on their new prey.

The youkai group advanced slowly on the girl, her helpless body was hopelessly pinned down by her weight on the ground. Her eyes screwed shut as she heard some of the monsters howl in their delight when they saw the amount of fear that was evident in her features. A snapped twig was the signal for her that they have started their assault.

She waited for the pain of their teeth and claws.

But none came.

Instead, loud crunches of broken bones and pathetic whines from what seemed like dogs kicked mercilessly echoed all over the area. She feared that everything was just a ruse for her to open her eyes and gaze on their playful eyes. She knew that most youkai fed on the fears of their victims, before they brutalize them.

The last whine was a little longer than most, and then everything fell silent.

A touch of gentleness on her shoulder caused her body to flinch from the contact. She finally lost her control and screamed her heart out. A soft and gentle voice cut through her cries of anguish.

"It's alright. They're all gone now. Nothing's gonna hurt you." The voice said softly.

The young girl opened her eyes and saw a sight that brought tears to her eyes. Two humans were standing in front of her, one with dark hair tied up in a pigtail with blue-gray eyes that soothed her wracked nerves.  
Behind him was another man with long black hair that was tied in a low ponytail, who just sheathed his wooden sword into his sleeve.

The pigtailed boy patted her shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

The girl shook her head from side to side, then launched herself into the surprised pigtailed boy's arms. The boy stiffened for a moment, then clumsily returned the embrace on the crying girl. He ran his gentle hand up and down her back in a soothing manner.

The boy spoke again. "My name is Ranma, and my companion is Yosho. We passed through this village that is being attacked by these monsters. We managed to clean up most of them, and saw some run through here. It's lucky that we found you."

The girl sniffed. "T-thank you, kind sir. My name... K-Koneko..."

Ranma nodded and cradled the girl as she cried herself to sleep. Ranma looked up to Yosho, who looked back to him with concern.

"They're their offsprings, aren't they?" Ranma asked in a low voice.

Yosho sighed. "Yes. It would seem so. They opted to go for numbers, and disregarded the great diminish in their strength."

Ranma grumbled. "Damn. We found at least a hundred and seventy hatched eggs of these Manticores. We killed at least ten or so, right? so that leaves a hundred and sixty more out in the wild, who had the right mind to repopulate and cross breed with some of the local monsters in the area."

"We swept across the WORLD already, and we found out that they concentrated in Japan for some reason." Yosho stated.

Ranma slumped back down on the ground and groaned as he stretched his thirteen year old body without disturbing the sleeping girl. "We have a long job ahead of us."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in Nerima, the home dimension of the famous Ranma Saotome...

Five months have past since the sad departure of one emotional pigtailed Neo Saiyajin. Circumstances of luck were for once not in the side of those left behind. Multiple enemies have appeared in the Martial Arts City of Nerima, usually leaving the buildings in shambles. Dojo destroyers have come and challenged the once prestigious Tendo Dojo.  
Although one Ryoga Hibiki have managed to become damage control, he barely won his matches and not escaping with one big injury to another.  
And for some reason, he still blamed it all on Ranma...

"RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAU--URKKK!" Ryoga just began to recite his battle mantra but was admonished by Akane's mallet. He immediately collected himself and glared at the angry girl. "What was that for,  
Akane!"

The girl in question slung her hammer over her should and gave Ryoga an evil eye, growling, "Where the hell do you get off blaming Ranma when he's not even here!"

Ryoga sniffed indignantly. "It's always his fault! Always running away from his problems! He cries like a little girl! Damn him!"

Akane was sorely tempted to bop the bandanna-clad boy again, but went against it. No matter how much she tried to explain, Ryoga would always find himself blaming Ranma one way or another. She couldn't understand what is wrong at all. She stomped away from the boy and sat in a corner of the recently damaged dojo. Another one of the Dojo destroyers have come seeking to take the sign once again. They were almost successful this time, too, if not for luck. Ryoga was not really cut to defend the dojo at all. He may be strong, but he didn't have the ingenuity of the former defender of the dojo. Natsumi and Kurumi also went back to the dojo last week, but when they heard Ranma was gone, they lost interest and turned away. Ukyou also tried to pitch in in defending the dojo, but her enthusiasm was lost, as well as Shampoo's. Mousse has also somehow mellowed down and become retrospective. He didn't pine over Shampoo that much anymore.

They were about to clean up the mess when the huge double doors of the dojo opened wide. Akane and Ryoga turned to the doors and saw a dark figure, wearing a long dark coat over the body that covered everything.  
The black hood of the coat prevented recognition of the face.

Silence penetrated the dojo for a moment, then the figure raised its arm and pointed to the Tendo Dojo sign.

"I'm here to challenge the Tendo Dojo!" the figure bellowed with a voice that is sopranic in nature. It was difficult to determine though whether the figure was male or female under the coat. But nevertheless,  
the issue of challenge echoed all over the dojo and the house,  
attracting the other members of the household. Soun, Genma, Nodoka,  
Nabiki and Kasumi all filed out of the side door to see who issued the challenge.

The issue broke the contemplative silence of Akane and Ryoga. The youngest Tendo's eyes narrowed as she glared on the challenger. The figure is quite a bit tall, lanky at the belly, and squirmish? Ahem,  
anyway, a challenge is a challenge. Akane sighed and replied, "Sure.  
What are the terms?"

The figure snorted under the hood. Its face is covered in a white mask,  
but the eyes are exposed. Akane could see that the figure has dark blue eyes under the robes. "It's your dojo, any rule will do. Besides, I think you should take me on together, or you may not last at all." the figure finally said.

"WHAT!" everyone gasped at the proclamation. Ryoga clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth, "You dare! Don't get so cocky punk! I alone can stand against you!"

"Yeah right. Being a pigheaded attacker sure works, doesn't it? Well, it won't work with me. A thickheaded gorilla and a stupid pighead. What a combination." the figure taunted.

Akane and Ryoga growled at the words, but restrained themselves. After both sides took their position at the middle of the dojo, Soun finally stepped up to officiate the match.

"Ready?" Soun raised his hand in the air.

"Begin!"

Akane immediately leapt for a low sweep, which the figure neatly avoided by jumping slightly. Ryoga lunged in the air, his fist extended and aimed towards the challenger's head. The figure bent backwards while in the air in an impossible manner, earning gasps of shock from the audience. The figure flashed a small jab at Ryoga's open belly and back kicked Akane's open back as they pass through over and under the person.  
Akane and Ryoga were thrown down to the grown with a thud.

((This guy's... fast!)) Akane's mind screamed as she lay on her front,  
panting.

The figure landed lightly on its foot. Sighing, the challenger said,  
"What a pity. Is this all you can do?"

The two defenders scrambled to their feet and positioned again. Ryoga unleashed a right handed cross to the challenger, which was caught easily. Grunting softly, Ryoga threw another left cross, which was also caught by the figure. Akane tackled the figure's unprotected belly, and it caught her by surprise when she almost passed through the figure. She closed her eyes as she saw the floor closing in on her fast. Three loud simultaneous thuds were heard. Akane groaned and shook the cobwebs off her head and was surprised to hear two more grunts behind her. Akane then noticed that she has the figure's coat in her hands.

Akane looked around and saw everyone's attention was behind her. Turning slowly, she finally saw what caught their attention. Under the long,  
dark coat were two children, GIRLS, and were now rubbing their heads,  
wincing as they struggled to compose themselves again. Ryoga still had his arms outstretched as he looked on in shock.

There were two children under the thick black coat. One who looked to be seven years of age while the other was six. It would seem that they stood up on each other's shoulders so that they may look like one tall guy. But right now, what was in the minds of the audience as well as the defenders is, the two girls' appearances.

The older girl had dark red hair, almost maroon, which glistened against the sunlight, which was tied up into a modest ponytail. Her clothes were elastic-like and tight-fitting, colored black that showed much of her small frame. Over the black tights is a white sleeveless body armor with yellow outlines. She also wore blue shorts over her torso. She had white boots and white fingerless gloves over her hands. Her eyes were dark blue with a light tint of gray. A brown sash adorned her waist.

The younger of the two had blue hair, which was tied up in a low ponytail that reaches up to her lower waist. Her tight-fitting is also colored black. She wore the same sleeveless white armor with yellow outlines, and shorts were dark yellow. Her white boots and white fingerless gloves mirrored her companion's attire as well. Her eyes were pink surrounding the black.

They looked familiar somehow...

Scratch that, they look VERY familiar...

"Ooowww! Toldya you shoulda dropped to the floor, 'neesan!" the younger girl whined while rubbing her rump.

The older one shook her head, favoring her side in the process, "Nah,  
shoulda sidestepped. Papa would've done that!"

Soun finally recovered enough to speak. "T-two KIDS! That's foul!"

The two 'kids' heard the comment, and immediately leapt up to their feet. Putting her hands on her hips, the older girl glared at Soun,  
saying, "Says who? Ya think that ya gonna accept the challenge when we're like this then?"

"But still..."

Akane stood up, her eyes hard. "I can't believe this!"

Ryoga stood as well. "They look familiar though."

"So we gonna continue or what?" the younger girl chirped.

The bandanna-clad boy shook his head as he chuckled. "I can't continue this. Fighting weak people is dishonorable."

The slightly older girl snorted. "Ya mean yer scared of us coz ya didn't know we coulda taken ya down!"

Akane gasped lightly but she knelt at the floor in front of the kids and said gently, "Children... it's not right for us to fight... kids..."

Ryoga was not as lenient. "Go away, you dumb brats! Go home to your mommy and daddy!"

The smaller girl crossed her arms across her chest. "As if you've been home for the last few years, ne? Piggy-chan?" she said and snickered as she watched Ryoga sputter.

The other girl sighed. "A challenge is a challenge. We issued it, and we're gonna finish it. Papa said to always finish a fight."

Genma harrumphed. "Crazy kids! Who is your father anyway?"

"None of your goddamn business!" the slightly taller girl snapped at the Saotome patriarch's direction. She was then bopped on the head by the smaller girl.

"Cool it, oneesan."

"Sorry." the reprimanded older girl looked sheepish, but recovered as she turned back to the defenders, "We should continue."

Both girls nodded to each other and took a stance. Genma's eyes widened in recognition of Anything Goes. A small sign of Anything Goes with an emphasis on a more general type basis. For some reason, the stance emphasized both speed and power tremendously, ignoring most of defense.

"Sorry 'bout this kids..." Akane sighed and took her stance, with Ryoga mumbling beside her. They lunged themselves almost at the same time.  
Akane took on the smaller girl while Ryoga took on the other.

Akane was careful not too put too much speed and power to her punches,  
so that she may not hurt the small girl unnecessarily. The said girl growled as she dodged and weaved out of the complex series of punches thrown by the Tendo heir. The girl could see those attacks a mile away,  
and she felt being ridiculed by it. She caught a weak sidekick from her right, with Akane's eyes widening slightly. The girl glared at her opponent, saying softly, "What kind of a martial artist are ya? Are ya trying to stain my honor by fighting without any force in it at all?"

Genma stood up frantically, shouting, "Akane! Don't hold back! They know what they're doing!"

The small girl smiled softly. "Ya only found out now?" and with that,  
the girl pressed a pressure point at Akane's leg, causing it to lock up.  
Akane grimaced when she felt her whole leg go numb. The girl looked up to her and grinned evilly, saying, "This is what ya get for taking me lightly." She threw a vicious uppercut at the helpless Akane, making the taller girl's head snap back and throwing her across the mats.

"AKANE!" Ryoga bellowed as he turned for a moment as he dodged the haymaker thrown to him by the older of the two girls. He was sporting some nasty bruises right now. Turning back to the two girls, who were now standing side by side, smiling at him bemusedly, he growled out,  
"You little brats are going to pay!"

The younger girl turned to her companion, saying, "All yours oneesan.  
Don't take too long." She turned her back and walked towards the sidelines opposite of the audience.

Ryoga let out an animalistic battlecry as he launched another strong punch to the girl's face. Kids or not, they hurt his Akane! Imagine his surprise when the girl caught his fist in her small hands.

))CRUNCH!((

"ARRGGHHH!" Ryoga screamed when he felt his wrist broken as the girl redirected his punch and twisted her hand. He ignored the pain and punched out his other fist which was ducked under. Ryoga jumped back a bit for breathing room and watched his opponent backflip away from him.  
He felt his depression reach an all time low since the time Ranma was here. He closed his eyes as he gathered the greenish ki from his body into his unbroken hand.

The audience visibly paled at the sight. Soun was more vocal though.  
"Stop it Ryoga!" he called out, "Don't destroy the dojo!" And as usual,  
Ryoga didn't listen.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!" the large green ball that was accumulated by Ryoga blasted away from him.

The girl shifted her stance and placed her hands in front of her. The green ball hummed louder as it rapidly approached her.

))PLINK!((

Everyone's eyes, except the girl and her companion, widened ten times their normal size when they saw such a small girl easily backhand Ryoga's trademark chi blast towards the open doors, letting the chi blast pass outside and explode harmlessly in open air.

"HAH!" the girl gloated, putting her hands on her hips. "A chi-based attack... emotion based on depression... papa warned me about that though..."

"Oneesan..." her companion who was sitting patiently on the sidelines whined, "Finish up already... I wanna go find a way home..."

The older girl waved her hand in the air in a dismissive manner. "Fine fine... well since ya wanted special attacks... I gotta do mine too!"

Ryoga backed away slightly as he watched the girl lift her hand up over her head with her palm up in the air. Slowly, the air around her hand glowed and gathered over her palm. A small baseball-sized white incandescent ball formed. "This..." she began, still gathering energy,  
"Is a KI attack. Papa always taught me to avoid using emotion-based attacks. It's bad for the health he says... anyway, take this!" Without any loud cries, she flicks her wrist and the glowing ball sped towards Ryoga. Akane chose this moment to wake up and watch helplessly as the ball of ki darted to Ryoga.

The bandanna-clad boy immediately crossed his arms across his face, sure of himself that he could dissipate such a small ball of energy. But when the ball struck, the pain in his arms suddenly shocked him. The force of the explosion forced Ryoga back towards the doors, propelling him to the thick wall of the adjacent house. He crashed unto the cement and was buried in the mess of it.

"Yatta!" Both girls chimed together as they hopped towards each other,  
congratulating themselves on a job well done.

"Who..." the celebrating girls ceased rambling and turned to the one who spoke, who was Nabiki, "Who are you girls?"

"Eh? Oh! If ya didn't remove the coat, we shoulda said we were 'Ryu"  
The younger girl replied.

The older snorted. "I hate that name! Anyway, I'm Reiko Saotome, and this is my sister, Meiko Saotome, nice ta meet'cha!"

"WHAAAAAT!" Everyone screamed.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Across another town in Juuban Ward, a very normal shrine called Hikawa Shrine is a secret meeting spot for a group of defenders, the Sailor Scouts. At this time, Ami called an emergency meeting. As usual, the meeting is decorated with Usagi Tsukino's cries and Rei's profanities.

"GIVE ME BACK MY MANGA, MEATBALL-HEAD!" the irate Rei, Senshi of Mars screamed at the blonde haired ditz. Usagi's eyes suddenly watered and a stream of tears, which could very well be a match for Soun Tendo's waterworks, spilled once again, elliciting sighs from the rest of the group.

"Waaaah!" Usagi, the Princess of the Moon cried, "Rei is being mean to meeeeee!"

Makoto Kino, the Senshi of Jupiter, rubbed her temples forcefully. "Will you two just settle down! We are having a meeting!"

Haruka Ten'ou, Michiru Kaiou and their adopted daughter, Hotaru Tomoe were in a medium built sofa on the other side of the fighting duo. The Senshi of Uranus, Neptune and Saturn repectively were cuddling and talking among themselves, while they waited for Ami Mizuno, Senshi of Mercury, to finish with her calculations in the Mercury Computer. Beside the blue haired senshi is the ever chatting Minako Aino, Senshi of Venus. The two lunar cats, Luna and Artemis, lay comfortable on a comforter beside Minako. As usual, the Senshi of Pluto, Setsuna Meiou,  
is absent at the moment.

The Mercury Computer suddenly beeped the rest out of their current state of minds and forced them to focuse on the bewildered and flustered Ami.  
"A big power spike..." Ami began as she typed more into her computer,  
"And it originates from... Nerima, again."

Haruka snorted as she stood up, declaring, "Well? What the hell are we waiting for anyway? Let's go then!" Getting everyone's assents with a nod, they all stood up and quickly filed outside for their transformations, then beelined towards Nerima.

At the Time Gate, Setsuna Meiou, Senshi of Pluto, was attacked by a huge migraine and folded on her seat. Once the pain receded, she immediately began a systematic search of a recent time distortion that backlashed to her. ((Strange... the distortion felt like what happened before...)) she thought as she waved her Time Staff around the black recesses of the Gates. Her visage softened when she finally zeroed in unto the disturbance, which to her dismay was once again from Nerima. But this one was different, because she could feel two new presences that came from the anomaly. Her view of Nerima was obscured by whisps of black smoke, probably caused by the element of Chaos. The mention of Chaos reminded her of Ranma Saotome, and the memory of her first meeting with him.

-FLASH-

Pluto finally found the Chaos Factor in the area. He was currently walking in a slow pace with a companion across town. She prepares her magic blast, the Dead Scream.

-FLASH-

Pluto just lowered her hands after she blasted the cause of the disturbance of the Timelines. The object of her wrath took the brunt of her attack with his arms crossed over his face, his black hair tied up in a pigtail flowing against the wind. He was dressed in a dark blue overalls and dark blue pants.

-FLASH-

She tried in vain to hide her blush as the young man berated her actions and ideals. The other man with him with purple hair and a huge sword strapped on his back is snickering at the sight. Her attack didn't even scratch him.

Setsuna still remembers how her counterpart from the future appeared before her and chastised her in a very civilized manner. Quiet, but it was still a lecture. That was when she found out who the guy really is.  
How could she know that the Chaos Factor is in fact one of two of the current crown princes of Jurai and is also a Saiya-jin under the Elite Class? And also the fact that he holds so much power that he doesn't know what to do with it? But the best surprise of all, to her horror,  
was the fact that in the future, she will chase this young man and will want him as a husband. Being a crown prince of Jurai allowed him to have multiple wives after all.

"Speak of the devil..." Setsuna mutters as her counterpart in the future materialized in front of her, with a kind of frantic look on her face.

"Have you detected new Chaos signatures in this Timeline?" the future Sailor Pluto asked.

Setsuna nodded and pointed out to her when and where the disturbance appeared. She also took into consideration to mention that the Sailor Senshi are currently dispatched and are about to engage the 'enemy.  
That was when she felt the future Pluto shake her in desperation.

"YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM!" the future Pluto bellowed.

"W-w-what!" Setsuna gasped as she was being shaken.

The future Pluto let Setsuna go and straightened herself. "You have to get there and stop them!" she began once again, "They are going to attack the princesses of Jurai!"

THAT caught Setsuna's attention. "What do you mean? Wait! You mean to tell me that the disturbances are really..."

"YES!" her counterpart screamed in desperation. "Princesses Reiko and Meiko Saotome, have been involved in a time warp accident. Their father,  
Crown Prince Ranma Saotome of Jurai, asked me to make sure they are alright as he finds a way to get them back!"

"SHIT!" Setsuna swore as she stood and vanished in the mist.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile, a shrine in Nekomi Ward housed three powerful beings, namely the Norn Goddesses. They have been living discreetly for the past few months now, in favor of a wish that was granted to one Keiichi Morisato.

Skuld, the raven haired hammer wielding debugger of the infamous Yggdrasil of Heaven and a Category 2 2nd Class Limited Goddess of the Future was in her room, fixing her a new and more powerful version of her own personalized Neo-Skuld Bombs Mk. III. Urd, the platinum haired Category 2 2nd Class Limited Goddess of the Past was munching away on junk food and sake while lounging on the living room couch, watching TV.  
Belldandy, the brown haired serene Category 2 1st Class Unlimited Goddess of the Present is currently working in the kitchen, baking cookies while her mortal boyfriend Keiichi was tinkering in the garage.

A rather loud clap of thunder boomed across the yard, that caught the attention of the occupants of the shrine. It only meant that the Lord of Creation, Kami-sama, has a message for the goddesses. They all made their way towards the message.

'To my daughters:  
Belldandy, Goddess Class 1, Category 1, Unlimited,  
Skuld, Goddess Class 2, Category 1, Limited,  
Urd, Goddess Class 2, Category 1, Limited,

A time vortex opened in the Nerima Ward due to the Class 3 Wish artifact 'Wish Sabre'. You are hereby requested to investigate. Skuld is also to return to Yggdrasil after the investigation for system debugging. A side-effect of the vortex caused data damage in the system.

Kami-sama Lord of Creation'

"Hmm... I wonder if it's Ranma again..." Urd mused to herself.

Skuld bubbled in excitement. "Cool! I'll see him again!"

Keiichi was confused at seeing the goddesses' sudden enthusiasm. Even Belldandy's eyes seem to glitter a bit at the news. "What's up with this, guys?"

Belldandy turned to her boyfriend with a wide smile. "We're requested to investigate a certain disturbance in Nerima. We think it's Ranma again."

Seeing that Keiichi still has a blank look on his face, Urd sighed,  
saying, "Ranma has an important part in the universe. He lives in Nerima."

"Nerima! The chaos zone of the world?"

Belldandy nodded. "Ah, yes. It's not really that bad there."

"Yeah right!" Skuld chimed in, "Someone like a Chaos Incarnate has weird output in Yggdrasil. Ranma is the chaos incarnate, or the chaos generator. He is very important."

"Chaos is a necessity. Without it, life will be dull." Urd added.

Keiichi gulped nervously. "So what do you want with him? Wouldn't he be bad and cause chaos all around too much?"

Belldandy looked thoughtful for a moment. "You should know that being chaotic is not evil, rather it is a balance."

Skuld snorted.

"So what do we do now?" Keiichi asked.

Belldandy smiled. "You stay here, while we check things out in Nerima."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Tendo Dojo...

"WHAAAAAT!"

))Thump!((

Everyone turned to see Soun slumped down the floor, unconscious.

"Oh my!" Guess who said that one?

"S-Saotome!" Nabiki stuttered.

Nodoka glared at her shocked husband. "Care to tell me if you had any affairs, DEAR?" she said with venom as she fingered her katana.

Genma backed away quickly. "I dunno who they are! Honest!"

Akane meanwhile was transfixed at the two girls. "W-who... who is your father?"

Reiko eyed Akane. She sighed, saying, "Who else is a Saotome? Papa's name is Ranma of course!"

"WAI! My son is so manly!" - Three guesses who said this one.

Meiko nudged her older sister. "Reiko-neesan! Ya aren't supposed to tell!"

Reiko shrugged. "They gonna find out anyway!"

Akane sat herself slowly, her eyes still glazed. "R-Ranma's children?  
Who's your m-mother?"

Both girls giggled. "Can't tell ya that one!" Reiko wagged her finger in the air.

Genma's face contorted in anger. "How dare that insolent boy cheat on his fiancee!"

Reiko and Meiko growled at Genma, making him back up a bit. "Don't speak about papa like that, you panda!" Reiko screamed.

"Yeah!" Meiko chimed in, "You're the one who's stupid, panda-baka!"

"STUPID STUPID PANDA-BAKA!" they both chorused as they started to glow bright blue.

Just outside the dojo, a certain group of heroines with skimpy outfits landed on a nearby rooftop. They assessed the surroundings and saw the debris where Ryoga was thrown by the ki blast. They looked at each other and nodded. They leapt to the ground and walked slowly towards the entrance of the dojo.

The bickering people inside the dojo stopped momentarily when they noticed Reiko and Meiko stop talking and looked towards the doors. Reiko looked at her younger sister, who nodded, and faced the doorway in a battle stance.

"What?" Akane asked, bewildered at them.

"Shhh!" Reiko shushed her, "There are at least six powerful aura's outside the dojo!"

"Magical aura's oneesan... it feels like..." Meiko trailed off.

Suddenly, the two girls sprinted to the exit, followed more slowly by the former audience. Outside, they were confronted with the sight of several females, all dressed in short skirted sailor fukus.

Well, it wasn't really a pleasant meeting, per say.

"WORLD SHAKING!"

"DEEP SUBMERGE!"

"JUPITER OAK REVOLUTION!"

"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"

"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!"

Nope, not pleasant at all. In fact, the short skirted girls immediately jumped to the gun once they saw two really powerful kids, well according to the beeping data from Mercury's computer. Sad to say, because of their paranoia, they didn't hear much of Mercury's cries of caution in the air.

Reiko turned back to the hapless family, saying, "Hang on everyone"  
then she faced the younger girl, "Meiko! Activate yer shield!"

Meiko nodded and hopped in front of the gaping crowd, who were transfixed to the swirling mass of magical energies rocketing towards their position. She raised her hands at shoulder level in front of her,  
saying in a low voice, "Shields up..."

A red bubble like barrier suddenly sprung up as the magical attacks exploded in front of them. One by one they dissipated against the reddish shield. Meiko's face scrunched up as she tried to maintain her control over the shield that protected her and the rest of those behind her.

"What the hell was that!" Uranus shrieked as she prepped another of her premier magical blasts to go.

"Stop! Stop it right now! They're not evil!" Mercury implored.

"Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, stop!" Saturn added. She decided not to attack the kids without any knowledge of the real situation. Besides,  
she's also a kid herself, and those who they are going to attack are WAY younger than her!

Sailor Moon just stood dumbly in a corner, staring in horror at how callous her Senshi are in attacking unsuspecting innocents.

Just as the trigger-happy Senshi were about to unleash another round of their attacks, the air in front of the receiving end shimmied for a while, startling the attackers. A hole in the air appeared, and out came a woman with long green hair with eerie red eyes dressed in the same fuku and wielding a key-like staff.

"Pluto!" Sailor Moon mumbled despairingly. She was losing control of the situation, and she didn't like the feeling. She saw Pluto flash her a look of apology and did something that shocked the boots off of the rest of the Senshi.

Pluto turned to the two children and fell on one knee.

Pluto NEVER bowed down to anyone. Well... not anymore apparently.

The Senshi dropped their weapons in shock with clangs on the ground.

The audience behind the kids were wondering how the hell did the woman appear in the middle of a battle.

The two kids smiled broadly at Sailor Pluto.

"Puu-chan!" the two girls squealed as they threw themselves into Pluto's startled arms. The green-haired woman braced herself and caught the two bundles of energy in her embrace.

"I must apologize for the attacks..." Pluto murmured to the two kids in her arms. She suddenly felt a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart as she held the two.

"Pluto! What the hell are you doing with the enemies!" Uranus, the ever tomboyish Senshi flaunted her mouth once again.

"Who the hell are you people!" and of course, Akane, the tomboy of Nerima shouted heatedly.

Pluto smiled at the kids and released them, then she stood up in her full height and faced the Senshi. "Haven't you learned anything?" she gestured towards the kids, "The ones you just attacked are Princesses Reiko and Meiko Saotome of Jurai!"

Silence ensued.

The two kids blushed. "Puu-chan..." Reiko said nervously, "It's okay,  
really!"

"Yup!" Meiko covered her cheeks with her hands, "It's just a misunderstandin' or somethin'..."

"Saotome?" Jupiter fidgeted, "As in, connected to Ranma?"

"R-Ranma's... children!" Uranus and Neptune chorused together. They could've just attacked THEIR children with Ranma, for all they know!

Pluto sighed. "That's Prince Ranma to you! These two children are his offspring, and are in effect princesses of Jurai, as I was informed by my future counterpart. It's a good thing I arrived here just in time. I have had half the mind to aim my 'Dead Scream' towards all of you"  
Suddenly, she stiffened as she felt another source of power approaching them.

Out of the window of a nearby coffee shop, three figures emerged.

The one who wasn't the bit disoriented has long brown hair and wears a modest dress. She has a weird likeness of Kasumi.

The second is taller than the other that has long wavy platinum hair and wore skin tight black leather clothing. Her miniskirt is actually long for her.

The third is a bit young, about twelve to thirteen years of age, has long dark hair and has a mallet strapped across her back.

All of them have tattoos on their faces.

Before the Senshi could make one gesture, Pluto nodded to the new arrivals. "Belldandy-sama, Urd-sama, and Skuld-sama... you were summoned here as well?"

Urd grinned at Pluto. "Yo, Sailor Pluto."

The two kids giggled and called out, "Bell-neesan! Urd-neesan!  
Skuld-neesan!"

Belldandy looked at the kids. "Oh my!" She blurted out, "Those children are..."

"Rei-chan! Mei-chan! Eiiiiiiieeeeee!" Skuld squealed out loudly as she pranced towards the two hopping children, and hugged them tightly.

Urd groaned as she shook her head at the duo. "Darned kids. You caused a bit of a havoc in the Yggdrasil. For the mean time, you are stuck here."

Skuld held her two friends in arms length, as she tried hard in the glare she gave them. "Yeah. The temporal backlash made by that stunt of yours with that Wish Sabre thingie really put a damper in the computer.  
I have to debug the whole system, which would probably take... about two weeks to a month, Earth-time."

The two kids looked properly chastised.

"Sorry, oneesan." Reiko mumbled. "It was jus' an accident! We didn't know that stupid sword can hear us when we made the wish. It was jus' a joke, really!"

"Ah, stuff it, Reiko-neesan." Meiko grumbled. "We screwed up, big-time."

Reiko blanched. "Papa will ground us for life! Noooo! My life's ruined!"

Skuld and Urd just nodded in amusement.

A slight cough broke their conversation. They turned to the source and saw an irritated group of Nerimians and Senshi who glared at them.

Reiko drew patterns on the ground with her foot. "I guess ya want some explanation or somethin' right?"

The group nodded as one.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A few minutes later, we find the Nerimians, the Senshi and the Norns all cramped up in the living room of the Tendo Dojo.

Kasumi had been busy bringing in snacks and drinks to all the guests that came. Nabiki had her calculating look in her face. Imagine the cost of information if she found out who the kids' mother was? It should fetch her a fortune! Akane had her arms crossed across her chest as she cradled her beloved piglet P-chan on her lap. She just figured that Ryoga got lost looking for the front door (real slow on the uptake, mind you). Soun was crying about how the schools were not about to be joined (isn't it always?).

Shampoo arrived a little later trailed by Mousse. They were also followed by the elder Cologne, because she felt the intense power given off by one of the siblings during the challenge. The old crone knew it was a bit of Ranma's ki.

The Kuno duo were ranting about their respective 'loves', but were generally ignored by the people around them.

Ukyo was also there, eyeing the two children warily. The longer she stared at the kids, the more she found the resemblance between them and Ranma. Now if only she was the mother, then it would be better than she hoped...

Genma was about to gripe about his 'insolent boy', but the presence of Nodoka's newly sharpened katana forced him to hold his tongue. The Saotome Matriarch meanwhile was livid with joy. In her mind there was only one chant, "Grandmother, grandmother, grandmother..." Well, you get the idea.

The Senshi have different reactions. Sailor Moon was busy munching on a cookie that Kasumi had brought out, while Tuxedo Mask tried telling her to wait for the others to get some. Sailor Mercury was busy tinkering with her computer; she was still trying to figure out the power levels of the children. Sailor Mars was a bit angry at their glutton leader, as usual. Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter and Venus were curious to find out who the children's mother was, for reasons so obvious. Sailor Saturn sat shyly between her foster parents, wondering why they were looking that way to the two little girls in front of them. They were not the enemy, right? But it wasn't that look though... more like... well she doesn't know really.

Sailor Pluto was chatting with one of the Norns, particularly Belldandy.

Urd looked bored as she lounged languidly on the carpet floor, munching on a bag of chips that she sequestered as her bag of loot. Skuld was eyeing Sailor Mercury's computer... she planned on borrowing it later for 'analysis'.

"Ahem."

The whole group looked at the redhead child in front of them, who had her knees bent under her in a formal way. The same went with the blue haired girl beside her. The siblings looked at the group seriously.

"So ya wanna know what's what right?" Reiko asked bluntly. Seeing them all nod in agreement, she continued, "Well, as I said earlier, I'm Saotome Reiko, and this is my sister Meiko." She gestured at her side to Meiko, who bowed slightly. "We can't tell ya much, 'coz it disrupts some time thingie law or somethin'... so all I can really tell ya is that my papa is known to you as Saotome Ranma. As for mom, I can't tell ya that."

"Why not!" Akane asked angrily.

"Because," Meiko replied in a steeled voice, "It will disrupt something in time. We're not allowed to tell ya anythin' 'bout the future, 'xcept Papa's name, 'coz it's kinda obvious in our last name right? If ya wanna ask about the disrupt thingie, ask Sailor Pluto 'bout it."

Sailor Pluto nodded as the attention of the group went to her. "That's correct. If they mention any information that will happen in the future,  
chances are certain events will be disturbed, and maybe even kill a thousand lives that might've been saved in the future, just because one event didn't happen. Think of it as a calm lake... when you throw a rock in the middle of the calmed water, the drop will form ripples across the surface. Those ripples are those discarded decisions that might've been changed because of what information these two carry in them. Like, when they say their mother will be me, then a lot of you will plot for my demise. I might also be alert and wary of it. What we don't know is that maybe my marriage to Ranma will be the cause of intergalactic peace over the entire galaxy. That's how big an effect Reiko and Meiko's information will be in the future. So they have to be discreet in what they say, and they have been taught well by their father."

Meiko looked sullen. "I wanna go home."

Reiko moved beside her sister and stroke her blue hair. "You an' me both."

Skuld quickly took out her own laptop computer and started typing in it.  
After a short silence, she looked up to the two children, who had hopeful looks in their faces. She sighed and said, "Okay, I may have found a way for you to go back. But..."

"But...?" Everyone was hanging unto every word she said.

"It's called the 'Tear of the Dragon'. It's an artifact that is similar to that Wish Sabre that they accidentally found back in Reiko and Meiko's time. The problem is the location..." Skuld said slowly as she hesitated on her speech.

"Where is it, Skuld-neesan?" Meiko asked.

The youngest Norn paled slightly as she replied, "Musk Kingdom."

"Aiyah..." The high pitched voice of the bubbly amazon Shampoo broke the awkward silence that ensued. "Musk Kingdom very bad place. No go there if girl. Musk peoples perverts."

Cologne nodded sagely. "That's true."

"Oh... we don't know..." Reiko and Meiko said softly.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Musk Citadel, same time...

Herb suddenly got a chill along his, er currently her spine. He turned to his Lore Master and said, "Oregano, I wish for a peek in my fortune."

Oregano straightened in his seat. There were currently in the middle of a meeting that will decide whether it will be a good idea to declare war on the recently weakened Pheonix Kingdom.

Lore Master Oregano almost facefaulted at the Musk Prince's sudden request.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tendo-Ke, little while later...

"Musk Citadel..." Reiko muttered loudly.

Meiko nodded. "Yep. Herb-chan's castle!"

Cologne bigsweated. "Errr..."

The two other amazons and Akane squawked though. Even P-chan's eyes grew wide-eyed at this. "HERB-CHAN!" The trio chorused, while P-chan's 'Bwee' was the only audible sound he could muster at the moment.

Reiko looked at them surprised at their reactions. "Yep. Good friend of papa, with Saffy-chan."

Meiko giggled. "Saffy-chan always played shogi with papa back in our time."

While the Nerima residents sat back in shock at the revelation, the Senshi were skeptical.

"Uhm... who's 'Herb-chan' and 'Saffy-chan'?" Sailor Mercury asked softly.

The jade-haired senshi answered them instead. "Prince Herb is a living dragon descendant, current Emperor of the Musk Dynasty. Lord Saffron is the living Pheonix, a demi-god who lives in Pheonix Mountain."

Sailor Mars looked nonplussed. "And their connection with Ranma is...?"

"Ranma defeated them both with pure martial arts." It was Akane's voice that replied for Sailor Pluto. The youngest Tendo daughter turned to the two Saotome offsprings and asked, "How did they become friends of Ranma?  
Aren't they hateful to each other?"

Reiko and Meiko shrugged nonchalantly. "People change." Reiko said simply.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In a prison a hundred times higher in level than what imprisoned the demon Metallia...

A familiar blue-haired woman trudged heavily along the darknened hallway. She still felt the huge guilt of her sin against her sister.  
Now she had to face the consequences of her actions in the past, which resulted in the separation between mother and son. At that time this reason was considered noble and true, but after a long time had passed,  
everything seemed petty now. Her sister's servant had established contact with her a while ago, after she had felt two new but familiar traits of energy signal in Nerima. Once she found out who they were, she answered to her sister's summons, and was led to this place now.

The place was full of dark branches coiled into pedestals that reached to the ceiling. The ground she was stepping on were dried up roots from the black trees that grew in the place. Her gaze left the path and went to the faint blue glow in front of her. She could see the outline of a huge tree with normal colors, brown and green, which was pretty unusual and was left as a sore thumb out in the bleakness of the place. The woman gathered her wits and walked onwards to the end of the dark walkway.

In the outside, she was calm. Dead calm.

In the inside, she was scared. Real scared.

She was inside the prison domain of her sister, who had every right to destroy her existence because of what she did before.

Imagine her surprise when she approached the miniature throne in front of the huge tree. There sat a woman whose eyes were eerie blue, with leaves sprouting out her cheeks. She has brown hair with streaks of dark red that shimmers to golden with the lights that went out from the golden stone in the middle of her forehead. Her dark red bodysuit was lined with light red lines, that was held by two large gold buttons over her chest. She had a gold belt that was not touching her waist at all,  
that seemed just floating there. The same went with her floating gold pendant that came together with two sapphires on her front neck. White cloth covered her shoulders that converged to a large red oval gem in the middle of her chest. Her black-gloved clawed hands tapped impatiently at the wooden armrests of her 'throne'.

She finally stopped in front of the throne with a respectable distance.  
She inclined her head and spoke, "Tokimi-neesan."

The woman on the throne jerked her head towards the sound of the voice,  
seemingly surprised at her presence there. "T-Tsunami-chan." Her shaky voice surprised the blue-haired woman.

((Who is this?)) Tsunami thought to herself. ((Where is the high-strung Tokimi that always screamed bloody murder at everything that was Juraian and connected to me?))

"Tsunami-chan." Tokimi finally got her voice straight again, which caused the blue-haired woman to look at her seriously. "My son. Where is Ranma?"

Tsunami started at this. "Well, he's in Earth..."

"Earth..." Tokimi breathed the word out, and to Tsunami's further surprise, sagged down to her throne. "I missed him after all these years..."

"Tokimi-neesan... I'm sorry. I know you must hate me so much for what I did, but I..." Tsunami began, but was interrupted by Tokimi.

"Stop it, Tsunami-chan. I know the reason why you took my son away from me. Do you think I'm stupid?" Tokimi snapped angrily, then relented afterwards, "But it didn't stop me from being angry at everything and everyone. I wanted you to feel the pain I felt. I lost my son, dammit!  
Without any news of what happened to him whatsoever! MY only son, MY flesh and blood, MY very own..." she punctuated every sentence with her thumping her chest wildly with her fist, "Taken from me when he was still in my womb. How do you think that made ME feel, sister?"

Tsunami's eyes watered as she sighed regrettably. "I-I'm so sorry,  
Tokimi-neesan... it's just that you were... out of control back then. I thought you would use Ranma for your needs to... I thought..."

Tokimi waved her hand in the air. "You were reading into me too much!  
What do you know about what goes on in my mind! I was named a goddess of chaos, but that doesn't make me evil! You assumed I was evil! And when I wanted a son, you thought he was evil! Don't assume too much"  
She breathed in softly. "I just wanted someone to love me... someone I could care for without any restraint. Someone I could call my own.  
someone to call me 'Mother'..."

Tsunami finally buckled under her knees and fell down the hardened floor. She wept silently as Tokimi stopped her own tears from overflowing her eyes. The goddess of chaos stood up from her throne and staggered towards the weeping Tsunami, and knelt beside her. She hesitantly took her younger sister into her arms.

"I'm so sorry, oneesan... I finally understood the need of being loved when I took into assimilating myself into Sasami seriously. Through her,  
I felt the tremendous empty feeling of loneliness..." Tsunami mumbled silently.

Tokimi slowly patted Tsunami's back and gave up to her tears as well.  
"I'm just glad he's safe, Tsunami-chan... I just want to see my child again..."

Tsunami pulled herself out from her older sister's embrace and wiped her tears. She smiled slightly at Tokimi and said, "You could've been proud of her, oneesan. He's so wonderful and brave." Then her visage fell slightly. "But... I probably misjudged that human Genma... he put Ranma-kun into some crazy training schemes that might've killed him."

"What!" Tokimi growled out, the last statement quickly sobered her up.  
Tsunami just sighed and placed her hand on the lone golden ornament on Tokimi's forehead. The two sisters glowed soft blue as they closed their eyes.

After several minutes of silence that ensued between the two, Tokimi's eyes snapped open as she released a wail of anger and despair. "That.  
bastard! I'll kill him! I'll gut him while he's conscious! I'll make him drink his own blood through a straw!" Tokimi stood up and began stomping angrily around her domain. Tsunami just watched impassively at her older sister's violent display. Not that she really had the heart to stop Tokimi from doing those things she mentioned to the fat martial artist anyway; she wholeheartedly agreed that some sort of punishment was in order.

Tokimi calmed down after an hour of ranting about the seventy-five thousand ways she thought up to torture and kill a certain panda on Earth. After she calmed down, she turned to Tsunami and asked in a low voice, "Will you free me now? I want to see my son..."

Tsunami fidgeted at Tokimi's question. "Well, I..." Her statement was interrupted once again when a lightning bolt followed by thunder struck the ground on their right. Tsunami and Tokimi quickly shuffled themselves to the scribble written on the ground and read it.

'To my daughters:  
Tsunami, Goddess Class 1, Category 1, Unlimited,  
Tokimi, Goddess Class 1, Category 1, Limited (Pending),

Permission to release Tokimi's seal is hereby approved.

Kami-sama Lord of Creation'

Tokimi almost jumped for joy, if not for the composed image that she kept strictly. In her revived heart though, she was ecstatic. She turned to her currently shocked-still younger sister and grabbed Tsunami's hands into hers as she said, "Tsunami-chan! I'm going to see Ranma again!"

The blue-haired goddess finally broke through the shock haze that encompassed her for the moment. She shook her head and groaned. "I have to explain that one to you."

The change of demeanor in Tsunami really affected Tokimi's mood. Her face grew neutral. "What happened to him? Where is my son?"

Tsunami twiddled her thumbs together. "Well, you see... oneesan... Ranma is... lost in time."

The formidable goddess of chaos, the highly overrated supposed to be harbringer of destruction in the universe, Tokimi, reacted normally.

She fainted.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the place called Alpha Prime Point of Existence...

A huge swirling mass of black pulled every bit of light and dust around it. If observed from afar, it would seem that everything around it was avoiding the area. Around it lay only space; no stars nor space particles whatsoever.

The huge sphere prison of the Ancient Gods pulsed with unearthy light,  
black lightning cackled around it every once in a while.

But the black surface was not perfect anymore. On one side, a small crack has appeared a few years ago, marring the once infallible blackness of the sphere.

A soft dark light now escapes the crack, a sign of the Seal weakening.

Inside the black sphere, gigantic figures were restless in the wake of the crack. They stood there as they observed the crack grew in size,  
which would eventually allow them to escape and finally wreak their revenge upon those that imprisoned them.

"-How long must we still wait, Lord Chronos?-" The smallest of the giants (ironic isn't it?) rumbled in their native tongue as he turned to the largest of the group.

"-Soon, Ursa... we will sate our vengeance soon.-" The largest giant of them all, Chronos, replied. "-Hypnos! How fare our energy reserves"  
Chronos turned to the one who was kneeled along a rather unique apparatus that emitted a sharp ray of light, which was aimed at the spacial tear of the prison.

Hypnos snorted as he scratched the lone horn that stuck in front of his forehead. "-We still have enough power. We could activate the Carrions like we did to the Manticores.-"

A hoarse laugh answered Hypnos. "-Don't bother. The Manticores themselves are enough to cause never-ending headaches for the Trinity.  
Just concentrate on the way out of here.-" Chronos replied.

Hypnos nodded grimly. "-As you wish, Lord Chronos.-"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in Tendo-Ke...

"Reiko-chan, Meiko-chan..." Both kids turned their attention to Nodoka,  
who blushed slightly at the attention. "Uhm... if you don't mind me asking, is your father a Man Amongst Man?"

The siblings giggled at their flustered second grandmother.

"Hai, Nodoka-obaasan! Papa's Man Amongst Men alright!" Reiko chirped happily. This caused another bout of giggles from the siblings.

Meiko gasped for her breath. "Papa still has the curse though... fer as long as he lived, he never found the cure for it. Not that papa and mama minded it anyways..."

Reiko nodded. "Although Tokimi-obaasan wasn't really all that happy with Genma-panda-baka. She tried fryin' his ass with chaos energy when she arrived. It was fun!"

Meiko bonked her older sister on the back of her head. "Oneesan! Yer language!"

The Senshi took notice of Sailor Pluto's stiffened position when a certain was mentioned. Sailor Moon looked at Pluto's wide-eyed expression with expectations. The green haired woman shook her head slightly.

"T-Tokimi-sama?" Pluto stammered slightly at the name.

"Why yes." Nodoka answered the questioning stares given to the obviously shell-shocked Pluto. "Ranma isn't my son. He's Tokimi's son, although I carried him in my womb for the goddess."

The Norns were quite horrified and looked at each other.

Urd was the first to comment. "Wow. Tokimi's son? How... surprising."

Belldandy was quite upset. "I didn't hear about this."

Skuld was quite vocal about it. "WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS!" She immediately summoned her laptop and started typing in it furiously.

"I know. I still can't believe it even when he told us about it back before he disappeared." Nabiki sighed.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but who is Tokimi?" Sailor Uranus asked with hesitation. After seeing the reactions of the group, her nervousness rushed into overdrive.

Belldandy shrugged as she released a long soft breath. "Tokimi is a goddess, one of three sisters who was imprisoned by her own sister in eternal darkness because of the nature of her powers. The one who imprisoned her, Tsunami, is her younger sister. She is the most prominent figure in Jurai, as their patron and Goddess of Life. The third sister, Washuu, is the Goddess of Knowledge. She gave up her godhood and lived with mortals, locking her own memories. Tokimi was revered as the Goddess of Chaos. Because of her imprisonment, her anger and bitterness grew over the years, thus she declared war upon those who are of Jurai, but lately she suddenly mellowed down for some reason. Now I know why."

"Oneesan..." Skuld said softly as she folded her laptop timidly. After Belldandy finally looked at her, she shook her head. "Tokimi's not imprisoned anymore. In fact, Father just approved her release this very day."

Everyone was quite startled at this information. After hearing what Tokimi had done, they were quite weary as to what the Goddess of Chaos was up to. Well, all except Nodoka and the two youngest Saotomes.

"Yay! Tokimi-obaasan is comin' to visit soon!" Reiko squealed as she hopped up to her feet and danced a jiggy. Meiko laughed at her older sister's antics.

Pluto stood up and hissed, "Are you both crazy! Tokimi is worse than Metallia and Beryl combined! Hell she's worse than every bad guy the Senshi had encountered all these years combined!"

Meiko sighed. "But Puu-chan, Tokimi-obaasan is gonna be important in the future! And 'sides, she's really nice to everyone!" Then she turned to Genma. "Oh, well, except to ya. Prepare, ol' man. Yer gonna get yours!"

Nodoka smiled at them, despite Pluto's jaw dropping on the ground. "Tell me, girls, is the future a really nice place?"

The siblings nodded simultaneously. "Tokimi-obaasan, Tsunami-obaachan,  
Washuu-obaachan... err Washuu-chan and you Nodoka-obaasan, play with us most of the time! Papa and mama trains us in Martial Arts too, with our other brothers and sisters... but we can't tell ya any more 'bout it"  
Reiko snorted as she saw the crestfallen looks in some of the faces of their audience. She giggled at Nodoka who was now deliriously happy.

The Norns just looked one another and nodded. Skuld turned to Reiko and Meiko. "When are you going to get the artifact?"

Reiko looked at Meiko, who just shrugged indignantly. The older sibling snickered and faced the youngest Norn again. "Well, we could get it now,  
but we wanna have some time here first. We could get it five days or a week from now."

Skuld was about to protest, but Belldandy's hand being placed on her shoulder placated her.

"Well, since you're here, you might as well enjoy it right? Besides, you can wish to get back seconds after you just disappeared back in your time." Belldandy explained not only to the siblings, but to the others as well.

"Yup!" The two children agreed wholeheartedly.

Finally it was dark outside, and the Norns already disappeared in the koi pond (they used Skuld's medium this time). The Senshi were alerted by another Youma attack in Juuban district, so they promptly announced their leave as well. Nabiki noticed the longing looks from the short blonde haired Senshi, the moss haired one, and the green haired one with red eyes. She didn't have time to ponder about it before they disappeared, though she vowed she would interrogate them later about it.

Secrets of the Senshi? Sounds profitable.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The first two days of the two Saotome siblings were interesting at most.  
Eventhough it was a Saturday, Reiko had been glomped by Kuno the first day, which resulted in the kendoist's (yes, I decided to give him the title 'coz I can't think of anything to call him... idiot maybe? Nah)  
unceremonious beating from a child. Akane, for some reason felt her defeat the other day was just a fluke (she's really reverting back to the way she was before... the horror!) so she challenged the little redhead again to another match, where she was thoroughly defeated almost the exact same way Ranma defeated Akane way back then. Nabiki videotaped the whole encounter and was chuckling the whole time.

Meiko on the other hand was blissfully happy in the kitchen with Kasumi and Nodoka... it would seem that for some reason, the child's passion in cooking was as great as her passion in the Art. Though she had this nasty habit of interchanging powdered detergent soap with flour. But she's learning the ways of the kitchen as fast as Ranma in learning new martial art techniques.

P-chan skirted mostly out of the siblings' way. The porcine just shuddered in fear as he snuggled deeper into his miniature box in the dojo as he watched the match between Reiko and Akane. Ryoga-buta still remembered when the younger of the two sisters grabbed his bandanna and dragged him into the furo.

- FLASHBACK -

"Bweeee!" P-chan squealed as he struggled against Meiko's strong grip.  
Luckily Reiko was busy talking with Nodoka, but the look in the blue-haired girl's red-pink eyes scared the wits out of him. He was currently being carried into the furo. When they finally entered it,  
Meiko gleefully locked the door and threw P-chan down the tiled floor.

The piglet was about to launch an attack when Meiko growled under her breath and muttered, "So, P-CHAN... ya still haven't told her who ya really were, ne?"

P-chan stopped in his tracks and gazed fearfully into Meiko's eyes,  
which were now burning with anger and loathing.

"You really are a pig! Papa was right about ya."

The pig forgot about his uneasiness and glared hatefully at the child.  
He quickly hopped into the currently filling up furo and changed into his uncursed form. Ryoga broke the shallow water and sneered at Meiko.

"So! Ranma really has no honor!" Ryoga smirked smugly.

"Actually..." Meiko broke Ryoga's tirade, "Akane-obaachan will find out about it whether you like it or not. And she's gonna hate you, BIGTIME."

Ryoga sputtered at that.

Meiko sighed and crossed her small arms across her chest. "Here's the deal, Ryoga-san. Stay the hell outta our way. If ya don't, I'm gonna tell Akane-baachan 'bout ya. Also, not ta mention I'm gonna squash ya!  
That's not to tell what Reiko-oneesan has for ya."

The blue-haired girl unlocked the furo door and left Ryoga.

- END FLASHBACK -

Yup. It's safe for the little piggy to stay in this place. At least that's what's going through the mind of the little porker right now.

By Tuesday, Nodoka took Reiko and Meiko back to the Saotome Estate, much to the delight of the two little girls. There in Juuban, they were treated with youma galore, and countless encounters with the Senshi.  
Some of them, like Sailor Mars and Jupiter, were still wary of the two kids helping them. But when they saw how quickly and efficiently they dispatched youma after youma, they changed their minds.

The girls spent another two days in the Saotome home. Nodoka constantly grilled them about their father, which in turn they answered within their set limits. They just let this pass, because their grandmother was the same in the future. She still looked as young as ever in their time,  
thanks to the Juraian blood that flowed within her. But Akane, Ryoga and the rest of Nerima's residents grew into old, wrinkled ladies and men.

Finally, Friday arrived... the day the Reiko and Meiko set off to find and borrow the 'Tear of the Dragon' from Herb. Ryoga, Akane, Shampoo and Mousse greatly insisted that they should accompany the two, much to the siblings' dismay.

Nodoka kissed each of the little girls on the forehead, her eyes glistened at the unshed tears that threatened to fall. "Take care my grandchildren..."

The two hugged their grandmother tightly. "We will, grandmama..." they both whispered against the older woman's kimono. They reluctantly parted and waved to each other.

"Tell myself in the future to give your father a hug, okay?" Nodoka requested.

Reiko giggled as she sniffled her tears away. "Yes grandma..."

"Don't worry! You'll see us again when papa returns here!" Meiko replied in a cheerful voice.

Nodoka smiled at their enthusiasm. "That's right. Now get going, or it might be dark soon. Be sure to pitch your tents right!"

The duo nodded and turned towards the assembled group.

"You sure you wanna come with us? We can take care of ourselves, ya know." Reiko snorted unlady-like.

The group nodded.

"I can't let kids roam the countryside full of perverts alone!" Akane declared.

Ryoga sighed. "I must stay with Akane."

"I can take care of myself you know!" Akane retorted.

"Must come with future childrens of airen and Shampoo!" The purple haired Amazon hopped from side to side.

"Wherever my Shampoo goes, I go too!" Mousse told a telephone pole that he was facing. He was bashed by Shampoo's mace in the head without any ceremonies.

Reiko and Meiko Saotome, daughters of Saotome Ranma and... someone (I won't tell yet!), Princesses of Jurai, sweatdropped as they watched the group of teenagers bicker against one another.

The journey to Musk Territory is full of peril. It just went up another notch.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Alternate Past, where Ranma was 'dumped'...

Three people were navigating against the thick forest, coupled by the darkness of the night. The girl Ranma had rescued now slept securely while riding piggy-back style on the pigtailed boy's back. Howls of monsters were still audible in the night air, and seemed that were getting closer to them.

Yosho gripped the wooden bokken tightly. It might not be enough if the Manticores appeared now. He silently preppared the other sword he carried, the Tenchi-Ken. He thought he would never need it again, after defeating the space pirate Ryoko. He was even tempted to bury it in another location. Imagine his gratitude for his indecision right now.

Suddenly, a shrill pitch of sound that was blended with the lower octaved howls warned the two that the youkai were not the only vile things that were chasing them right now.

"Damn it, not now!" Yosho muttered angrily under his breath. He was hoping against hope on not meeting the things. They were planning that if ever they couldn't go away by land, then they could escape if they take to the air. The appearance of the newcomers squashed the idea.

On the other hand, Ranma groaned. He took a peek on his bundle, who was still sleeping peacefully. "Just what we needed. We might need to find a place to let Koneko off and lure those monsters away from her to fight."

Yosho nodded as he looked intently in front of them as they ran.  
"There's a clearing ahead. Small shimmers... probably a lake. Good. You better run ahead while I stall for some time. I'll catch up once I get rid of the cannon fodders."

Ranma agreed. "Alright. Be careful when you encounter the Manticores.  
Just run away from them and lead the creeps to the clearing. We'll fight them together." Without waiting for a visual nod of response, Ranma poured in a bit of ki into his legs and started to speed up. He overshot Yosho, who stopped with a skid in the middle of the darkness and positioned his bokken for attack. Left alone in the middle of the forest, Yosho lifted his weapon up in the air and began firing vacuum blades to anything that moved.

The pigtailed boy neared the clearing when he heard the loud sonic booms. He was sure that his companion would use large scale attacks that would decimate the large number of enemies. ((A technique that was well-thought of Yosho)) Ranma thought as the scenery finally opened up into the large lakeside. Ranma quickly flew to the large tree on the other side of the lake. He propped Koneko against the tree, an action which caused the girl to awaken. After she finally got her bearings, she started panicking.

"Relax, Koneko! We have a problem, and we need you to stay here while we take care of it." Loud booms and flashes of blue light decorated the surroundings as Ranma tried to explain the situation to her. Koneko finally relaxed a bit and looked over Ranma's shoulder. She saw trees and rocks thrown everywhere as a battle commenced in the area.

Ranma stood up. "I have to help Yosho, then we'll return here and get you to a safe place, alright?"

Koneko nodded. "Please be safe, Ranma-kun."

Ranma flashed a smile at her, then floated in the air, much to the girl's surprise. There was no time to explain, so he quickly turned and jetted towards the battlefield as he left the gaping girl.

The battle was actually going pretty well. Yosho had decimated three-fourths of the entire attacking group of youkai. But for some reason he was still concerned. The shrill cries of the Manticores still echoed in the air. The question now was, where the hell were they?

Ranma reached the battlezone. Burnt pine wafted the chill of the night,  
as the area glowed in red haze. Yosho was standing in the middle of the firezone, his bokken stroke every monster that tried to approach his area of defense. The pigtail boy scanned the surroundings for any sign of the Manticores. Their absence made him uneasy, but he just shrugged and joined the fray in earnest. He dove sharply from where he floated and smashed an open palm strike on a monster's open back.

The fight was rejoined with a vengeance.

Finally, the haunting howls stopped. When the smoke cleared up,  
countless bodies of dead youkai littered the decimated part of the forest. But still, the Manticores have not yet made an appearance.

The two combatants stood poised and ready for any attack.

It seemed that their wait was over.

Ranma pushed Yosho to one side as he dove for cover. The ground they stood on a while ago cracked and exploded upwards. In the debris stood the hulking black figure of a Manticore. The monster turned to Yosho and quickly attacked viciously, which caused the Juraian Prince to parry quickly for his life.

The pigtailed boy picked himself up and saw the Manticore concentrated on Yosho. He jumped to his feet and was about to leap to Yosho's aid when a clawed hand grazed his side. He grunted in pain as he saw everything blur as he flew back to a tree trunk, which shattered in impact. Ranma shakily stood up and dodged the incoming deathblow that was meant to decapitate his head. He flipped to the creature's back and sent a spinning back kick to it. The Manticore was launched into the air and fell into the middle of the lake.

Ranma saw an opportunity and launched a massive ki-blast towards the monster that Yosho was fighting. As the creature was hit at the back,  
which burned most of its wings away, the Manticore arched its back and screamed in agony. It leapt back from the two to allow itself some time to recover.

But Yosho did not allow it to rejuvenate. Without hesitation, he drew the Tenchi-Ken from its harness and concentrated. The energy blade lit up and hummed against the air. Yosho quickly gathered more ki into the sword hilt and watched as the Tenchi-Ken's width grew wider. Satisfied with the result, Yosho launched multiple strikes to the momentarily helpless Manticore and cut it into pieces.

After challenging enough of the creatures, Ranma and Yosho had found out that the only way to dispose of the things was to pulverize them into dust. The only problem was that they usually expend so much energy just to kill one or two of the things.

The two still stood in position as they watched the discarded pieces of the Manticore. They were waiting if ever the thing would decide to reform itself, not that they expected it, but it was better safe than sorry afterall.

A female cry caught their attention though. They turned to the direction of the far side of the lake and saw the other Manticore floating slowly towards where their cargo was resting and defenseless as of the moment.  
Ranma berrated himself and grabbed Yosho's arm. He flew them quickly towards the monster.

Koneko backed away fearfully from the slowly approaching form of the monster. She had never seen this type of youkai before, which was much more menacing than the normal youkai. The sharp claws in its hands glinted against the pale moonlight as it stalked near her. The creature lifted its claw in the air and prepared for the final slash.

Ranma saw that he was not going to make it. "I'm gonna throw you!" Ranma called out to his companion, who just grunted in response. The pigtailed boy whirled them around and threw Yosho into the air towards the Manticore, while he sped on faster because of the loss of baggage.

Ranma poured on his ki as he saw the Manticore raised its claws in the air to strike on the terrified girl. He breathed out sharply as he reached between the monster and the girl, and raised his left arm to block the strike. His right arm glowed with energy.

At the same time, Yosho's sword thrust into the monster. The Manticore yowled as it let its claw swipe downwards, while Ranma fired a ki blast.  
The boy felt his left arm burn painfully. He screamed in pain.

Darkness welcomed the pigtailed warrior.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Author Rants:

Cool.

I am inspired!

Got this finished faster than I expected.

Anyway, some people asked me about Cooking Master Boy, and what it has to do with my story.

Frankly, I only needed the meteor thingie that was used to make those Cooking Utensils being fought over in the anime. Also, the time frame was appropriate. Sorry if it didn't make much sense.

I originally planned to use Mei-Li as the template for the Spring of Drowned Girl, but the time frame was all wrong. So that idea's out of the window.

In this chapter, I began hinting the next cross.

Youkai.

Manticores and Carrions... I think I got the names from an old RPG game.  
Castle of Winds, I think. But the looks are not the same. Only the name.

Before you ask, no there is no 'Koneko' character whatsoever in the anime cross I'm gonna use next. She's what we call, 'originals' and also 'extras'.

If you still can't guess what time era Ranma was flung into, just tell me through email and I will make sure to clear it up in the next chapter.

Hmmm... what else...

This chapter is pretty straightforward. Explained some instances, also introduced baddies. Tokimi was freed too, and reconciliation with Tsunami was needed (to be honest, I like Tokimi's character, don't ask me why, I just do).

Reiko Saotome is a Saiyajin/Human/minute amount of Juraian hybrid. Birth defects, birth deficiencies, call it what you want. That's just is. But she's still plenty strong. Got it mostly from her father.

Meiko Saotome on the other hand is a Juraian/Human/minute amount of Saiyajin hybrid. Her tail hadn't grown because of the smallest traces of Saiyajin in her blood. Got it mostly from her mother.

Who's their mother? Heck, that will be unveiled in the future.

Next chapter, the continuation of Reiko and Meiko's journey to Herb-chan's kingdom. Also, what the heck happened to Ranma? Who's the guy with the fluffy white doggy ears?

Heheh.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	6. Chapter 3b Sidestory

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Someone asked if I should just cut and paste one of the currently existing disclaimers lying around somewhere. But I wrote back,  
'What about the disclaimer for that disclaimer?'

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 3B SIDESTORY - TOKIMI AND THE PAST

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tsunami walked beside her older sister, Tokimi, to Kami-sama's office.  
Once the edict for her release had been cleared, the Goddess of Chaos was called forth to the Almighty's office. For what reason, only Kami-sama knows (pun included, mind you).

It was rather a long walk to those who experience it, but at the same time it was just a term of convenience for them. Time had no essence in this place after all.

Tokimi took the 'time' of the trip to reflect upon what happened in the past, and what led things now.

Her son, Ranma... whom she thought was lost to her forever, and the now extinguished hatred she felt for her sister Tsunami because of the travesty the younger goddess had comitted against her, just 'to be sure'  
as she said.

She barely remembered the last time she felt as protective as this. It was rather a long time ago, but barely recognized the memory of a brown haired girl, with eyes as blue as her son's.

She massaged her head in annoyance. She can't remember much.

Angels, gods and goddesses alike stood from one side as they watched the infamous Tokimi tread along the marbled path which still stretched up to the horizon with no point of ending as of yet, who walked side by side with the one who imprisoned her in the first place, Tsunami.

Tokimi groaned as she placed her hands in the opposite sides of the sleeves of her robes. She felt every eyes were upon her, and she had this sudden urge to scratch the back of her head (now we know where Ranma got the mannerism). Truly, it's such a long travel.

Her thoughts led once again to her son.

She just hoped he was manly.

Kami help us all.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It has been a long time since she last experienced the warmth of the sunrise. She was really getting sick of this cold and dark place that was alloted to her.

Her origins, together with her sisters, were really as of the moment,  
unknown. For all that matters, they really were part of the original Kami-Megami Conclave that Kami-sama had created when the universe became stable after the Ancient War.

Eversince that fateful day when her own sisters decided that she was a tad too ambitious and too powerful to their own tastes, they conspired in imprisoning her in this part of dimension.

Tokimi, the Goddess of Chaos.

At least that was what they called her. They reasoned, her chaotic powers tend to disrupt order. That and also she had been involved in the downfall of many civilizations.

She was Evil. Or at least that's what they claimed her to be.

Some if those claims were true. Tokimi had been the cause of many downfalls of species all throughout the cosmos. She also helped some 'evil entities' as they said to gain some footing in the universe. Her powers were really as chaotic as they claimed, true.

But they haven't got the slightest idea as of what her jurisdiction really meant in the first place. Existence was afraid of something it couldn't understand, so it took steps to eradicate it.

Chaos was an intricated equalizer in the universe. Without it, the so-called 'Order' would cease to exist.

She had often heard from the Almighty that Chaos was really not evil,  
and that the blame was sorely misplaced. But the Father was pressured in announcing her imprisonment anyway. Other gods and goddesses already accused Him of having favorites, that Kami-sama really took into Him Tokimi's presence. Although they haven't really told that in His face,  
they took it all out on her. That was the start of her downfall.

Finally, Kami-sama decided to announce His verdict. She could remember the final apologetic look He gave her before He announced His approval of her imprisonment in that cold and dark place.

Tokimi could never find fault in Kami-sama's decision, though. In fact,  
she thought that He had saved her from a much crueler fate, like eradication from existence.

But that was also the end of the plane of jurisdiction that was assigned to her and her sisters. The massive energy whiplash that occured when they imprisoned her to the hypothetical eleventh dimension devastated most of the plane they were in.

Tsunami lost her body, where she only existed as a spirit gliding back and forth across the various Juraian Spacetrees scattered all over the universe.

Washuu suddenly became part mortal, reasons still unknown.

Tokimi was the worst off, not only did she lose most of her powers and jurisdiction, but also most of her sanity as well.

She shuddered at the thought. Her mind was now back here, in this dark place, where she had spent most of her time gazing to the only artifact that was given to her by Kami-sama to help her cope, her own Scrying Mirror. With it, she was able to 'see' what was happening in the outside. Also, she learned how to project her image to the spacetrees,  
thanks to Kami-sama's effort of taking part of her domain of spacetrees into the dimension of her prison.

Like Tsunami, she was able to project herself, but she limited the use because of the limited energy she had to control the trees themselves.  
Tsunami limited her energies from them.

So, her long imprisonment naturally did something to her. It got her really bored for one. She lacked her usual hobbies of raising havoc in one part of the universe, or fixing some abnormalities in another.  
Another effect was coupled with her boredom though. As time passed, the small fire of anger grew into gigantic proportions. The more she thought about her sisters' betrayals, the more she got angry.

The ones whom she thought would understand stood against her, even aided those who wanted to take her down.

She wanted some reprieves.

So here was Tokimi, who looked for another way to break her sister Tsunami's private orderly world. She was still quite pleased when that fellow Kagato took it into his hands to break her other sister, Washuu,  
by stealing her child Ryoko and turned her into some biological weapon.  
The event caused Washuu to be imprisoned in a crystal chamber even the Goddess of Knowledge can't break. Washuu was then flung to drift aimlessly across the Universe.

Tokimi was actually searching for her erstwhile sister Washuu, in hopes of making a pact between them, in turn to partially release some of the chains that bound her in the hypothetical dimension.

That, and she was curious as to why Washuu made Ryoko.

Oh yes! The chaos Ryoko made as she streaked across the universe was legendary, and the space pirate's name caused shivers of fear to even the most proficient of all Galaxy Police officers.

That lasted until the half-Juraian, half human crowned prince of Jurai,  
Yosho, had volunteered to hunt down and defeat Ryoko once and for all.  
The chase finally ended in Yosho's mother's homeworld, Earth. The climatic battle ended when the prince finally stabbed Ryoko by the throat and managed to remove the jewels that stored and managed the pirate's powers. He then sealed her in a cave, powered by Juraian locks.

In her spare time (as if every time she now had wasn't 'spare time') she took time in building herself a small computer center of some sorts. For some reason, she found out that she could actually transfer inanimate objects through the trees themselves, but it required lots of energy to accomplish. It took her a long time to acquire enough materials to finish her work. She had acquired some sort of political power, thanks to the powers of her persuasion.

Kami... she's bored. That alone would signify that the universe will once again be grazed with chaos, however minimal the source is.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Out of the millions of races in the universe, only a handful could really match the Saiyajins in terms of physical power. Their prowess in fighting had been deemed as an asset in warfare.

The said Saiyajins were only found in one planet, their homeworld Vegeta-sei.

It wouldn't be a mystery as to why Freeza, a famous tyrant whose origins were quite unclear, would want their support. But one thing was for sure, him and his family, the Cold Family, were notorious for their conquest of the universe. The only race they hadn't yet tried to fight head on was the Juraians.

The tyrant offered the Saiyajins an agreement: be part of his army and live under his 'protection', or be destroyed. Some of the Saiyajins tried to go against such a proposition, but was promptly eradicated by Freeza. The little tyrant was of a race that could match and defeat the Saiyajins in battle. Also his ability to be able to survive the vacuum of space like the Masu was a definite edge against the much more mortal Saiyajins.

The Saiyajins then became a subordinate under Freeza. They sent their babies as infants across the universe via a special space module that could survive the long travels in space. When it reaches the target planet, the baby would commence its analysis of the planet's resources and probable profits. If it proved to be worthy, the inhabitants were then wiped out. If the planet turned out to be useless, the whole planet itself was destroyed mercilessly.

Eventhough Vegeta-sei was under Freeza, the tyrant still allowed the Saiyajins to maintain their monarchial type of government. Also, the various rebel factions inside the ranks of the subordinates were evident. One such rebel was Bardock, leader of the Elite Guards for the king of Vegeta-sei.

As time went by, the rebels grew listless. Bardock finally decided to include one of his operatives in the 'purging mission'. He asked his own men for any volunteers in this mission, which would likely be the last for whoever accepts.

A volunteer stepped up to take the mission. His hair sprouted out in front of his face, but was held at the back because it was tied up behind his head in a thick ponytail. He was a bit on the leaner side,  
but his size hadn't really attested to his true strength. The volunteer's battle prowess was well-known all throughout the ranks as the best. His abilities of assimilating battle techniques was phenomenal.

His name was Nasu.

"Are you all right with this, Nasu?" Bardock quirked an eyebrow to Nasu's direction. The young volunteer nodded slightly.

Bardock sighed. This mission was so important, and Nasu was also an equally important force in his rebel faction. But who can do the job better than his best man? "Alright..." He said after some minutes of silent contemplation. "Report to Dock 3E... we will have to put you into cryostasis."

Nasu fidgeted at that. Cryostatis meant long term space travel, like several years or so. It was still experimental, and the destinations were usually the planets in the farther regions of their galaxy. "Long travel for me, sir?"

Bardock nodded. "A place called Earth. The spacecraft you will use is the newest design... the fastest vessel to date. Some of our earlier scouts intercepted some transmissions going around that planet. Still not as advanced as Freeza's army, but acceptable. We might find an ally there."

Nasu grinned. "Understood sir." With a snapped salute, he turned and walked back to his assigned quarters.

The next day, Nasu's mission bound for Earth started when he blasted off the asteroid that housed one of the garrisons for Freeza's army.

Oh, this is really getting so interesting.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Kami-sama's Office, Heaven...

A soft click sounded off the large room. Kami-sama stretched back and yawned.

It was all in a day's work, figuratively of course. The destiny He had set upon one of His daughters was about to unfold.

Ah yes. Although He did feel rotten in using His divine powers to manipulate Fate and Destiny, not to mention the gods of the same effects He tampered with were complaining outside the doors of the office right now. He really needed to do this, because out of all the possibilities of futures the Yggdrasil archives had, this had the highest probability to work.

Besides, reincarnating a perfect body to achieve the perfect synthesis for His late brother, no, His currently 'lost' brother Chaos, is a must.

He pressed a button in his computer, and watched as the screen picture changed into a brown long haired girl with eyes blue eyes.

He sighed. ((I'm sorry, Tokimi my daughter. I have slighted you two times already. One was your first daughter, two was your imprisonment. And here I am, planning to slight you once again with your next offspring.  
just to recover something, or someone from long ago. I'm so sorry. But this is a neccessity.))

He relaxed as He watched the events He had helped set in motion take effect.

((Don't worry, your daughter was being taken cared of. She grew up into a lovely goddess. Someday I will let you recover your full memories so that you could remember her.)) He chuckled. ((But I'm quite surprised that you can do what Zeus did with his own daughter Aphrodite. The Goddess of Love was born out of seafoam, while your daughter was born out of the earth. That's why she's so at home with trees and nature.))

The Almighty pulled up a huge silver briefcase from under his table. He opened it and gazed lovingly at the contents inside.

Ten crystals, three lay horizontally on the upper side, another three was on the left side that lay diagonally which slashes downwards to the right and the other three on the opposite side on the right of the first diagonal, slashing to the left. They were colored differently and of the same sizes of as big as Kami-sama's thumb. The last one though, in the middle of it all, was the biggest. Its size was as big as Kami-sama's fist. The largest gem was colored black.

It was the pieces of Chaos that Kami-sama had searched and collected all over across the entire multiverses.

He grazed his finger across the largest jewel, which glowed slightly. He sighed and closed the case once again. He re-placed it under his table.

The time was near, after countless of years of waiting for the perfect body.

Kami-sama felt bored so He 'cheated' once again, as he tweaked the time frame and made it flow faster.

Six years have passed since then.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A figure fluttered across the darknened hallways. His ago old face reflected a slight scowl that he always wore wherever he goes. He was D3, considered as Tokimi's embassador. Some even said that he was Tokimi's other side, rather, Tokimi created him out of her image.

Whatever was true, he owed his existence to the goddess, and he lived to serve her.

D3 was currently looking into the records which partained a certain half-Juraian, who was living on Earth.

Wait, make that three half-Juraians.

In his own smaller imitation of Tokimi's Scrying Mirror, he watched intently as the sparring session between the two Juraians, Masaki Katsuhito, Kiyone and Nodoka, went underway. He also knew that Washuu was imprisoned somewhere, but despite the knowledge her exact location was a complete blank.

He was now transversing along the path of darkness, towards the Lady Tokimi. She had decreed that he would have to give periodic reports about his findings, no matter how trivial they were. Suddenly, his slow approached stopped, because in the corner of his eyes, he spotted his Scrying Mirror flashing for some reason in his hands. Curious, he brought the mirror to eye level and commanded it to let him see what it was trying to show him.

A small circular space vessel was traveling along space towards the planet Earth at high speed. As the vessel went past Jupiter, it finally displayed a comet-like appearance, with dust and other particles trailing behind it.

D3 grinned. He recognized the vessel's primary design. After all,  
Tokimi's archives of knowledge spanned for thousands of years. There was one armada that used such podships.

Freeza.

D3 quickly levitated towards Lady Tokimi's throne. His ladyship would be very interested with this development.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokimi was in contemplation a lot lately. Her curiousity as to where her sister Washuu was currently imprisoned was etched in her mind. For some reason, some chaotic factor stopped her scrying methods. Kagato really hid her sister real well, and it pissed her off when she remembered how Kagato changed the plans.

There were also the three half bred Juraians that have taken thir residency in Earth, which much to her chargrin, was still a bit of a shadow in her sights. A little was known about the planet, only that it was still primitive in Juraian standards.

A soft fluttering noise interrupted her concentration. She snapped her eyes open and was greeted with the sight of a smirking D3. She was quite curious as to why her servant would be that way.

"What is it, D3?" Tokimi tried to hide her irritation in her voice,  
which was quite successful.

D3 bowed low. "Tokimi-sama, I have detected a space vessel approaching planet Earth." He looked up to Tokimi. "It's a design unique only to Freeza's army."

Tokimi's face reflected confusion. "Freeza? I didn't expect him to detect potential in planet Earth this soon. When is it going to land on Earth?"

"Three Earth-days' time, Tokimi-sama."

The goddess of Chaos nodded. "Very well. I will look into it. Good work D3. By the way, remind Doctor Clay about our certain... project. I wish to see some results soon."

D3 bowed again. "At once, Tokimi-sama."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

He was currently dreaming about his training. He was trained to be the best of the best in Bardock's command.

He watched as Freeza's other foot soldiers claimed another planet as their own. They discarded the people in them and sold the planet to the highest bidder.

It sickened him, to think that they, the Saiyajins, were reduced to bowing down to this... travesty.

Contrary to what other species call them as 'Savage', their culture was centered mostly on honorable combat and equal rights. They were ruled in an organized manner by the Royal House of Vegeta-sei.

They were actually broken down into classes, which was delegated according to strengths.

The weakest ones were mine workers, those in the fourth and fifth class of Saiyajins. They were those that lack the strength and the drive to become the warriors they were known for.

The third and second class were first line of defenses. They have passed some sort of 'military conditions' where their strengths are strong, but quite common, since the Saiyajins were supposed to be strong. They were the ones sent to war, and most of them are those sent outworld to conquer other planets via space travel.

The first class, or the Elite, are the high class guards of royalty.  
They showed exceptional strength through the Trial of Warriors that was held in their version of the Coliseum. It was a battle stadium where the most powerful warriors are chosen. This was where they determine the third, second and elites among the populous. The Elite became commanders in Saiyajin armies in the outworld.

Yes, he was accepted in the Elite.

Thus he proved himself in battle against the strongest of the Saiyajins.  
At least, they have honor when it comes to these things.

But what they were told to do these days were just plain extermination.  
Merciless killings of defenseless races just to take their planets from them. They haven't even received their share from those bounties at all.

Plus, he had a bad feeling about all of what Freeza had planned. His commander, Bardock, felt it too.

That was why he was in this predicament. He was to find out everything about this planet in the outer rims of the seventh galaxy.

To find allies, in case Freeza decided to double cross them after conquering enough worlds bored him silly.

Nasu's brow furrowed slightly in his cold sleep, as his vessel streaked across the darkened skies of the planet he was supposed to investigate.  
Because of this, he didn't see the warning flash on the panel of the on board computer.

The warning stated some kind of anomaly in the outer hull, which caused his vehicle to lose control.

His space craft was rocked when it impacted into something, which interrupted his cold sleep to be broken too early. Nasu's body lurched forward. Because of his still frozen body, his body hit the near broken door with a thud quite hard.

Nasu's eyes finally snapped open and saw his vehicle in flames. ((Where the heck am I? Who am I! Wait... fire?))

He dragged his half paralyzed body near the flames, in hopes to get rid of the icy feeling over his psysique. His body moved in autopilot as his hands fumbled on the red button, which for some reason looked real important. A loud hiss opened the side of the enclosed capsule.

The Saiyajin ushered himself out, and barely registered the three blurred figures approaching him hesitantly.

His eyes slowly closed as he surrendered to the darkness once again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The skies of the Earth was marred by the approaching meteor of some sort.

The vessel's approach haven't gone unnoticed, for three people witness the flaming fireball pass by their position as it landed in the nearby clump of trees.

A loud skidding noise followed by a loud explosion rocked the Masaki Shrine that night. Outside the shrine proper, an old man with her two daughters looked to each other.

With a small nod, they all went inside the house to don their hiking clothes and sped towards the flaming wreckage.

As they approached the white ball, they found out that it was mechanical in nature. Suddenly, the outer hatch hissed open. They backed quickly and watched as a figure step out of the space craft. The figure staggered slowly towards their direction, and for some reason it seemed to look at them momentarily. The figure stiffened and fell down the ground, face first. Finally, the hesitation of the trio was gone as they ran to the fallen figure's side. He was male, with hair that seemed like was tied in a thick ponytail before, but now it was disheveled and was out of place. His hair jutted outwards from the crop of his head. Over the black spandex like material that covered his body, he wore an intricated armor, white chestplate with yellow lined elbow pads. In his ear was a white band that stretched over his head, which had a screen like device on the other end. They took note of the brown sash that was wrapped around his waist, so far looking quite out of place when you think about it. His head was bleeding from all sides, from gashes hidden in the thick hair. They quickly carried his unconscious body away from the burning wreckage.

The old man from the trio quickly grabbed his bokken from his sleeves and slashed the ground. The shower of soil and gravel hit the fires that threatened to spread from the wreckage. The old man slashed the ground once again until the flames died down. He turned to the two females that accompanied him, and nodded. Once again, they all carried the man together into their house, to treat his head wounds that seemed to be serious.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokimi's eyes widened when she eyed the person being helped inside the Masaki Shrine. She had scanned his mind, but was vaguely disappointed when she found minute amounts of memories left. But when she looked into his energy readings, imagine her surprise when she figured out that the young man was actually a Saiyajin! Although that brown tail wrapped around his waist was a visual giveaway.

The goddess felt flushed when she realized she was staring far too much on her mirror. It was just that, Saiyajins were rare, and that their prowess in wars and battles were legendary, especially those stoeis about the illusive Super Saiyajin. Her excitement to this prospect was too much.

It was rather easy, too. The Saiyajin's mind was currently blank, his memories were somehow locked into his subconscious, probably because of the crash land that his spacecraft had suffered. That was another thing,  
how did the Saiyajin came to know about this almost non-existent planet?  
As far as she knew, planet Earth was supposed to be free from the Intergalactic Ruling Organizations that spread across the universe.

And he's quite good looking too.

Huh?

Tokimi shook her head as she gazed once again at the figure that was zoomed in her mirror. A certain nagging feeling that she felt in her chest was growing stronger.

The goddess' eyes widened.

"Oh no..." She said softly, clutching at her head in confusion. "I must've delved too much into his mind. I felt his passion... his loneliness... his anger towards Freeza's treatment towards those who were weaker than them... his honor... by the Kami! Why now!"

D3 stood in the shadows, his face clearly reflected confusion as he watched the Lady Tokimi gazing at the mirror with an expression that was quite unfamiliar to him. Suddenly, her face showed surprise, then deep thought.

It was really weird for him.

Meanwhile, Tokimi was wrestling in her own dillema. ((Oh no... too much emotion... it's starting to affect even me! I don't need this... but.  
I can't seem to get angry much anymore...)) She looked into the mirror once again.

She saw the resident Juraians made the Saiyajin comfortable, who was still unconscious. The girls were fussing over the still sleeping newcomer, which made her feel a bit angry. She was about to crush her mirror when she finally figured out what she was doing. ((Huh? What am I feeling!))

Tokimi stared at the image once more. She sighed longingly and whispered, "After so long... why now...?"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

He felt his consciousness returning, but everything was a fog. His head hurt like hell, and his body aches and was burning for some reason. The thoughts he was entertaining were nonsense, only those things like what he was doing here. But he knew he had forgotted something very important.

Where the hell was he? More importantly... what... who was he?

His urgency to wake up was rising. He really felt that it was imperative to gather some information.

The fog finally lifted, and he felt he had to open his eyes. When he did, he regretted it though. Light pierced through his currently sensitive eyes. He instictively shut them closed again as he groaned.

The groan finally alerted those who were watching him. He heard footsteps that approached his area. He tensed, prepared for any impending attacks that may come his way. He somehow knew that he was a fighter, judging from how he quickly prepped himself.

The footsteps stopped, however. He knew that they stayed a bit away from his territorial circle. A small area around the body where they could reach in and grab anyone they perceive a threat.

He knew they were respecting his privacy.

"Relax, young man." An old voice pierced through the silence that reigned for a while. "We won't harm you. Do you remember what happened to you?"

He finally opened his eyes. The light was still irritating, but he had to manage. Through the glare, he saw an old man stood in front of him.  
Behind the old man, two females looked at him quizzically. He remembered that he was being asked a question. He thought about it, but what the hell did happen to him? A sudden jolt of pain coursed through his head.  
He grimaced as he clutched unto it as he tried vainly to placate his head.

The old man finally forced himself to violate the personal space. The young man seemed to have lost interest in it anyway. The old man knelt beside the newcomer and forced him to lay down the warm futon that was spread out for the patient.

"Don't force yourself. You were involved in an accident. You came from outer space, and crash landed in our land. Luckily me and my daughters found you, or else you would've burned alive." He said gently.

The young man looked at him quizzically. He felt something sticking out of his ear, and was about to pull it out when the old man gently took his hand and shook his head.

"I wouldn't want you to do that. What you are wearing is called a 'Scouter'. It's a rather high-tech device that allows you to understand our languange without learning it. It's translating my words for you.  
This version you hold will automatically download the information into your head remotely when it finally deciphers our language. Keep it there for a while longer."

The young man nodded.

The old man smiled and asked, "Do you remember why you are here?"

The newcomer thought for a moment, then came up empty.

"My name is Masaki Katsuhito, call me Katsuhito. You are in our shrine,  
the Masaki Shrine."

The old man turned to his daughters. He gestured to the one who seemed like a twenty year old with brushed back silvery hair. "Her name is Kiyone, my older daughter." He pointed to the dark red haired girl that looked like a eighteen year old. "She is Nodoka, my youngest daughter."

He turned back to the young Saiyajin. "Do you remember your name?"

"..." The young man's eyes suddenly grew. He slowly shook his head and looked at the old man fearfully.

The old priest sighed and nodded. "I think you have amnesia. That crash really did a number in your body. Your head was bleeding before I took care of it. I think it's not permanent, though I don't know how long it will take for you to recover those memories. Now relax, and sleep first.  
You had quite an accident, and rest is a must for you."

The patient looked down to the blankets that covered him halfway,  
debating within himself whether to follow him or just roam across the probably strange new place, to try and find his memories. He shook his head, lay back down and closed his eyes.

The old man stood up gently and escorted his daughters out of the room.

((Poor man...)) he thought to himself, ((But his clothes... his hair... and his tail... he's a Saiyajin. And if my feelings are correct, a strong one too. An Elite.))

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The amnesiac Saiyajin woke up after three days, fully rested. As expected, he still haven't recovered any of his memories. The two girls were a bit disappointed about it. They were quite curious as to what the traveler had to say about his voyage. They fussed over him as they changed his bandages. So far, only those easily accessible areas were the ones that suffered. Nodoka carefully untied the simple band that held the Saiyajin's hair. It suddenly bloomed downwards, that illicited a sudden squawk of indignation from the warrior. He just knew that he looked like an overgrown prickly bush because of it. That was why he tied his hair down in the first place.

The two girls marveled as to how shiny the hair was. Sure it had some dried blood and soot in it, but after they had washed it off with a wet rag, the silky hair bounced back with a vengeance. The overgrown hair reached up to his waist.

"You have really nice hair." Kiyone commented as she absently twirled her own silvery strands. She wondered if Nobuyuki would want her hair dyed at that color. Nah...

Nodoka smiled. "You still haven't remembered much, even your name"  
After she saw the Saiyajin shake his head, she continued, "Then we'll give you a new name in the meantime. How about... Ran?"

The traveler cocked his head to one side, with a confused expression on his face. He turned to Kiyone when he heard her gasp.

"I understand! Ran means 'wild' in our language... you're hair is really wild, and that's what's prominent in your features." Kiyone giggled.

'Ran' sighed. For some reason, he just felt that they would fuss over his hair, although he can't remember why. He looked up to them and nodded in resignation. It was a temporary name anyway.

The two girls smiled back at his agreement.

"I see he's awake." Katsuhito appeared at the doorway. He leaned on the passageway as he watched his daughters dress the Saiyajin's wounds.

Nodoka looked up to Katsuhito from her work. "We gave him a name, papa.  
His name for now is Ran."

Katsuhito chuckled. "Ran, as in wild eh? Oh... the hair!" His chuckles became full blown laughter. He stopped momentarily when Ran pouted. His laugh came back in full force, followed by his daughters. After a short while, Ran followed their example and laughed as well.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokimi watched from the shadows as Ran slowly regained his strength to walk without any help. After three days, his bandages were off.  
Katsuhito had commented about Saiyajins having extra quick healing abilities. Ran's 'Scouter' had also finished assimilating the different languages he had seen in the books found in Katsuhito's library, so he finally had the option of taking the device off.

The day before, the old man had explained to his patient and his daughters about their heritage, as well as Ran's origins. The Saiyajin was a bit surprised to find out that Katsuhito wasn't a native of this planet, but shrugged it off. He was in the same predicament anyway.  
Katsuhito explained to him that the humans that reside in this planet were a by far less developed than they were, and were significantly weaker than them. So they must be very careful in treating the locals.

Ran absorbed the knowledge and agreed with Katsuhito. For some reason,  
he felt that he was not here to fight anybody anyway.

The two girls were awed about the revelation about their bloodline. They were much more elated when they found out that they weren't alone, and that Ran was like them. But they still had to figure out why Ran was sent back here though.

Tokimi's heart beat faster as she watched Ran join the sparring sessions with Katsuhito. The fact that the Saiyajin was at par with the errant Juraian prince's skill was a plus for her. For some reason, the urgency she felt to take Ran into her arms grew a thousand fold.

She was now planning on how to take the Saiyajin into her prison.

Apparently, she didn't have to wait for long.

A chance bloomed in her eyes when she saw Ran rested under the leaves of Funaho, Katsuhito's Juraian Spacetree. It has been almost two weeks since he arrived in the shrine, and this time was an end to Ran and Katsuhito's spar, and he was now exhausted. She gathered most of her powers, and softly quelched the feeling of nervousness in her gut as her hands phased out of Funaho's trunk and wrapped around Ran's sleeping body. The Saiyajin's body was absorbed into Funaho's trunk as Tokimi slowly pulled him into her dimension. Later, Katsuhito found only the discarded bokken that was left at Funaho's roots.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Exhausted.

That was what he was feeling right now. For some reason, the call of a good fight was grating through his muscles. His body itched for a good fight, and he found one from the old man.

His body was still adjusting from the sudden memory loss, but he was grateful that his instincts in battle were easy to recover. Within days,  
he finally remembered most of the techniques he lost. The more destructive techniques he practiced when the females were busy in their own works, Kiyone in the household chores while Nodoka in school.  
Nobuyuki, Kiyone's husband, was usually working as an architect in the city, thus coming home quite late. He used the area near a small lake,  
with the ominous huge tree in the middle. He felt the tree watching him,  
actually it seemed that all of the trees around the lake were alive and observing him. He shrugged the feeling and practiced most of his energy blasts, the attacks he never uses when sparring with the old man.

He felt tired, so he let his body rest under the protection of the huge tree in the middle of the lake. He found out that he could fly, when he felt his energy instinctively pushed his body upwards when he jumped before. He practiced controlling the directions and heights of the jump,  
thus gaining the ability to fly.

Oh yes, he was tired. He felt himself drift into a deep sleep as he felt a cold soothing wind caressed his hot and overtaxed body.

Suddenly, he felt the hairs at the back of his neck (and boy that's a lot of hair!) stand up. His eyes snapped open and readjusted. He pushed his body upwards and gazed at his surroundings.

He blinked. And blinked one more time for good measure.

((Oh damn.)) He thought to himself. In front of him, the dark room was illuminated by soft blue light. He felt that mattress beneath him was soft and comfortable, but wasn't he at the shrine before?

"Oh damn." He muttered, just for symmetry of course.

The floorings were held together by thick roots from some sort of trees that probably grew somewhere near here. He stood up and slowly walked to the doorway. The uneasy feeling was not of danger, but of someone closeby who has lots of power.

As of the moment, he felt no evil intent, nor evil in the energies that flowed in the air. Freeza's ki was clearly evil, and this type of feeling was not like that at all. But it was still dark ki, and for some reason, the one who held the power was strong. Very strong.

He walked softly across the darkened hallways. He tried to find out what kind of place this was, and why he was here in the first place. It wasn't helpful that the feeling of great power was coming closer to where he was.

Oh well. At least he was going somewhere.

He was a Saiyajin, and from Katsuhito's stories, they were a race of powerful warriors. He's a fighter, and he won't go down easily.

But, let's face it, he was downright scared! Who wouldn't?

"It seems you have awakened, my warrior." A voice startled him so much that he almost fell back down to his rump. He quickly collected himself and looked around. Because of his deep thoughts, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. He was in the middle of a throne room of some sort, with a woman that stood in the middle of the room. Her majestic form fitting dark red body suit molded to her skin, that was held by two huge golden buttons across her chest. Her belt was floating on her waist, and was also golden. It met in the middle of her abdomen,  
not quite closed. Her hands were gloved in black and instead of fingers,  
he found claws with them. Her shoulders were wrapped in a loose white satin sheet that was circled across her back. Another golden band floated in front of her neck, that met with two blue sapphires near her throat. A huge red crystal adorned the middle of her chest, just above the two buttons that held her dress. Her face had these leaves that stretched from her neck to the area above the cheeks. Her hair was brown, with auburn streaks in the front that was held by a golden clip on her forehead. She was looking at him with those totally blue eyes that was quite eerie for him, but he felt that she was gazing at him in... longing?

"Uhm... seems that way, I guess." Ran replied lamely. Yep, he learned the language, and was quite glad that the nice and mysterious lady in front of him was able to speak it. He didn't have the time to bring his Scouter for translation purposes... wait.

"Well... how did I get here?" He continued after a while. He got so absent-minded that he forgot he just appeared here.

Tokimi smiled warmly, gesturing the nervous Saiyajin to a wooden chair beside her. She sat down on her own throne as Ran walked up and sat down on the one she pointed to. He was still nervous. So cute.

"I'm sorry for that. It was my fault... I felt that those people you were with would not allow me to speak to you. I just felt... compelled to talk to you." Tokimi said gently.

Ran started at that. "Are you their enemy or something?"

Tokimi sighed sadly, which caused Ran to feel a pang of pity. He felt her dark energies, but it was not malicious at all.

"I'd rather not be their enemy, but I was imprisoned because they felt that my power was dark, it was automatically 'evil'. I've been in this dimension for more than twenty thousand years." The dark goddess replied.

Ran bit back a gasp. "T-twenty thousand! All alone in this... dark place!"

Tokimi nodded. "Yes, but recently I have created some subordinates in my likeness. I could send them out of this dimension, but I myself cannot.  
So I have them to scout for information. I was searching for my sister,  
Washuu, to ask her to reconsider her position against my imprisonment,  
eventhough she was one of those who imprisoned me here." Tokimi bit back a sob. "I feel quite alone here, frankly. So I became quite cranky.  
That's why I just lash out sometimes at anything. That's why they consider me their enemy. Not that I balme them that much though"  
Tokimi felt her heart heavy in her chest. She finally shed a tear, a true one, now that she had someone to share the pain with.

The saiyajin blanched and fidgeted when he saw the sad woman in front of him. His hand automatically lifted itself up from his lap and deposited itself over Tokimi's. The woman stiffened slightly, then softened as she placed another hand over the saiyajin's hand. She looked up to him,  
tears and all, and smiled warmly.

Ran suddenly felt lighthearted when he saw Tokimi's smile.

"Wow... that was way too much... even more so than what happened to me"  
Ran sighed wistfully.

Tokimi gently patted Ran's back. "Having a rather nasty memory loss is no different."

Ran chuckled. "Yeah... I guess so..." He paused momentarily, then remembered something. "By the way, I was given the name Ran. I crash landed on this planet called Earth. The people that found me seemed to know what race I belong to, and they said I was a Saiyajin. I was too engrossed in talking with you that I forgot my manners."

Tokimi nodded. "I am Tokimi, Goddess of Chaos, Goddess of Jurai. Welcome to my humble abode. Forgive the mess, my prison is a bit... unruly as of the moment."

Ran almost jumped from his seat. "G-Goddess? You mean those beings that created the universe and stuff? Shouldn't I bow or something! What should I do? Oh sorry Tokimi-sama... I'm so..." he was silenced from his babbling when he heard Tokimi laughed heartily.

"No need for those formalities, Ran. Tokimi is fine." Tokimi waved her hand dismissively as she continued to laugh lightly.

"But..." Ran began hesitantly.

Tokimi shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Ran. You are my guest, and as I was hoping to be a close friend."

Ran was silent for the moment. He was still quite nervous. In Freeza's army, they were forced to take some schooling from an academy of some sorts that specialized in histories of various races. Gods and Goddesses were revered higher than kings and even emperors themselves. Freeza already had greedily declared himself a living god, immortal and unyielding as he said.

Tokimi's face brightened when she thought of an Earth custom she once heard once in her scrying sessions. She held out her hand to Ran's direction. "Hi, I'm Tokimi. Want to be friends?"

Ran almost had an urge to plant his face on the floor. He looked up to the cheery face of Tokimi and relaxed. He snickered at the joke Tokimi used to lighten up the mood. Returning the favor, he shook her hand and replied, "I'm Ran. Pleased to meet you."

Behind one of the trees that surrounded the lighted center where Tokimi and Ran sat and chatted, an apparition watched in apprehension as it watched the forming bond between the dark goddess and the 'kidnapped'  
Saiyajin.

It cursed softly when it saw the two shook their hands and smiled to each other. It willed itself to disappear and vowed to come back and take the poor Saiyajin back from the evil one's clutches.

Oh boy.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Masaki Shrine, the occupants were restless. It has been two days since their guest has disappeared without a trace.

Okay, scratch that. Katsuhito found the discarded bokken under Funaho's branches. He had already asked his spacetree, and replied that the Goddess of Chaos, Tokimi, was the culprit. The area was saturated with the residue of her dark energies.

Right now, they sat in the dining room as silence permeated the air. So far, no ideas were formulated on how to get the Saiyajin back from Tokimi.

The two girls looked longingly at the discarded bandages on the sofa.  
Their guest and patient had taken it off before their practice two days ago, and they had forgotten to clean it up. Nobuyuki just went up the stairs and pushed on his current project. He was shooed away by the trio downstairs anyway. They said he wouldn't understand.

Katsuhito suddenly stiffened when he felt a familiar presence in the shrine. He stood up and gazed at his daughters, who looked back at him questioningly. The old man gestured them outwards as he quickly stepped outside the door. The two girls looked at one another and shrugged. They stood up and followed the old man up to the stairs towards the shrine.

The trio finally stopped in front of Funaho, Katsuhito's space tree. In front of the trunk was a young woman with blue hair and pink eyes, who was dressed in the white robes reserved only for high ranked Juraian nobles. The woman smiled warmly at them.

The former Juraian prince bowed his head a bit. "Tsunami-sama, it's an honor for us to be graced in your presence." He intoned formally.

The two girls behind him gasped as they quickly reciprocated their father's actions. According to what they were taught, Tsunami is the Patron Goddess of their home world Jurai, and the source of all the spacetrees that the planet of Jurai had in their disposal.

The woman called Tsunami nodded to them. "No need to be formal,  
Katsuhito, or should I say, Yosho?"

The old man grimaced as he watched the shocked expressions of his daughters turned into one of confusion. He flashed them a 'I'll-explain-later' look and gazed at the goddess once again.  
"Katsuhito is fine, Tsunami-sama."

Tsunami giggled softly at Katsuhito's discomfort. She quickly sobered and looked at the old man (disguised, really!) seriously. "I'm afraid the one you are looking for, the Saiyajin, is in the hands of my sister,  
Tokimi."

Katsuhito stiffened, while his two daughters gasped.

"NO!" Kiyone cried out as she fell down to the ground. Nodoka quickly wnet to her side and comforted her.

The old man sighed. "This could be a problem."

The Juraian Goddess nodded. "Indeed. It would seem that the two had come into some sort of a compromise. But no need to worry, I will try to get him out of there as soon as I can."

Katsuhito nodded slightly. Tsunami just sighed once again and slowly vanished from the trunk of the tree. The trio were left in the shrine,  
their hopes severely crippled by the development.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ran was currently gazing at the trees that grew in Tokimi's prison. How the trees grew without the light from a star, he wouldn't understand.  
His hostess was now taking her bath... somewhere. He blushed deeply when she half serious, half jokingly offered him a chance to bathe with her.  
He politely declined her offer though, illiciting a somewhat cute and childish pout from the normally straight-faced goddess.

He was enjoying the goddess' company. Her loneliness was really evident in everything that she does, which reflects his own loneliness at some level. He gazed once again at the surroundings.

((How could she live in such a bleak environment for so long?)) He thought to himself sadly. He had met one of Tokimi's servants, D3, who after the goddess' explanations he found that he was just a projected image that could go out and gather information for her.

Not a very good company.

His thoughts were broken when he suddenly felt another presence in the area he was in. It felt just like Tokimi's, though in a different sense.  
This one is livelier. He turned to meet whoever came for him.

There. Ran saw her visage approaching him. She had blue hair and pink eyes, with white robes that glided in contrast along the darkened floor.

When she was finally in front of him, she smiled and said urgently,  
"Ran, I presume? I am Tsunami, Goddess of Life, Goddess of Jurai. Let's hurry, I'm here to rescue you."

Ran backed from the goddess in front of him. He looked confused. "Rescue me? From what?"

Tsunami sighed dramatically. "I am here to rescue you from my sister,  
Tokimi. I don't know what she had done to you or what she planned on doing to you, but I will rescue you."

The Saiyajin took another step back and glared at the goddess. "What do you mean! She had done nothing to me! All she did was look for some company!"

"But, don't you see? She had you brainwashed in order to control you!  
Now let's not argue because she might come at any moment!" Tsunami hissed urgently as she grasped on the traveler's arm.

Ran pulled his arm from Tsunami's clutch and replied, "I don't know what you believe, but you're wrong. I'm not controlled by anyone or anything.  
My only problem right now is my loss of memory. Sure she took me without my permission before, but she explained it to me and apologized. She even told me that I can leave whenever I want to."

"Then let's go! You don't know the dangers you are in!"

Ran shook his head. "That's the problem. I don't want to go. Don't you even realize how lonely it must have been in this sanctum? Look at this place! I wouldn't be surprised if she went a little crazy because of it.  
If I was in the same situation, I would've too." He pinned the goddess with another glare, who flinched back slightly. "To feel betrayed by those she thought would understand... to feel bullied... dominated.  
it's just not right. I thank you for your concern, but I won't leave just yet. I want to keep her company, and keep her smiling, eventhough it is just for a little while. At least she won't feel lonely in the meantime."

Tsunami backed away from the Saiyajin and sighed. "Very well, I will leave. But you don't know what you are doing." She phased out of the area and disappeared.

Ran breathed out softly. He was really grateful at Tsunami's concern,  
but he really wanted to keep Tokimi company. He just couldn't stand to see a girl cry.

"Ran..." The Saiyajin turned to see the Goddess of Chaos clad in a towel, with a shocked look in her face. "Do you... really mean what you said...?" she asked hesitantly.

Ran fought down his embarassment and nodded urgently. "O-Of course! I really want to be your friend, and I wouldn't leave you just like that.  
Besides, you've been really good to me, so I have no reason to fear you at all."

Tokimi staggered towards the Saiyajin and lunged into his arms. Ran stood shocked at the moment, then mechanically hugged back at the weeping goddess in his embrace. "Shhh... it's alright... I won't leave you... Tokimi..." he whispered encouraging words in her ears. He rubbed his hand up and down the goddess' back, unmindful of the naked flesh that was exposed out of the disheveled towel that kept some of Tokimi's modesty.

After a short bout of sobbing, the goddess finally composed herself. She hesitantly detached her body from the Saiyajin's. Ran looked at her in worry and asked, "Are you alright now, Toki-MMMNGGGPPPHHHHHHH!" He found that it was hard to talk when someone had their lips locked with his. His eyes grew wide when he felt her tongue slip into his partially opened mouth, caressing his own as if to illicite a reaction, which it did. He started to play tag with her using tongues.

Their actions were not lost to one individual, who observed them in the shadows. Tsunami rendered herself invisible in the eyes as well masekd her powers to spy on them. She fumed when she saw her sister kissing the Saiyajin, and the man hadn't done anything to stop it. In fact, to her dismay, it would seem that the Saiyajin is enjoying it. She quickly tore her gaze from the scene and this time, truly disappeared.

Tokimi finally released Ran's mouth and breathed, as the Saiyajin did the same. They looked at each other's eyes and saw the raw passion in them.

The goddess finally got her bearings back and spoke. "Wow."

The Saiyajin was tempted to chuckle, but was too shocked to do so. So he simply settled to a simple, "Uh-huh."

Tokimi smiled gently at the Saiyajin. "I have a way to heal your mind and return your memories... but it will cost you something."

Ran suddenly felt hope in his heart, but was slightly disturbed as to why Tokimi would ask compensation. He asked hesitantly, "What is it? As long as I don't have to kill or anything..."

The brown haired woman laughed softly. "No, no! Why would I ask you to do that? I would gladly return your memories, IF..."

Ran sweated at the intense look Tokimi gave him. He gulped. "I-If...?"

Tokimi caressed Ran's cheek to placate him. "If you... make love to me."

The Saiyajin blanched. He hadn't expected this one. "M-m-make LOVE?  
B-but... what if you get p-p-pregnant or something!"

Tokimi smiled sadly. "If you're worrying about that, then don't be. It won't bother me. I just want to have that experience at least once.  
before I return you to Earth."

"Return me? Why? have I done something wrong?"

Tokimi shook her head. "No, you were kind and wonderful. But now that my sister's involved, I just know she would never let this one pass. I don't want you to get caught up in the middle of our petty fight."

Ran fidgeted. "But..."

Tokimi silenced him with a finger on his lips. "Shhh... think of my offer. I will heal your mind if you just make love to me. Please? Grant me this one request..."

Ran looked into Tokimi's blue eyes and saw seriousness in them. He couldn't really find any fault in her proposition, and it would seem that she was the one who would lose in any of the decisions. She just wanted to feel how to be loved, he finally reached this conclusion.

Tokimi saw Ran steeling himself. She prayed to whatever out there that was higher than her to grant her this wish of hers. It would also be worth it because she just sent all her servants to some bogus errands.

Ran smiled nervously at Tokimi, and nodded. "It would be an honor,  
Tokimi-sama."

With a loud cheer, Tokimi launched herself into Ran's arms and kissed him once again, tearing his clothes in the process. The Saiyajin gasped as he tried to regain control. He grabbed Tokimi's towel and tore it away from her body.

The whole scene darkened.

(Sorry bout that, but this is not an M rating thing. )

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Heaven...

Kami-sama smiled widely as the file for one Ranma Saotome materialized in front of his screen. He quickly grabbed the case He kept under His desk and opened it.

The gems were now pulsating with power. Suddenly, they vanished one by one, which started from the smaller gems. The largest jewel glowed brightly for a moment before disappearing to join its siblings.

He discarded the empty case and switched the screen to where the gems'  
destination was. He sighed tiredly as the stones quickly joined inside Tokimi's abdomen, unnoticed by the two tired lovers. Tokimi's abdomen glowed once before finally fading.

Kami-sama finally settled down his seat and closed his eyes as he muttered, "PHASE ONE COMPLETE. START OF PHASE TWO. THIS ONE IS GOING TO HURT TOKIMI THE MOST..."

The Almighty sighed sadly.

"THEN THERE IS PHASE THREE, THIS ONE'S GOING TO AFFECT RANMA THIS TIME."

"... SOMETIMES MY JOB SUCKS."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokimi was brought to consciousness first. She sighed as she felt her body lightened and was full of energy. She gazed lovingly to the one beside her.

Ran has given her so much, more than anyone had ever given her for the past twenty thousand years. Finally, her years of loneliness were quenched because of this one moment.

For an instance, her head flashed an ancient memory, of a child.  
female... brown hair... blue eyes...

Tokimi clutched at her head and gasped. Whenever that memory tried to reassert itself, it just brought her pain. She shook her head and brought her thoughts back to Ran, who slept peacefully under her. She smiled longingly at his peaceful face.

She sighed and pushed herself up, careful not to awaken her sleeping lover. She knelt beside him and kissed his forehead. She whispered, "I love you, Nasu of Vegeta-sei. I give you your memory back."

The Saiyajin's body glowed for a moment, then dimmed once again. He continued sleeping, oblivious to the hesitant look the goddess gave him.

Tokimi clenched her fist in denial. How could she do this? Was this really the only way for him to be safe? She tried to think of other possibilities, but none came to her. She sagged visibly and looked at Ran, no, Nasu once more.

The goddess nodded to herself and placed her hands over Nasu's forehead.  
She whispered some words that were of a language that cannot be translated. Her hands glowed white as it spread over to Nasu's body,  
also glowed white.

Suddenly, it was all over. She had completely erased her existence from her lover's mind, as well as everything that has happened from when he disappeared from Earth up to this moment.

Tokimi gasped as she fell down the Saiyajin's chest. In the corners of her eyes, tears started to form. She lifted her head and kissed Nasu's lips softly. With one final glance, she gestured with her hands and watched as the Saiyajin's body disappeared in front of her for good.

The goddess patted her abdomen as she felt the pulse of life that formed inside of her. She smiled, despite her tears.

At least, she still had a legacy from this.

She's pregnant. The memory of someone that gave her love without bounds was secured inside of her.

And such strong life energy too. A name suitable for the baby... 'Ran Ma'... a name with multiple meanings. All led to one though: Chaotic.

Yes, 'Ranma' would be fine for the baby.

She stood up and staggered to her sleeping chambers. She just wanted to cry herself to sleep right now.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Katsuhito was sweeping the front steps of the shrine. He felt discouraged further when he heard from Tsunami what had transpired between Tokimi and Ran. He was suddenly alerted by his spacetree. He dropped his broom and raced towards Funaho.

When he reached the tree, he was shocked to see Ran's body laid down on Funaho's roots. He quickly prodded the Saiyajin's body, and sighed in relief when he felt some lifesigns from him.

A groan from Ran further proved his theory that he was alive. The young man struggled to sit up and opened his eyes. For a moment, he stared at Katsuhito's face blankly, who looked back with a bit of suspicion. Under his sleeves, he prepped his bokken for any sign of attacks from the Saiyajin.

Ran's eyes suddenly lit up in recognition. "Katsuhito-san! How are you doing?"

Katsuhito smiled slightly. "Well now Ran, we were worried about you."

Ran's face scrunched up in confusion. "Why should you be?"

Katsuhito frowned. "You were gone for a week at most."

The Saiyajin scratched his head. "Eh... I don't remember going anywhere but here... well... huh? Wait... I finally remember! My name is Nasu,  
Elite Guard to the Royal Throne of Vegeta-sei! I... I was sent here as a recon mission from my commander to find some allies for us with regards to the defeat of the tyrant Freeza."

Katsuhito choked on the name. "Freeza? You mean THE Freeza!"

'Nasu' nodded. "That's right. Although as you said, only you three have considerable powers here. This planet itself is still weak. I have to get back to Vegeta-sei as soon as I can repair my ship."

Katsuhito bit his lower lip. "Alright." He offered his hand to Nasu, who smiled and took it. They started walking down the shrine steps, with Katsuhito deep in thought.

((He doesn't remember that he disappeared... that he was taken by Tokimi.  
What did Tokimi do to him? And how did he recover his memories?)) The old man thought to himself.

A vision of Tsunami appeared once again near Funaho's tree, after the two men have departed for the house. She frowned slightly when she heard of what has happened. Tsunami adopted a determined look, and vanished once more.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokimi was currently traveling in her dreams. She was specifically examining the life that quickly formed inside of her. She walked in the plane of energies, her own lifeforce mingled strongly within the fabric that held the baby together. Although Nasu's energy pattern was as equally strong as hers was.

Tendrils of energy filled the lightened area inside Tokimi's energy plane. She marveled at the slow development of the child. Ranma was going to be a very strong and very powerful child. She had to teach her child of his or her powers soon, or else the child would just lose control, like most with so much power.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud beating sound eminated from the swirling mass of energies. They have combined and had finally formed her child's heart. Her own heart was filled with joy as she listened to the strong heartbeat that echoed across the plane.

The happiness she felt was shortlived when all of the sudden, a sudden jolt of foreign energy wrapped around the fully formed fetus in her body. She watched horrified as the tendrils quickly cocooned the fetus in a soft blue sphere of energy. With a loud shrill cry, she reached out to get her baby back from the sphere's clutches, but she was too late.

The sphere vanished completely, together with her baby.

She screamed in anguish as she felt herself wake up.

Tokimi sat up on her bed sweating. She patted her abdomen urgently. Her eyes widened when she realized the energy she felt her child had had disappeared from her body. She also felt a faint magical residue that apparently seemed like a hastily prepared teleportation spell. Her body stiffened when she recognized the energy signature.

Tokimi, Goddess of Chaos, Goddess of Jurai... wiped her tears furiously as she balled her fists into tight balls.

She looked up to the darkness above her and bellowed,  
"TSUNAMIIIIIIII!"

Oh, how the universe cringed at the battlecry.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Ehhhh... so you're real name is Nasu, and that you were sent here to gather allies for your war against Freeza?" Kiyone whistled as she snuggled into her husband, Nobuyuki's embrace.

The Saiyajin Elite nodded. "Yes. I volunteered in this mission. My planet was under the hands of that tyrant Freeza. Most of the warriors of my planet were blinded by his flashy promises, so they became his mercenaries. He sent them to planets that were full of resources and eradicate most of the locals in it. They will then sell the planet to the highest bidder. Freeza even had our babies sent via cryo-chambers to distant planets to assess it for resources, and if needed, destroy the populous in preparation for selling. Most of the Elite became concerned at this development, thus we formed a rebel faction to fight against Freeza's army. But we realized we are still too weak, so my commander,  
Bardock, sent me into this mission to collect the companions I needed to fight against that tyrant."

Katsuhito sighed. "A noble cause, but we cannot do anything. We are stranded here ourselves, and I am considered as a runaway from my homeplanet. They wouldn't take my homecoming lightly."

Nasu deflated visibly. "I see..."

Katsuhito ignored the buzzing feeling in his head, as he watched his wards' expressions. It was truly a sad state of affairs, where bloodshed was definitely a probability. He turned to the Saiyajin and asked, "By the way, do you need parts to repair your ship?"

The traveler straightened himself up. "Oh yes. I almost forgot."

The priest nodded. "Alright, just give the list to Nobuyuki. Being an engineer and architect, he might know more about those than I do. Don't worry about the expenses, I will cover them."

The Saiyajin looked shocked for a moment, then smiled widely. He stood and and bowed towards the priest. "Thank you!"

The old man flinched slightly, as he felt another round of summons from his tree Funaho. He felt the urgency of the call so he apologized to the group for his hasty retreat and went up to the shrine once again.

The former prince reached his tree, and was mildly surprised when he found that his other daughter, Nodoka, was already there, talking to Tsunami in hushed tones. Their faces had this serious look that quite alarmed him. They both quieted down when they saw him approach.

"Katsuhito..." Tsunami sounded somewhat subdued, but the old man pushed the thought into the back of his mind as he listened, "I have a request to make of you."

Katsuhito eyed Tsunami, then his daughter, who was looking down on the ground. "It would seem important. If you would tell me, I probably would understand better."

Tsunami nodded. "Of course, my prince. I have come here to ask you and your daughter to care for this unborn child I carry..." She held out her hand and concentrated. Katsuhito and Nodoka watched wide-eyed as a small baseball sized blue ball emerged from her outstretched palm. The ball became transparent, and a fetus glowed with unnatural light became visible.

The old man gasped. "Such strong energies! Whose child is this!"

He watched Tsunami grew more flustered. His mind clicked. "By kami! You STOLE the child!"

The goddess bristled at that. "I had no choice! My sister might use this innocent child for her evil plans!"

"Tsunami!" His voice betrayed desperation and disbelief. "Do you not realized what you've done! You have practically declared war on Tokimi!  
You've doomed all your followers! You've included innocent people in your fight with Tokimi! And her child, an unborn child... taken from her mother just like that! Do you realize what that child would think when it finally discovers what you've done!"

The blue haired goddess shed tears. "I know! But I don't know what to think! Just help me raise this child in the right way, please! I have to plant this child into a woman's womb soon, before it dies because of over exposure... please decide!"

Katsuhito was about to reply when Nodoka silenced him with a gesture of her hand. She looked into Tsunami's eyes and said, "I will accept the responsibility of raising the child. Though I must express my dissatisfaction with the decision you had to make... taking a child from its mother is so... wrong! Anyway, let's get this over with..."

"I am so sorry..." Tsunami whispered as she pushed the sphere into Nodoka's womb. The young woman spasmed and started to fall on the ground, only to be caught by his father. Soon, the auburn haired girl clutched at her head as her face scrunched up in pain. Katsuhito looked up at Tsunami urgently, who quickly put her hands on the young woman's head.

"I need to erase this from her mind, and make it believe that this is her child, Katsuhito..." Tsunami said sadly. "Her mind is too confused,  
angry and scared all at the same time that she might accidentally kill herself and the child."

Katsuhito looked down to his suffering daughter and said, "Do it,  
Tsunami. Make her believe that it was her and... that Saotome Genma's child. I will approve of the marriage request that he had asked of me,  
even if I don't like the guy." The old man still remembered the wandering martial artist that came by the shrine five weeks ago. He was an Okayama resident who was in a training journey with his bestfriend.  
Nodoka was quite enamored by his exploits, so they fell quite a bit familiar with each other. Genma had asked for his consent for his and Nodoka's marriage. He still had to give his answer while he was still in that dojo he was staying at in Okayama.

With a slight nod, Tsunami repaired Nodoka's mind and altered it a bit.  
She also locked most of the stronger abilities of the child, in fear that Nodoka might not survive the pregnancy. Meanwhile Katsuhito had thought of how their lives have become more chaotic.

He had no idea how right he was.

After three days, the wedding between Genma and Nodoka had been celebrated. Nodoka seemed obliviously happy, for the only ones who knew the truth were Tsunami and Katsuhito.

Several weeks after the marriage, Nasu finally finished repairing his vessel. A month old message opened itself in his viewscreen, which consisted of an immiediate order of recall due to a sudden attack of Freeza against the planet Vegeta-sei. He also found out that Freeza kidnapped the young Saiyajin prince, thus declaring war on them. He immediately informed his surrogate family about his immediate departure.  
He promised he would probably visit after his planet had won against the tyrant. After a quick farewell, he finally returned to space.

He will never be back again.

After an insensitive comment from Katsuhito's part about Genma's behavior (not that anyone could blame him), Nodoka rebeled against her father. This caused her to move out with her husband (much to Katsuhito's dread) and cut ties with them.

The rest was history.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Tokimi was taken out of reverie when Tsunami nudged her ribs. She snapped her head up and looked at the huge door that led into Kami-sama's office. She looked at Tsunami, who gave her an encouraging smile.

With a sigh, she pushed the doors open and entered.

The huge room hadn't changed. Tokimi still recognized the different plants Kami-sama grew inside his office. She quickly paced towards the huge table in front of her, to where the Almighty sat all these millenia.

"TOKIMI, MY DAUGHTER..." The Almighty gave her a warm smile. "I AM GLAD TO HAVE FINALLY REVOKED YOUR IMPRISONMENT..."

Tokimi's eyes watered. "Father..."

"BUT FIRST... I HAVE TO GIVE YOU YOUR FULL MEMORIES BACK." Kami-sama stood up and walked towards her. He was a bit shorted than her in His current form, the one with the eyepatch on one eye. For some reason, He favored this form to those who were close to Him. He lifted His hand up towards her forehead and touched it.

Tokimi felt nothing happening at first, but then reeled back as she felt her head being crammed with information that she had tried to forget these past few millenia. Her lonely childhood, the ridicules from her peers, the loss of her power, her imprisonment...

Everything went back to her. Everything including...

Memories of her son that she hadn't had the luxury to see. Those memories saved by Kami-sama for her to use so that she may never feel that she had abandoned him.

And... and... Her.

The brown haired daughter of hers that she gave life to. She created her out of her own essence in the Earth. She fashioned the style of her daughter's birth from Zeus' own with his daughter Aphrodite.

Her long brown hair that was so much like Tokimi's own, her blue-gray eyes... same like Ranma's...

Her name...

Tokimi's eyes snapped open. She remembered now. She asked Kami-sama to take her first daughter before she was imprisoned, so that the child may never feel lonely. Tokimi looked at Kami-sama, who gave her a small smile.

"SHE GREW UP INTO A BEAUTIFUL CHILD, TOKIMI. SHE BECAME A GODDESS UNLIMITED, JUST LIKE HER MOTHER. SHE'S IN EARTH NOW, UNAWARE OF WHO SHE REALLY IS, AND UNAWARE THE REAL REASON WHY SHE WENT DOWN TO THAT PLANET." Kami-sama intoned seriously.

Tokimi felt aghast. "She doesn't know that she and her half-brother are fated to...?"

The Almighty nodded. "SHE HAS NO IDEA. BUT YOU CAN AWAKEN HER MEMORIES AS SOON AS YOU WANTED TO. NOW GO, AND DO WHAT YOU MUST, CHILD."

The Goddess of Chaos hugged Kami-sama tightly, who chuckled as He hugged back. Tokimi pulled herself from His embrace and gave Him a bright smile. She turned and stepped out of the office.

Kami-sama sighed as He went back to His seat. "YES, SHE HAS NO IDEA THAT SHE WAS FATED... WITH SEVERAL OTHER GIRLS... WITH HER OWN HALF-BROTHER..." He suddenly grinned. "NOT THAT IT MATTERED, ANYWAY."

The most powerful being in the Universe smiled as He pressed a button from His computer. "I WONDER HOW BELLDANDY WILL TAKE THIS NEWS..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Author Rants:

... Wow. I'm shocked. Even I was surprised at the predicaments I put everyone into. Seriously, I was surprised when I realized the connections.

Scary.

Anyway. This was in response to the request of C. Rose... here ya go! A quite in depth explanation of the whys and the hows of Tokimi's past in the fanfic.

If yer gonna ask, 'Nasu' means eggplant.

Why? His ponytail looked like a gigantic eggplant.

I've gone real crazy. I never thought I could connect Belldandy with Tokimi, but after I did some thinking, why not? Brown hair... blue eyes same with Ranma... dang.

Goddess of the Present... where unpredictability is the key.

Chaos is too.

Oho... connections. Anyyyway. There you have it. A sidestory.

I actually made the chapter 3c first, but this came into mind, so I took time off from 3c and went on with this.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	7. Chapter 3c

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: ... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Author Notes: There are two distinct timelines here. One is the Homeworld, where Ranma had come from. The second is the Parallel World,  
although Ranma was thrown further back in time within that world. More or less, it was about worth 500 to 550 years back.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. for pre-reading this stuff. Read his fanfictions too, they rock!

Thanks to StLonginus for his suggestions. I hope I answered some of your questions when I emailed back. By the way, I have some info written in my rants down there that might help answer your questions that I may not have explained to you real well.

Also would like to inform you guys that Darwin Cruz aka Pug has risen from the dead (rhetorically of course). He's back and he just updated one of my faves, 'Tales of Ranma and Achika' where Ranma got Achika and he's the father of Tenchi (way cool).

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 3C - A VIEW OF THE HOMEWORLD: RENEWING THE MEMORIES WE KEEP

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The Void...

It always started and ended with the Void, right?

The sleeper felt himself floating along the clouds of darkness. The only things he could see were the faint outlines of the different parts of his body. But there was one thing that caught his attention.

His right hand was gone. Stumped up to the middle of his lower arm, his callused hand was cut off. He started panicking for the moment,  
thrashing around the darkness, trying to grasp anything that could lead him back to reality.

Yes, this was all just a bad dream.

But for some reason, he could actually feel a headache drilling into his head. A dull, numb feeling encompassed his decapitated arm.

No way.

Decapitated arm?

He hastily looked towards his left arm, which was cut savagely on the middle of the lower arm. The rest were gone.

He screamed, utterly terrified at the implications.

Suddenly, the darkness opened up. The sleeper felt some hope returning to his battered body, but his blood froze once he got reacquainted with his surroundings.

A stagnant pit.

The dark pit that spewed that stomach-churning smell of uncared, unfed cats.

That memory... it came back to him. Some divine powers that helped a long time ago may have erased the fear, but the memory still lingered.

He looked down to his body, and saw what he feared. Those fish sausages that marked his doom.

It seemed that thousands of feral eyes gleamed menacingly at the smell of the sausages. He tensed and waited for that attack.

He didn't have to wait for long.

The attack commenced with frenzy, tearing up his flesh savagely. It was like being burned alive, then dipped in alcohol. All those deep cuts were cut again and again, mercilessly.

He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

He sobbed silently, cursing the day his father threw him into the pit.

His respect for his father dimmed dramatically in this major episode.  
After it happened, everything that came out of the old man's mouth sounded like lies to him.

It was as if he didn't feel the need to listen to anything Genma says anymore. Especially now, since he found out about the truth of his past.

He felt his tired body sag, as the infernal cats now battled for dominance in devouring his torn flesh. Since the fish had run out, his own meat was the new target. Genma had starved these cats real bad.

What a bad dream this was...

And then, the darkness overtook him once again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Parallel world, somewhere in the woods...

((This is bad.)) It was all Yosho had in mind as he pressed a torn up piece of cloth into his patient's bleeding arm. He hesitantly looked up to another point on the ground, and saw his patient's hand was missing,  
disconnected from his body.

((Scratch that. This is VERY VERY BAD.))

"R-Ranma-kun..." Koneko was still crying after an hour of observing and helping Yosho stabilize Ranma's currently bloodied body.

Ranma reached Koneko in time to block the deathblow that was intended for her. There was a price though, because much of Ranma's ki was divided in concentration between his reflexes and his gathering ki blast on his right hand. The result was a decapitated hand.

His screams still pierced Koneko's mind. She watched as his eyes glazed over after he released that great ball of light from his hand that blew most of the monster. Yosho took care of what's left, literally pulverizing it.

Ranma's eyes were empty when he fell back down the ground, his hand lobbed off to one side near Koneko. Blood from Ranma's stumped arm sprayed all over the nearby trees, on the ground, and some even managed to spill on Koneko's short kimono and on her paled face. Her mind was too shocked to even acknowledge the blood on her, as she gazed fearfully on Ranma's prone body.

Koneko shook her head from the painful memory. It was a short while ago,  
and they dragged Ranma's unconscious body over to the deeper part of the forest, where they could remain secluded for the better part of the night.

The girl looked up to Yosho and asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

Yosho released a shuddering breath. "I wish I could say so. He lost a lot of blood, but we were lucky we're able to heat him up a bit. All we can do now is... wait."

Koneko's lower lips trembled. "Why?" she asked softly, as she looked up to Yosho, "Why did he do that? Why couldn't he have just saved himself?  
The world needs people like you and Ranma-kun, but I won't have any use at all..."

Yosho sighed. He placed his hand on Koneko's head and said, "That's true. He could've just let you die. But, how can we try and save the world when we couldn't even save one life? Ranma thinks your life is important, Koneko-chan, so don't think otherwise."

The little girl released a soft breath. "But Yosho-san, I'm too useless anyway. I'm not smart, I can't fight... I can't do anything."

The older man shook his head. "That's not how to measure one's self-worth. Even the lowliest scum is important in life. Who knows? In the future you might become a very important person, someone who will save the world in other means other than fighting? There are lots of possibilities, so we save all we can for the future."

Koneko leaned slightly to Yosho's side, as she watched Ranma intently.  
"Who is he, Yosho-san? He looks like a child like me and yet, his actions are those of an adult..."

The Juraian Prince just chuckled softly. "What better way to describe Ranma is that he's a friend. He greatly despises having to fight too often, but for some reason we end up getting into fights anyway. But when we have that need to fight, it's only to defend, never to instigate one."

The girl nodded slightly. "I understand, Yosho-san. I just hope Ranma-kun would recover soon so that I may be thankful for his sacrifice, no matter how trivial and small I may be."

"Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, girl." Yosho chided Koneko softly.  
"I told you your life is not worthless."

Koneko sniffed her tears away. "Sorry, Yosho-san. I wish I could be like Ranma-kun someday. He's not like the other boys I met before. He is a man."

The dark sky suddenly grumbled as a light drizzle fell to the earth. Of course, it was enough just to change a certain pigtailed boy we all know real well.

"Uhm... Yosho-san?" Koneko asked hesitantly, eyeing the still form of the now femal Ranma in front of her, "W-what just... happened? Is that... Ranma?"

Yosho's hand landed with a wet smack on his forehead as he silently cursed the heavens. He looked at the girl warily and replied, "A long story, Koneko-chan... a long story..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Homeworld, somewhere in the China Sea...

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS... CRAP!" Mousse whined as he vomited violently against the porcelain god of the baths. He was rewarded with a mallet on the head, which mercifully caused him to collapse.

Reiko and Meiko Saotome, together with Akane, Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo,  
embarked on a mission to borrow a certain artifact called 'Tear of the Dragon', which by the way would send the two children back to their own time. They were currently on the ferryboat that brought people from Japan to Mainland China. They are currently in the largest cabin, thanks to Cologne's influence on the shipping lanes. It was good for several people, with its own bathroom and bathtub, and other luxuries such as a mini-kitchen. For some weird reason, Akane volunteered to cook for their group in their cabin.

Should you dare ask what the results were?

"Too true... this crap..." Shampoo moaned as she clutched on her stomach before she passed out.

Reiko and Meiko both munched on their own riceballs (which they hastily made while Akane was indulged in the bathtub, allowing the things she call food to cool) and ignored basically everything around them. Saotome Special Technique, 'I-am-here-but-you-won't-notice-me'.

Akane fumed. "What are you complaining about? Ryoga liked it, don't you Ryoga?" She turned to the boy, who was still unmoved after convulsing a bit a while ago. The fanged boy actually sported some blue around his cheeks.

Reiko sighed softly. She turned to her younger sister and muttered, "An'  
to think she's... ahem... anyways. Good thing mama's real good at cookin'."

Meiko rolled her eyes. "Thank kami!" she whispered urgently.

Good thing Akane hadn't been listening. Instead she turned to them with a forlorned expression. "Those idiots are so ungrateful! You cook for them and then..." she shook her head and forced a smile on her face. She took a seat beside the two children, who eyed her suspiciously. "Can you two tell me about your mother?"

The children nodded. "Sure..." Meiko replied. "Mom's really good in martial arts an' stuff, though not as good as papa. She loves plants an'  
taking care of them. She loves red orchids."

Reiko giggled. "Mama an' papa always cuddled with us before we sleep.  
An' she LOVES ice cream... she says it was papa's fault that she got addicted with it."

"An' she bakes a real mean Chocolate Triple Fudge cake!" The two kids said together and broke into fits of laughter.

Akane suddenly looked crestfallen. "I miss my mom. She left us when my sisters and I were young. I wonder if I wouldn't be like this if she's still here, guiding me..."

A small hand patted Akane's back. "I'll feel the same way if I lost my mama, Akane-san. But we do have to keep livin', for those who have left us behind." Reiko said softly.

Akane sighed and forced a small cheer in her voice. "Yeah, I guess so"  
Then the earlier conversation came back to her. "Oh... so your mother is a good cook? That means..."

Small hands grabbed Akane's, making the older girl look up to the owner of the hands. It was Meiko, who was frowning at her in disapproval.  
"Don't give up yet, Auntie 'kane! You'll learn how to cook... someday."

Akane just chuckled dryly. "I'm not going to be your future mother, am I?" she asked bluntly.

"Not you in the sense..." Meiko began until she caught herself and slapped her hands on her mouth rapidly. Akane blinked at that.

The older Saotome daughter bopped her younger sibling on the head. "Way to go, Mei-chan." Turning to Akane, Reiko explained, "Ignore her, she's weird."

"Hey!" Meiko snorted indignantly.

Akane eyed the two. Seeing that she wasn't going to have anymore explanations any further than that, she said, "I guess I just have to try my best, am I?"

Reiko clapped her hands together once. "That's the spirit!"

"Not that it would make any difference..." Meiko muttered to herself.  
After grimacing a bit behind Akane's back, she turned to the small circular window that showed her the blue ocean.

They were going to arrive in China very soon.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere... someplace...

He opened his eyes once again. He felt a momentary pause in the attacks against his broken body. After a short break, those cats lunged at him once more.

Everything was hurting for him. His body acted at will in autopilot,  
reliving his painful experience...

((Stop! No more... not again... father... o-oyaji...))

His mind screamed loudly as he was attacked anew by the cats.

He could hear the scuffles and those claws rip all over his body. He could feel his warm blood dripping from those open wounds...

He felt helpless as he felt his blood spill unto the ground.

Nobody was there to help him in the darkness...

Nobody...

Wait... what's that?

A portal? Someone walked out of the portal as the cats' cries slowly died down.

The cats quickly backed off, hissing at the swirling blue light that barred them access from their only source of food in the stinking pit.

"W-who... w-w-who's t-there?" His voice barely made a squeak, but the figure that emerged from the strange blue light seemed to understand anyway. He was barely conscious, and the fact that his breath became labored seemed like his end was nearer than he thought.

The hissing animals were quickly silenced for some reason.

Maybe the person is Death?

"By kami... what has he done to you?" The voice was soft and melodious,  
and female. And also... she sounded... familiar...

As if by some miracle, the voice opened up his clogged vocal chords,  
making him spit some foul blood that lodged inside his throat. "I-I-I.  
I hurt... a-a-all over..." He managed to speak out again, despite the feeling that his throat was punctured.

Ranma felt soft hands cradle his limp form. The delicate hands urgently untied the bonds. The ropes had cut deeply into his skin, most likely because of his weight and also because of his futile struggles before.  
It only caused him more pain as he felt fresh blood slowly pour out from the newly freed wrists of his. He couldn't even manage to complain as he felt nerve wracking pain dancing along his body. His eyesight was dimming at an alarming rate.

"Don't worry my dear, I will make you feel better." She really sounded familiar, but for some reason the blurred haze of his sight also affected his hearing. It even dulled the pains he felt before.

He felt the mysterious female as she lifted him up in her arms, and carried him into what seemed to be a blue portal, according to his blurred vision. He saw the blue light envelop them, as he lost his consciousness.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Parallel World, near a remote village...

The sound of feet splashing along the wet ground echoed across the darkness of the night. Two figures were illuminated in the night as they hurriedly carried a third person long the forest. They came upon a small clearing, and saw from a distance a path that leads to a small village.

Elated and encouraged by the sight, Yosho shifted Onna-Ranma to his other shoulder. She was still bleeding a bit from the wound she had received from the attack earlier on, and was leaving droplets of crimson liquid in the path they took. This was not the immediate concern though.  
Koneko had informed him that the boy turned girl was currently shivering from the cold. Combine that with the probable infection of the wound and she might not last through the night.

Koneko was a bit surprised at the change earlier on, but accepted it anyway. It was not as weird as they red tail that had sprung out when she pried off the sash across Onna-Ranma's abdomen to be used as a bandage. At first she thought of Ranma as another youkai, but Yosho had explained that it was an accident of some sort.

They quickened their steps as they saw the village looming closer. Just as they were about to step in, the sound of swords being drawn from their scabbards reached their ears. The two suddenly stopped in their steps and waited for any more movements. Sure enough, several men carrying swords, spears, bows and arrows surrounded them.

"Who are you, and why do you bring this... youkai in our village!" One of the villagers shouted to them as he pointed a spear towards Onna-Ranma's direction.

Yosho looked confused. He looked down to Koneko and asked, "Youkai?"

Koneko was suddenly sheepish. "I told you. I thought at first Ranma-kun as a youkai, because of his tail..."

Yosho looked back to the villagers. "Look, this... young girl was wounded fighting a monster earlier. He... she's not a youkai. I need to save her because she's bleeding to death!"

"She's really not a youkai, she saved me!" Koneko piped in.

The villagers were a bit taken back by the newcomers' outbursts. They looked to each other in indecision. They were about to retort when a loud pounding caught their attention. They all turned to the old woman with long white hair and a black eyepatch over her right eye (her POV.  
She was staring intently at the newcomers.

"It's true... she's not a youkai, nor a hanyou... what is she?" The old woman asked, as she inspected them. The girl's aura was a bit odd, in fact, but still it was a far cry from being a youkai.

"Kaede-sama... are you sure the girl is not a youkai?" Another one of the villagers asked.

The old woman, Kaede's her name, shook her head. "No... her aura is a different from a human, unlike anything I've ever seen. Yet she doesn't have youki, which is a youkai and hanyou's ki. Take her in my hut. I will see to her injuries."

The villagers grunted in response and returned to their posts.

While walking towards the hut, the old woman gave Yosho a sidelong glance. "I haven't mentioned it to the villagers, but you also have a different aura, though yours has a taint of human in it. This girl doesn't."

Yosho sighed. "It's a long story, one which you would think I made up."

Kaede chuckled lightly. "We've been attacked day and night by supernatural creatures... we guard a certain crystal that was targeted by all of the monsters in the land because possession of it will increases a youkai's strength a thousandfold... we are being assisted by a half bred youkai whose father was the Lord Youkai of the Eastern Lands... and we also have a time-traveling girl who is the reincarnation of our deceased miko, which was my sister by the way, who travels through an old well. You let me decide if I should believe it or not,  
child."

Yosho raised a critical eyebrow. "'Child'? We'll see..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Homeworld, Masaki Shrine...

Katsuhito chuckled as he watched the current Juraian Princess, his own beloved sister, go against the former space pirate extraordinaire, in their battle over the heart of his grandson, Tenchi. But for some reason, Ayeka was a bit too relaxed on her insults, and he wasn't the only one that noticed.

Even Ryoko had noticed the subtle change in Ayeka's tones. The princess usually exploded at the smallest things, but now it was as if she has deflated. The former pirate asked Ayeka about this, roughly of course,  
but even that failed to get the appropriate response.

Lately, the princess took long night walks along the lake's edge. The household found out about it when Sasami and Ryoko got curious enough and followed her one night. They found the princess sitting on the water's edge, gazing towards the stars. Her expression was thoughtful with a tint of worry, as if she was worried about something... or someone.

His mirthful expression suddenly darkened when he felt something that he wished he never felt in his lifetime. Also, most of the people in the household stiffened, apparently they also felt 'that' power.

As one, they all looked at one another. Without another word, they all ran out of the front door and hiked up to the shrine. They quickly made their way to Funaho, and prepared for battle along the way. When they reached the tree, they were quite surprised to see a familiar looking bluehaired girl, Tsunami, standing a bit far away from the tree, as she talked to someone who was hidden by the tree's body. They walked towards her cautiously, still quite weary at the dark power they felt.

When they got closer to where Tsunami was still busy communicating with whomever she was talking to, they finally caught a glimpse of who it was. They immediately went wide-eyed and their jaws fell down to the ground with a loud thud.

Hearing the unusual noise of jaws hitting the ground, Tsunami and her companion looked towards the group. They both sweatdropped at the sight.

"Why... hello everyone." Tsunami said slowly. She still had that sweatdrop.

Her companion giggled a bit. "This was the first time I actually saw anyone do that before."

Tsunami turned to her companion. "Do what, Tokimi-neesan?"

Apparently, Tsunami's friend was none other than Tokimi. "Well..." The rumored goddess of chaos stated, "The way their jaws are still connected to their heads while they let it hang like that. It's really uncanny."

Finally, one of the frozen group's member regained her bearings.

"What the heck is she doing here!" Ryoko practically snarled as she ignited her energy sword.

Ayeka shook her head. "Stand down, Ryoko. Tokimi-sama hasn't done anything yet." She looked up to the two goddesses. "Tsunami-sama, please explain this."

Tsunami nodded her head. "Of course. My sister's imprisonment has been reevaluated and it has been decided to declare it null and void."

"WHAT!" Tenchi, Katsuhito and Ryoko chorused.

Washuu walked up to where Tokimi stood and smiled at her. "Hello,  
Tokimi. It's been a long time..."

Tokimi smiled slightly. "Indeed, Washuu. I still remembered back then during our days in the dimension of the Choushin. That is until you all judged me and the origin of my powers as... 'evil', right?"

The diminuitive redhead sighed. "I'm sorry about that. We were pretty young back then, and we acted rather harshly."

The Goddess of Chaos shrugged. "It's alright, actually."

The redhead looked up to the taller Tokimi. "So..." she began, "What are you doing here then?"

Tokimi gazed at Tsunami, who nodded back to her. "Originally, I came here to see my son, Ranma. But Tsunami told me that he has made a wish and was sent somewhere across entire multiverses."

"... That sucks." Ryoko stated eloquently.

"And before you comment about it, even if we're goddesses, we can't pinpoint him just like that." Tokimi said impassively.

The rest of the conversation wound down to idle chitchat.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere, someplace...

All he could see was darkness, and he felt himself being laid down on some sort of bed. His strength was at an all-time low, for he can't even open his eyes, nor try to move any of his limbs. All he felt right now were the deep gashes that he knew he head all over his body.

"Let me get this straight, you release me temporarily to heal this boy?  
Who is he? Is he so important to disturb my beauty sleep? Can't you just heal him yourself or something?" This was a new voice. It was kinda shrill and high-pitched, like a kid's... but for some reason her tone seemed to signify a very high intellect behind that voice.

Some kind of apparatus clamped itself on his wrists and ankles, probably to prevent sudden motions of his body. He was too drained to protest anyway.

"I can't fully heal him, he has too much abrasions and gashes. Please,  
oneechan! You have to save this boy... can't you feel who he is?" It was the voice of the one who took him out of that blasted pit. He still can't remember where he had heard of that voice before.

He heard a soft snort. "What do you mea--- by Kami-sama! Is he who I think he is?" The high-pitched voice sounded quite surprised.

"Hai... that's why I can't help him well. His heritage is of a totally different one compared to my own. So you have to help him..." The voice of his savior was now quite subdued.

A couple of clanks sounded off from somewhere on his right.

"How did you manage to take him from... wait. No, tell me later. Damn,  
this is one serious case. You do realize that I have to reconstruct most of his limbs. Look at these... the nerves are destroyed in these parts.  
He may not be able to use his right side body anymore..." It was high-pitchy voice.

A sigh.

"I can only think of two solutions. One, make half of his body into a cyborg of some kind, or I use this." It was the high pitched voice again.

It seems that she was showing something to his savior, and whatever it was it made his savior gasp in surprise.

"T-The Masu DNA? Like... Her?" His savior sounded scared now. Even he was becoming pensive at her reluctance. One could actually hear the capital 'H' on the word in the end.

"Hai." The high pitched voice replied back. "I used the other sample of this on my daughter. The regenerative properties of the Masu will help him recover easily from these wounds. However, he will be changed completely... forever."

An irritating beeping noise was heard from an apparatus somewhere.

"Saiyajin... 34.1 percent... Choushin... 33.2 percent... Masu... 32.7.  
are these risks acceptable? These results will be the approximated outcome in this process... and this is a one-time thing. This Masu DNA is my last sample." The high-pitched voice was quite serious in her tone. "This Masu is an unclassified one. I haven't been able to break down its components yet because there was no need to before. I didn't think I would even have to use it. For all we know, it's of a high class one or more, and we know nothing of what it had already assimilated in its own genetic make-up. I really am worried a bit about this... but this would make everything quite interesting as well..."

A short silence ensued. He was getting quite uncomfortable, but for some reason, he still can't wake up.

"Alright." His savior agreed. "Anything to save him." He felt soft hands brushing back the bangs of his hair. It felt good. Effectively, the values indicated that Ranma had almost exactly a third of each of the races' DNA.

"But... change the Choushin data in your computer logs... we must not let anyone know he is part Choushin."

"Ehh?" The high pitched voice sounded indignant. "Why? Do you think that someone might try and -cough- hack into my computer, see his data, take interest in him, and whisk him away for experiments and stuff?"

Silence.

"Uhmm... actually, that's exactly it." His savior replied with mirth.

Someone sniffed loudly.

"Hmph! I'll ignore that senseless remark from you. But you're right about that one though. I could alter my data and write it off as a Juraian instead of Choushin. Nobody would look for the difference, since only a handful of people in the universe knew about the Choushin."

Clicks started resonating all over the place.

"That will work perfectly."

"Fine." The high-pitched voice sounded like she was defeated. "Let's get this over with. Do you realize that this boy has ten of -those- Gems in his body? Where did he get these?" The word was quite stressed.

"I-It must be from his mother. Anyway, don't worry about those and just save his life, please."

Another sigh.

"Whatever. I'm going to restrict some of his memories so that he can't accidentally release these powers and destroy everything in his path.  
I'll put a special trigger in his mind where he'll recover these skills of his if needed. Darn... this will cause some major changes in him.  
did I tell you that he will practically stop ageing at his mid 20s?  
Hmmmm... well, I'm going to use the knock-out gas now... just to be sure he's really out of it."

A small hissing sound was heard followed by the smell of something nice.

Like cherries.

His consciousness was fading once again, but before he got totally lost,  
he heard the high-pitched voice cackle.

"When he grows up, I'm going to search for him again and he'll become my guinea pig!"

Wow... he actually heard the trickle of a sweatdrop from somewhere.

Oh boy.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Parallel world, Kaede's hut...

"You have got to be making those up..." Kaede snorted as she changed the pigtailed girl's bandages. So far, the bleeding had stopped, but Ranma hasn't awakened just yet. She was groaning a bit earlier on, seemingly in a dream state.

They were currently discussing about what Yosho and Ranma had been up to before meeting up with Koneko.

Yosho shrugged. "I told you, but what I told you were real." Idly eyeing the quite warmed pot of water on the fire that burned in the middle of the old miko's hut, the Juraian Prince ruefully scooped a handful of the water in his cupped hands and proceeded to splash Ranma's face with it.  
The action didn't have much effect, but it did the job Yosho was hoping it would do.

Yosho smirked while Koneko giggled secretly as they watched as the miko froze in her pose, her lone eye wide at the now larger and black haired boy in front of her. The bandages immediately became undone once again because of the size change, but fortunately the wound hadn't reopened again.

Still, the look on Kaede's face... was really priceless.

Kaede quickly tore her gaze from the now male type Ranma and looked urgently at Yosho. "How in the name of Kami did she... he... do that!"

Yosho chuckled despite the panicked expression on the old woman's face.  
"It's a curse he got in China a while ago. Cold water turns him to a girl, hot water turns him back. And before you ask, he's born a male..."

Kaede fought down her astonishment at the situation. She turned back to the boy and furrowed her brows. For a while, she sat there inspecting the boy intently. After a while she closed her eyes slowly and nodded.  
"It is not a demonic possession, but it is certainly magic. Now tell me,  
what attacked you and gave this poor... boy... this kind of wound?"

Koneko slumped back down, quivering. "It's all my fault." She whispered softly, but it was loud enough to be heard in the hut because of the silence. "I should've moved so that Ranma-kun could've concentrated more on fighting than on protecting me."

"The creatures we fought are... unique." Yosho said grimly, shaking his head at Koneko's declaration. "It wasn't your fault, Koneko-san. Those beasts called Manticores really used every advantage they have. They knew you were not a fighter like us, and that we'll protect you when it was necessary. They used that knowledge to distract Ranma long enough to lower his guard and concentrate more on protecting you. It wasn't your fault at all."

The small girl was about to protest but Yosho shook his head once more.  
"Believe me, it wasn't your fault." He repeated.

"Manticores? Are these some new youkai?" Kaede asked curiously. New youkai meant new trouble for the group that had gone in search of the Shikon no Tama.

"The youkai are nothing compared to them!" Koneko growled out, startling Kaede effectively. "Ranma-kun and Yosho-san fought only two of them, and look what happened!" She tearfully gestured at Ranma's limp form.

Yosho propped his head on his hand. "May I ask, when these youkai started to appear?"

"They were here even before I was born. I believe some records say it was about more than five centuries. I am not entirely sure of it though.  
Why do you ask, Yosho-san?" The old woman queried.

The ponytailed man released a small sigh. "If my theories are correct,  
they might've been weaker versions of the Manticores... as foot soldiers or something similar."

"I see..." Kaede muttered softly, as she fixed Ranma's body so that he would be comfortable when he wakes up. Suddenly, sounds of scuffles outside caught their attention. Kaede and Yosho nodded to one another,  
the latter following the former, while Koneko stayed behind to watch over the pigtailed boy.

Outside the hut, the old woman and the Juraian Prince was greeted with the sight of an odd group.

A young man barely eighteen with long white hair who carried a worn-out katana led the team. He wore a unique red yukata, which was oversized at the sleeves. Kaede watched Yosho's reaction, but only saw indifference when his gaze fell on the boy's white doggy ears. A woman with dark green short skirt and white upper garments, who carried a quiver of arrows and a wooden bow, followed the young boy slowly. She had shiny black hair that reached up to her waistline. At her side, she was pushing along some sort of two-wheeled contraption that carried a basket in the front. In the basket was a small kid with a fluffy brown tail and matching brown ears. All over the kids body was brown fur, and instead of toes and fingers, paws decorated at the ends of his arms and legs. He wore small clothes around his body, and was currently napping inside the basket. They were followed by a young man in monk-like clothes, with black hair that had a tiny ponytail at the back. He held a staff with tiny rings in the end. His right hand was covered with Shaolin beads.  
Beside the monk was a girl who was dressed in a simple ninja outfit. On her back was a huge white colored boomerang that looked far too menacing for Yosho's taste. She sat astride on a huge feline-like animal with fires on its hooves, that shrunk when the young woman that rode it dismounted. It became the same size as that of a normal feline.

Seeing the foreigners, the weird boy in the red hakama tightened his hold on his sheathed sword and glared at the two strangers. "Who the hell are you?" He growled out.

"Inuyasha... SIT!" The female with the quiver of arrows shouted out.  
The boy's necklace lit up and he was suddenly face-planted to the ground.

Yosho's face twitched. "That was... weird."

The girl who shouted faced them and bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry for his rude remark... but I would have to ask the same..."

Yosho nodded. "Ah... I am Yosho... a traveler of some sorts. I came here with my friend, who was severely wounded. He's currently being treated,  
so forgive him if he can't be with us today." He gestured to the girl beside him. "And this is Koneko. My companion and I met up with her a while ago."

Koneko stepped up. "They saved me from the youkai and those new monsters."

"New monsters?" The girl with the huge boomerang ran up to them. When she saw their blank and confused looks, she blushed a bit for her intrusion.  
"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced us yet. I'm Sango, a youkai exterminator. The man behind me is Miroku, a perverted monk." She paused and casually slapped away a hand that was owned by the monk behind her.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome, the one in the basket is Shippou, a kitsune cub youkai, the one over there beside Sango is Kirara, and this boy over here is Inuyasha..." The girl with the bow said as she gestured to the prone boy that was glaring at her. She threw him a raspberry.

Koneko pointed a shaky finger on Inuyasha, or rather, Inuyasha's fluffy white ears. "A... hanyou?"

Kaede chuckled behind them. They turned to her as she explained, "Yes,  
Inuyasha is a half youkai, born out of the love between a human female and his youkai father, Inutaisho. His father was a very famous youkai that ruled the Western lands, but was quite sympathetic with humans.  
Hence, Inuyasha is here."

"Feh!" Inuyasha snorted as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Don't get the wrong idea! I'm much stronger than twenty youkai put together"  
This statement earned him a smack on the head from the girl Kagome.

"Sorry about him..." Kagome sighed. "He's a bit rude, but he's okay once you get to know him better."

Yosho smiled. "Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's weak at all. In fact, I can feel that he's quite strong."

"Feel?" Kagome looked skeptical as she gazed thoughtfully towards Inuyasha. The hanyou just smirked smugly as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Yes, his ki is strongest in this village, excluding me and of course,  
my companion..." The Juraian Prince said as he scratched his chin.

Inuyasha continued to smile, but it slowly faded away as he finally understood the statement. His smile turned into a frown. "What the hell does that mean? Do you think that you could take me!"

Kaede just fell silent as she would like to hear the response as well.  
She hadn't been able to pry anything important from the traveler. Just bits and pieces about what him and that Ranma person back in her hut had been up to these past few years.

Yosho raised his hands in a placating manner. "Please, don't misunderstand. You are powerful, yes... I give you that. But there is more to strength than just the physical attributes."

Inuyasha growled menacingly and was about to leap towards Yosho when a voice stopped him. "About what you mentioned earlier? The new monsters... what about them?"

Yosho turned to Sango, who looked back at him intently. "They are about this tall, with weird lion-something heads, massive clawed hands,  
colored black all over... real nasty ability to regenerate any wounds and even limbs lost. Have you encountered them?"

The newly arrived group visibly paled at that.

"Have you encountered them?" Kaede repeated for Yosho nervously. If what Yosho described about them were true, then they would have a bit of a crisis in their hands just about now.

Their silence said it all.

"I see." Yosho said with grimness that really grated on Kaede's nerves.  
He sounded like it was the end of the world. In all probabilities, it may have been after all.

"W-We... ran away from them." Sango had her head bowed down. Her pride as a youkai exterminator took a great blow that time. Her sudden fear of watching those wretched abominations regenerate at a horrifying rate,  
and their shrill cries...

Miroku placed his hand on Sango's shoulder in a non-sexual manner. "We crossed paths with two of them on the way back. At first, they seemed to just stand there and take our attacks. While we, seeing that their limbs fell apart, became cocky. Then they began regenerating, and started their attacks. We never encountered anything like them before. They became as fast... maybe even faster than Inuyasha. I tried sucking them into my Kazaana... but they resisted it."

Yosho's brow rose. "Kazaana?"

The monk used his left finger and pointed to his covered right hand. "I got cursed with a Kazaana in my hand. It sucks pretty much everything."

"Interesting." Yosho smiled and nodded. "And yes, I believe you. I know someone else who has some weird curse on him. Anyway, continue with your story..." He added upon seeing the unbelieving stares he received.

"Yes..." Kagome swallowed, relaxing as she realized that she doesn't have to explain much about Miroku's condition. "We left the two new youkai two villages away from here. We realized we need to run and think of another approach on this problem. Even Inuyasha's special abilities hadn't worked any."

"I figured that as much." Yosho said contemplatively. "The only way to destroy them is to blow them to bits. Then blast the bits into a lot more bits. Until it can't regenerate anymore..."

"Feh! That sounds easy enough! We hunt monsters for cryin' out loud! We should be able to kill them easily!" Inuyasha boasted.

Yosho turned his gaze sharply to Inuyasha. "Easier said than done. We already killed twelve of them, enough to know that they are hard to defeat. Especially if you have to battle them in a group. More of them could really dampen your chances of winning." He quickly turned his back on them, as he stared at Kaede's hut. "Not only that, but my friend is currently unconscious because of that last battle we had with these creatures."

"Must be a weakling..." Inuyasha muttered. He squawked as he found himself face to face with the glowing blade of the Tenchi-ken. Everyone gasped at the sheer speed Yosho had used to pull the blade and pin Inuyasha like that. Also, the blade was kinda spooky.

Yosho glared at the frozen hanyou. "Don't you dare say he's weak! He's even FASTER than I am! He could defeat two of those things barehanded without any help at all! He'd probably beat you senseless when he hears you say that about him, using only his one arm!"

"Ranma-kun got distracted. He used his body to protect me." Koneko stated, as she too glared at the hanyou.

Kagome nudged the stilled hanyou, who nodded briskly as he wiped the bit of sweat that appeared on his forehead as Yosho slowly retracted the Tenchi-ken. Everyone watched as the blue blade slowly phased out of existence.

Kaede quickly approached Yosho as he tucked the hilt of his sword into his belt. "That sword of yours... I haven't felt anything like it! It's so full of life-energy!"

"That's correct, Kaede-san." Yosho replied. "The Tenchi-ken is an extension of my willpower and spirit, in other words, my Ki itself. Only a few chosen could wield this sword of mine."

"You mean, you can actually manipulate your ki that easily!" Miroku exclaimed in surprise. He had heard of stories that the most powerful of martial artists and highest level monks could access and manipulate their aura and their ki. But the sheer strain on the body as well as the mind was staggering, if what he heard was correct.

Yosho smiled. "You should see my companion in action. He throws destructive balls of ki around like there's no strain on him."

Sango pulled on Miroku's sleeve. "What's this 'ki'?"

Miroku turned to Sango. "Ki is the very energy of life itself. Normally,  
it cannot be seen by normal eyesight; only special people trained to read lifelines could actually read them. Some martial artists used the rest of their times just to learn how to manifest a bit of it, but they end up forming the other type of energy. There are two different kinds of energies or aura. One is called the 'ki', or the internal and environmental energy. The other is called 'chi', or the emotion-based energy. It is much easier to use 'chi' rather than 'ki'. When either are manifested though, they are used to augment the user's strength, speed,  
and agility. Rumors say that some could actually throw them in an offensive manner, used as an attack or something. Most of those trained in martial arts already had unconscious use of their ki and chi,  
especially in defense."

"Oh." Sango was awed at the explanation.

Kagome finally changed the topic. "How is your friend, by the way?"

The Juraian prince gestured at the hut. "He is unconscious as of the moment. But feel free to look into the hut. It might as well so that you may be able to meet him."

Everyone nodded and followed Yosho in the hut. Inuyasha followed behind albeit slightly shaken by the fact that he almost came close to losing his head. He knew he could heal a bit faster than most humans, but the unfathomable feeling that he got when that blade came near him really sent a message that he might not be able to heal quite as easily if he got hurt by it.

Inside the hut, everyone was treated with the sight of a quietly slumbering pigtailed boy, who by the looks of it was between ten to fifteen years of age. His bandaged left arm was a testament to what had happened in the last encounter with the beasts that Yosho had mentioned.

Yosho had introduced him as Ranma.

Now that they have taken a good look at the boy, Kagome and Sango noted that he was a bit too matured-looking. Ranma's face lacked that certain boyish figure that most boys his age should have. Instead, they found a bit of a man in there. Although Kagome was a bit thoughtful about the name. For some reason, the name Ranma tickled something in her brain.  
She just couldn't understand what it is.

Miroku just shook his head. For some reason, he kept on seeing that his bandaged arm was glowing a bit. Maybe he's just mistaken...

Inuyasha just stared at the boy. He looked human in the outside, but he smelled a bit different, and for some reason that belt of his irked him.

"He seems... fine." Sango said uncertainly, effectively breaking the awkward silence that covered the entire hut. "He seems normal as well,  
although he looked as if he had one too many battles."

As soon as she said that, their eyes almost popped out when they saw a red thing that seemed to have swiped the air just a bit below his waist.  
As it settled, they realized that it was a tail.

"No, he's not hanyou, nor a youkai. And no, I don't know what he is"  
Yosho predicted their question well, for they fell silent after his statement. He had to alter his story a bit. He still can't find a way on how to explain their extra-terrestrial ancestry.

Kagome hmmed. "You know, for some reason, he reminds me of my cousin Saotome Ranma." When she saw Yosho's questioning stare, she continued,  
"I have a cousin named Ranma, from my mother's side of the family. That Ranma is my mother's brother's son." ((I have another cousin in Juuban too, from my mother's sister's daughter, but I have no need to mention that yet.))

Yosho finally examined the girl. Her clothes were a bit off from the rest of the villagers. He gave Kagome a sidelong glance and said, "You are not from here, are you?"

Kagome gulped. "W-Whatever gave you that i-idea?"

"When I first met Ranma here..." Yosho pointed to the boy. "He told me he came from the future. Then I see you, and your strange clothes, weird things that you bring with you..."

"WHAT!" Everyone reacted to that.

Before he could explain though, a loud shrill cry sounded off in the air, which caused Yosho to shudder a bit. They all turned and ran outside of the hut, only to be greeted by a sight of the villagers fleeing from three huge figures.

Already, a pile of dead bodies were displayed on the pathways, which greatly irked the group. The kitsune pup that slept peacefully a while ago was now running towards them with a frightened expression on his face.

Yosho grimaced as he watched another of the villagers was crushed underneath those huge clawed hands of these abominations. He quickly drew the hilt of the Tenchi-ken and let the blade light forth. Beside him he saw that Inuyasha also drew his worn blade, but what was amazing was that the simple sword grew in size and changed its shape, until it looked simply too large for anyone to carry. Apparently, Inuyasha can.

"These, ladies and gentlemen, are the Manticores." Yosho swept his left arm to 'present' the three large monsters. He then dashed forward and attacked in earnest.

The rest could only follow.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma's Homeworld, in some forest in China...

"Never let him take the lead again..." Reiko grumbled as they passed the same clump of trees that they recognized. The girls already carved their initials on a tree trunk as a marker. And they passed by it twenty-two times already.

No. Make that twenty-three. Here it comes again.

"Stupid Pig-boy make us lost again!" Shampoo shrieked as she stopped her hands from throttling Ryoga's neck. She was sorely tempted to choke the fanged boy's throat, and she wasn't the only one.

Akane snorted. "Really, this is just so ridiculous!"

"Hey it's not my fault I get lost easily!" Ryoga complained.

"Then whose fault is it?" Mousse grumbled. "You're gonna blame Ranma again?"

"Damn straight!" Ryoga shouted. "If he didn't go up and leave like that,  
we're not going to be here in the first place!"

"It's so easy to blame someone, but if the blame is on us it's always so hard to accept, ne?" Meiko sighed as she looked around for any clues as to where they were.

"Hey oneechan... take a look at this tree..." Reiko pulled her younger sister to the tree next to the one they carved their initials to.  
Everyone followed the two girls morosely and stopped when they gazed at the tree.

It was a normal looking tree, a huge trunk and thick branches that was fit to survive in the middle of the forest. But it was a bit different from the other trees, where the others were brown leafed because of the incoming autumn season, this tree remained quite green a lot longer than the rest.

"Hey..." Meiko slid her hand down the tree trunk. "It's a..."

"Sakura tree..." Reiko finished for her.

Akane stepped up next to Reiko. "So? What's so special in that? We have lots of those back in Japan..."

"In this place? Besides... this tree is kinda symbolic to us..." Reiko said, never taking her eyes off the tree. "Papa loves these kinds of trees."

"In China..." Meiko asked to no one in particular. "Maybe got pollinated or somethin'..."

"Kewl..." Reiko looked up to the tree. Suddenly, the two girls stiffened and fell into a defensive stance. The rest of the group were further puzzled when Reiko and Meiko started looking around frantically.

"What wrong?" Shampoo asked as she too brandished her maces. Better safe than sorry.

Reiko's response was to clench her fist tightly. "We have company."

"About twenty of them." Meiko added.

"T-Twenty?" Akane stammered as she hastily back away from the trees and bushes that surrounded them. Ryoga pulled off several of his bandannas and prepared for the impending attack. Mousse pulled out two large scimitars from his sleeves.

All of the sudden, a group of men leapt out of their hiding places and trained their spears and swords towards the hapless group. Most of them have animalistic features in them, some had wolves' clothings and even some with striped tigers' furs. They circled the group and watched them warily.

Shampoo gasped as she finally recognized the men. "Musks!"

Reiko and Meiko perked up immediately when they heard Shampoo. "They're Musks? That's good!" Turning to one of the men, Reiko seemed to announce something in another language. Even Shampoo had no idea what the little girl was explaining to the Musk men.

The Musk in turn backpedaled and paled visibly when Reiko finally finished what she meant to say. They conversed amongst themselves and came up with a conclusion.

One of the men stepped up, who wore a brown fur of a large bear around his body, and bowed slightly to Reiko. "Welcome to Musk lands, my lady.  
I am Paprika, commander of this small hunting party."

Before anyone could question the declaration, Reiko replied, "Thanks!  
Can ya take us to Prince Herb now?"

Paprika nodded. "As you wish, Lady Reiko." He quickly turned to his men and gestured them to escort the whole group.

Akane and the rest of the party just scratched their heads in confusion at the sudden turn of events.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere...

Ranma's vision was once again filled with darkness. Only his body was visible to him, and right now he was contemplating on the visions that has been replaying itself in front of him.

For some reason, he felt that it was urgent for the one who saved his life back then after the fateful Neko-ken training to lock those parts of his memories. Right now, the flood of memories have slowed to almost into a trickle.

He mentally counted off a list of important terms that he had 'remembered' from the flashbacks. He already knew about the Saiyajins.  
the Juraians... but that was not true wasn't it? The truth of the matter was that his savior intentionally changed the records of what he was really made of. His supposed-to-be 'Juraian' aspect was really a false one, rather, he was actually a 'Choushin', which for him was still a mystery. He hadn't recalled anything about it. Another one was the Masu part of him.

He groaned. Loudly.

Why the hell does these things always happen to him? He could still remember the times he never had to worry about these things.

A flash of light blinded him once again, and he found himself in a crossroad.

In one turn, there was the faintest glow of light that flickered every now and then.

In the other turn, there was nothingess in the horizon. The fact that you could literally hear various shrieks of pain and torture from it really irked him.

So naturally, Ranma chose the turn with the faint light. As he reached the end of the long road, he found himself falling into a blue warp. As he passed by the waving lines of existence that surrounded the walls of the warp, he vaguely saw fleeting images of luminous lines. An image of three spheres of silver appeared while he contemplated on it. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone in a flash as well.

As he looked deeper into the glowing lines that surrounded his form, he finally understood that those were the ki lines that flowed within his body. As his body continued on its path deeper into the warp, his mind was flooded with various still images of battlefields. Phantom images that came from his Masu DNA were stored and sealed in this part of his mind.

The unbidden and horrifying power of the Masu that was in his blood.  
the sealed memories of his lost ancient heritage was soon opened in his mind once again.

The Masu... once dubbed as the most powerful demons in the universe.  
reborn once more.

A bright glare of light blinded Ranma into unconsciousness once more.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Homeworld...

The Musk Kingdom was situated in the middle of a mountainous area of China, near the Pools of Sorrow. Lush forests surrounded the mountains that protected the kingdom. The main palace was carved out of a mountain face, which provided a natural defense against surprise attacks from the ground. The carvings were done by the ancestors of the current Musks themselves, having been bred from various animals that they had changed through the Springs.

The greatest line of Musks ever created were the infamous Dragons.  
Someone with dragon blood was considered royalty among the Musk. It has been many centuries ago during the era before the great Draconians disappeared as they retreated to the other realms that one has been caught and drowned in the springs. After starting a new breed of Musks from the Spring of Drowned Dragon, the early Musk destroyed the well of cursed water that provided the Dragon Spring for their own protection.

The latest generation of Musk was currently ruled by Herb, one of the Dragon blood. His line has been in the seat of power for many centuries.

Prince Herb was currently brooding in the Musk Palace throne room. Lime and Mint stood side by side the prince. Their job was to guard and protect the Musk royalty from any and all attacks.

Herb's current mission to find a fitting bride was a bust. His latest try got him his female cursed form. He also thought about his defeat in the hands of the mortal Saotome Ranma... and his own life debt to the pigtailed martial artist. The Musk were also suffering greatly,  
population-wise. The fact that most of them are men posed a great problem. He tried asking for the Amazons for help, but was turned down.

((Damn those wretches!)) He mentally screamed. ((Those moldy hags they called their leaders knew nothing! Our civilization is dying by the minute! How can they be so stupid and stubborn!))

Herb also received the news that the Amazons have renewed their attacks on the Pheonix Tribe once again. The Pheonix and The Musk had long forgotten their attempts to achieve total dominion over all of China,  
simply because their dwindling numbers and rapidly losing grasp over some power in their native lands proved more important than those other endeavors. The Pheonix king Saffron, according to his sources, also suffered a great loss over a fight against the very same mortal that defeated him. The Amazons took advantage of the fact that the Pheonix were currently busy in rebuilding their home. Clever tactic, but was unnecessary.

Also, there was his Lore Master, Oregano, who has predicted that some 'acquaintances' from the past are going to arrive soon.

His musings were immediately cut off when excited voices were heard from the other side of the massive doors that led to the throne room. The double doors slowly opened and revealed his scouting party, who led a rather familiar looking group behind them.

Lime and Mint stiffened and prepared for battle, but was waved off by Herb.

The newcomers were led by two children, one who looked suspiciously like Ranma's cursed form. They were not cowed by the massive warriors that surrounded them, but were rather amused by all of these.

One of the group that Herb easily recognized was the one called Tendo Akane, the one he threw in anger back in Japan. That was when Ranma took it as a personal insult and proceeded to challenge him and caused the incident of locking his cursed form as well.

Akane was followed closely by a young man Herb knew as one who went with Ranma. What was his name again... ah! Ryoga... the one who turns into a pig.

Behind them, he saw the great granddaughter of Elder Cologne... the one called Xian-Pu, who was flanked by the other amazon, Mu-Tzu, who also accompanied Ranma in their confrontation. Xian-Pu's angry gaze towards each of his men only proved that the animosity of the Amazons towards the Musk were still very much alive. Not that he blamed them, though,  
because before he took the throne, the Musk were known for their vile and repulsive acts against women.

Herb sighed. He has much to change in the Musk. Herb silently gestured for the leader of his scouts to approach him. When Paprika finally reached within hearing range, Herb softly inquired, "What do you have to say?"

Paprika knelt in front of Prince Herb, bowing his head real low.  
"Herb-sama, we found the outsiders loitering just in the confines of our domain. We were about to chase them out, when one of the children declared the Ancient Verse of Sanctuary in our native Musk dialect."

Surprise crept in the expression on Herb's face. Only those close to the royal family of the Musk were given such a priviledge to know about the Verse of Sanctuary. It was a powerful tool for those who seek shelter in their lands.

Herb turned his gaze to the children, who were smiling dubiously at the scene before them. He addressed to Paprika, "Tell me, which one was the one who declared Sanctuary?"

Paprika nodded slightly. "It was the red haired one, my liege. She introduced herself as Saotome Reiko."

"Saotome!" Herb hissed urgently. He stood up and stepped towards the two children. He stopped when he reached three feet in front of the girls.

"Saotome Reiko... what connection do you have with the one called Saotome Ranma?" Herb asked in a commanding tone.

Reiko beamed at the monarch. "I'm his daughter! Herb-chan!"

Sounds of outrage filled the room. Herb's eyebrow twitched as he heard the title given to him by the child. "Herb... chan?"

Reiko was about to answer but was silenced by an elbow from her sister.  
Meiko stepped up and bowed in front of the Musk prince. "Forgive my sis,  
Lord Herb. She forgot that ya still didn't know anythin' 'bout us. I'm Saotome Meiko, and you already met my older sis Reiko. We're Saotome Ranma's daughters in the future."

Herb's irritation turned to confusion. "Future?"

Meiko nodded vigorously. "Yup. Ya see... we made this wish from this sword thingie, then got stuck here in the past. Someone told us that somethin' called the 'Tear of the Dragon' can get us back. She also said that it's with the Musk. And about that 'Herb-chan' crack Reiko-neesan said before, it's coz yer a good friend of papa in the future... VERY good friend."

Herb looked shocked at the moment, which melted into a smile. Despite the weirdness of the situation, it was still amusing. "I... see. A good friend you say? That's good... I need more friends, it seems. Anyway.  
it sounds like it is really important, so I will oblige your request.  
Follow me to the treasury then."

The crowd of guards parted to let Prince Herb and his companions pass through. Lime and Mint were about to follow, but Herb just shook his head in their direction. With a hesitant nod, Lime and Mint just settled on watching the throne for the Prince.

While on the way to the Treasury, Herb decided to start a conversation.

"So... you are the offspring of Saotome Ranma? Tell me, where is he right now? Why hasn't he come with you?" Herb asked the group as they entered the Royal Treasury.

"Ranma's gone. He wished himself away with the broken Nanban Mirror. We can't follow because the mirror was too damaged to repair anymore"  
Akane said sadly.

Herb nodded. "I see." He said as he rummaged in the piles of gold that littered a chest. Suddenly, his face lit up. "Ah! Here it is." He pulled out a certain blue jewel that was mounted on a gold bracelet. The Musk prince handed the artifact to the two children.

"Yay!" The two clutched at the 'Tear of the Dragon' with awe.

Herb smiled. "You know, you could also use that to repair the Nanban Mirror, I think."

"No!" Everyone turned to Reiko, who glared at the group. "Don't you dare wish that! What are you gonna do when it gets fixed? Bring papa back and hurt him again? Do ya realize how selfish you people are!"

"But airen..." Shampoo began, only to be cut off when Meiko waved her hand in the air in a dismissive manner.

"But nothin'! I heard stories 'bout ya from papa. All ya did was fight and fight and hurt papa then fight!" Meiko growled out.

Herb chuckled softly. "Such wisdom from ones that are young." Herb bent forward to Meiko and whispered something in her ear. The blue-haired child nodded with a smile. She took hold of the artifact and muttered some words in a language not familiar to anyone except Herb.

When Meiko finished, the jewel glowed in blue light that spread over the entire room. When the light died down slightly, everyone gasped when they saw a small holographic figure of a dragon floating on top of them.

Reiko and Meiko whistled in appreciation. "Wow... so this is where the Dragonballs came from..." Reiko muttered to herself.

The group except Herb was still dazed at the sight. The Musk prince looked at Meiko and nodded.

Meiko smiled and said, "I wish for a portal that would lead me back to where and when I came from."

The miniature dragon's eyes glowed slightly before a light blue portal shimmered into view beside it. The dragon opened its mouth and said,  
"Granted." before it blurred back into the crystal. The jewel's color dimmed into black.

Herb sighed. "Oh well, another two thousand years of waiting for another wish."

"What is this!" A voice came from the blue portal. Akane, Ryoga,  
Shampoo and Mousse quickly backed away and prepared for an impending fight. Herb tried to grab the kids and lead them away from incoming danger, but the two tykes just ran past him and stopped in front of the portal.

"PAPA!" The two Saotome squealed as two hands came out of the portal,  
followed by the rest of whoever shouted behind it. The whites of his eyes were deep-set blue instead of the normal white. His pupils were golden in color as well. His body was firmly toned under the heavy white robes that the figure wore. His cheeks were adorned with green leaves that streaked from his lower neck up to his upper cheek. His raven-black hair was tied up in a short pigtail. Behind him was a young woman who looked almost exactly like Ranma's girl form, only her pigtailed hair was a bit longer than Ranma's, which reached below the waist. Her eyes were sienna, contrast to Ranma's blue-gray.

The figure turned to the two children and smiled. "There you are!" Then his face turned into a scowl. "Do you have any idea how worried your mother was?"

"Gomen... otousan..." The two girls bowed their heads.

The girl placed her hand on the young man's shoulder. "Don't be too hard on them, ne?"

The young man sighed and bent down to pat his daughters on their heads.  
"It's alright, Rei-chan... Mei-chan. Let's just go home, ne?" Seeing the two girls nod in approval, he smiled and led them towards the glowing portal.

"Wait!"

The trio stopped their advances and turned around to face those who called out. Akane stepped forward and looked at them with hesitation.

"Ranma? Is that you?" Akane asked.

The young man shrugged. "I guess. Though I am from at least fifty years ahead of your time, I am still Ranma. I guess you met my daughters,  
Reiko and Meiko. The girl with me is Shidou Hikaru..."

"A pleasure to meet you..." The girl named 'Hikaru' hooked her arm into Ranma's own. "Now come along, dear. You know how Acchan is when we're out late."

Ryoga was enraged at seeing Ranma once again, with ANOTHER girl at that.  
"RAAAANMAAAAAAA! How dare you go with another woman! Prepare to---"

"Oh give it a rest willya!" Ranma cut off Ryoga's usual battlecry.

Reiko looked up to the redhead. "Is mama angry, Hikaru-mama?"

Hikaru just shuddered. "Just get home real quick, Reiko."

"Wait..." Akane said softly, but was heard by all, "You mean you're not their real mother?"

The Onna-Ranma look-alike shrugged. "I can't tell you much about it. I'm really sorry."

"We should go now." They all turned to the future Ranma, who stood beside the portal. He faced Herb and nodded slightly to the Musk emperor. "Thanks for everything, Herb. Just remember to call on me when my other self gets back, if ever you need help."

Herb nodded back. "I shall remember."

"Bai-bai everyone! Thank you!" Reiko and Meiko bowed to the Nerima Crew.

Ranma smiled and took his children's hands. Hikaru strode up to the portal and went in first, followed by the trio.

"Ranma!" Akane's voice rang out once again, causing Ranma to look back as he pushed his daughters into the portal.

"Yes?" Ranma asked simply. He had his one foot inside the portal already.

Akane fidgeted in her position. "W-what about us? I mean... are we...?"

The pigtailed man stared to the youngest Tendo. He sighed and shook his head. "Don't you remember? You chose..." he pointed to the bandanna-clad boy, "Him."

"But... I thought you weren't going to come back!" Akane cried out desperately.

Ranma just shrugged. "Then just think of it that way. It would be best for you."

"Ranma... please..."

"RANMA NO BAKA!" A voice from the portal echoed across the hallway.  
Ranma cringed a bit as he heard that voice. A familiar battlecry that was shouted by a familiar voice. But from the emotions that spilled out of the voice, it went out quite differently. The tone sounded like a call of desperation or... something so loving... like what husbands and wives call unto each other.

Shampoo looked at the portal, wide-eyed. "That... that sound like..."

Mousse only nodded in agreement.

"That was... A---" Ryoga's statement was interrupted by Ranma.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Ranma directed into the portal. A slender arm reached out and grabbed his shoulder. A flash of light blue hair was seen by those watching the scene. Before anyone could react, the arm yanked on Ranma, causing the young man to teeter and get sucked in the portal.

As the portal slowly swirled into nothingness, a faint and embarrassed voice of Ranma was heard from it.

"Ahh... anata... tadaima."

An even fainter voice answered back. A loving voice that was soft and full of emotions.

"Hmmm... Ranchan no baka..."

Herb's chuckles broke the contemplative group's musings. Seeing the questioning looks he received from them, he shrugged his shoulders, a habit he got from Ranma, "It's rather funny for me. He feels so powerful, yet he still cowers in the might of a woman." With that, he chuckled louder.

Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo and Mousse, their minds still weakened from the various surprises that went to their way, had no protection in Herb's uncharacteristic actions.

After seeing the majestic dragon prince snort like a drunk man, they facefaulted.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The battlefield was wasted with craters and debris as the fight went on.  
Earlier, Inuyasha had placed Kagome on the top branches of a high tree that grew quite ways away from the battle. The young kitsune pup Shippo was shaking like a leaf in fear of the monsters that suddenly attacked.

Inuyasha now stood shakily as he propped himself up against the Tetsusaiga. He was hurting all over, and his clothes were torn in five different places. He couldn't believe the resilience of those Manticores Yosho was talking about. He heard about them from his recounts earlier before, but now it seemed that they were far worse than he let on. The one he's currently fighting has begun its regeneration of its lost right arm. There was still two more of the monsters out there, fighting Miroku, Sango and Yosho. They still have yet to destroy one of them.

The hanyou grimaced as he sank down to one knee, his left arm dangling on his side uselessly. Blood dripped from a gash wound that grazed from his lower forearms towards his back shoulder. He got careless after he got a good hit at the monster, when he hadn't realized yet the regenerative properties of the Manticore. He was caught in post-leap as he fell down on the ground, unguarded. Now he was paying for it.

While he waited for his second wind, Inuyasha's head looked from side to side, taking note of Miroku and Sango as they battled against their own adversary. Miroku was absorbed the blue energy balls that erupted from the creature's mouth, as well as the vile liquid that melted most of the earth and tree trunks that were unfortunate enough to get in its way.  
His Kazaana was doing a great job in absorbing them, although it was useless when Miroku had tried to absorb the Manticore itself. Sango on the other hand threw her boomerang-shaped weapon in a distance, slashing the monster's limbs and decapitating them. Once in a while a lance of light flares up the air, hitting the monster in different parts of its body. The enchanted arrows of Kagome were pretty effective, and the wounds it inflicts on the monster remained longer than the others did.

Inuyasha's gaze turned to Yosho, and was quite surprised at the man's sword skills. He was impressed by the way Yosho had decimated half the body of the Manticore that he faced. The monster on the other hand was regenerating slower than normal, though for what reason, Inuyasha could only guess. It was probably due to that special sword that Yosho used.  
With a sigh, he pushed himself up once again and faced his own problem,  
who already finished in its healing.

"Damn you..." Inuyasha muttered angrily, as he slung his huge blade over his shoulder. "I will defeat you!"

Before he could leap towards his opponent, a female shriek echoed across the field. Inuyasha's head snapped towards the source of the voice.  
Terror filled his face as he saw Kagome falling down the tree she was perched in before. Shippo was squealing as he tried to right his body against the rapidly approaching ground. From the smoking piles of debris that was once a tree, a stray bolt of energy from the Manticore Miroku and Sango were fighting seemed to have veered off course and decimated the wood. Miroku and Sango were still busy fending off the rampaging monster, unable to lend a helping hand to the falling Kagome. Yosho was too far and will probably be too late before he reached the girl.

Inuyasha was about to jump to where Kagome will fall when the creature he was fighting suddenly backhanded him away that caused his body to hit every tree that stood in his flight path. His body finally rested on a clump of fallen trees, but he was unable to stand up because of the protesting pain that screamed at his spine.

"KAGOMEEEEE!" Inuyasha shouted hoarsely as he watched the girl from the future plummet to the ground as he watched helplessly. Suddenly, a blur passed under Kagome before she disappeared.

A moment later, Kagome's staggering form stood ways beyond the reach of the Manticores. Beside her was a red-haired person, who wore the same outfit as the guy that was being treated in Kaede's hut before.

Kagome looked to her savior, and saw the figure of the boy that was tended inside the old miko's hut. She almost cried out for joy and resisted the urge to glomp unto him for saving her life. She was about to express her gratitude when she suddenly stiffened as she gazed on his features. His left arm was still bandaged because of the wound he received before. His hair was dark red... the color of blood, and on his face was a blank and neutral expression. But the most prominent feature she saw were his eyes. The pupils were gone, and the entireness of his eyes was colored blue-gray. It was eerie, especially when coupled with the emotion his face showed.

Ranma hadn't even acknowledged the girl's presence as he stepped forward. His pupiless eyes gazed emotionlessly at the battlefield. All of the Manticores suddenly stopped attacking and just stood there,  
looking towards Ranma's direction.

Sango and Miroku looked on confused as their adversary suddenly stopped moving and raised its head to gaze towards Ranma's direction. They followed the monster's faraway look and gasped.

Inuyasha sank down on his knees once again as he watched his opponent lose interest in him. He was wondering why the monster was acting the way it was.

Yosho leapt back from his enemy and cocked his head to one side when he noticed that it has stopped attacking. He looked into what caught its attention and goggled. There stood Ranma, with one arm and all, calmly looking at the battle as if it meant nothing to him. He took note that Ranma's hair was dark red, eventhough it was fairly obvious from the contours of his clothes that he was male as of the moment. He suddenly took interest when Ranma raised his left arm in front of him and scrutinized it intensely. He gaped when Ranma's wounded left arm suddenly sported dark purple blue energy tendrils that seemed to waft from the wound. Yosho felt the tremendous energies that gathered in Ranma's direction.

Ranma's expression hadn't changed a bit even as he looked at his glowing stump. Tendrils of energy snaked outwards the end of the decapitated arm and formed an image. As the tendrils solidified, it turned out to be an image of his left hand. A bright glow suddenly burst out of the tendrils and materialized. Everyone gaped widely at Ranma, whose arm was now complete once again. The pigtailed boy rotated his arm and wiggled his fingers, still inspecting it intently. After seemingly satisfied with the arm's regeneration, he slowly lowered the arm down to his side and turned his gaze to the battlefield once again.

The thirteen-year-old boy's body glowed with power.

Ranma's fists suddenly clenched tight as the winds picked up. Energy overflowed from his body as his clothes suddenly changed into something.  
Yosho's eyes widened in shock when he recognized the battlesuit that now adorned Ranma's form. He vaguely remembered the last time he saw such arms, nearly two hundred years ago, Ryoko's battlesuit. But instead of red and black, Ranma's armor was blue and black. The former Prince shuddered when he saw Ranma's eyes dark blue eyes glowed with great intensity.

The Manticores drew their heads back and growled in defiance. They quickly left their respective targets and leapt towards Ranma.

The boy's expression changed for the first time, as a feral smile erupted from his face.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Homeworld, Morisato Residence (or Temple, whatever...)...

A certain brown-haired goddess shuddered violently as she felt something course within her body.

"Belldandy! Are you okay?" A concerned Keiichi Morisato quickly appeared by her side as she slowly teetered while cutting some vegetables for dinner. She turned to Keiichi and forced a smile.

"I-I'm... alright. It's just... I felt..." Belldandy closed her eyes shut as another wave of nausea attacked her senses. The mortal frantically supported her shoulders as he led her to the living room couch. Urd was already standing beside the brown couch, visibly upset.

Keiichi lay the ailing Belldandy down on the sofa and turned to Urd.  
"What's wrong with her, Urd?"

Urd shook her head. "I don't know! I felt what she was talking about a while ago, but I didn't react this way... what the!" She gaped at Belldandy. Keiichi also turned to look at what spooked Urd and gasped.

Belldandy's tattoo on her forehead was glowing brightly as a red beam of light from above shone on it. The symbol was erratic and was rapidly changing shape.

"What's that! What's going on... Bell-neesan!" Skuld came down from her lab to ask about the sudden feeling, only to find this phenomenon.

On Belldandy's forehead, the symbol finally settled into three small black spheres in a triangular pattern pointing downwards. But, as soon as the new symbol materialized, it slowly flickered once again and went back to the elongated ellipse that signified Belldandy's office of power as the Goddess of the Present.

The rest couldn't do anything but watch.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Author rants:

A fanfiction is a story based on anime/manga. It is not to be taken seriously.

Someone complained that I changed some things. Heck, if I didn't change anything, why would I call this a fanfic in the first place?

I already explained in the beginning that I will be making some changes that happened in canon anime universes, and that means combining OAVs of Tenchi Muyo here and there to satisfy my plot target or having Ranma get a power up coz he needs it badly to satisfy the requirements. He needs it where he's going.

Besides, Ranma may be strong and powerful, but he will not, I repeat,  
WILL NOT be omnipotent. Nobody is.

Not even Kami-sama for cryin' out loud.

I agree that my grammar and sentence structures would probably need some work.

About Tokimi not being a Juraian, you're right. She's not a Juraian per say. She's one of the Choushin. So Ranma is a Saiyajin/Choushin/Masu.  
But the reason this was temporarily changed was stated in this chapter.

If you're wondering who the Choushin are, refer to the latest Tenchi Muyo! Ryou-Ohki! OAV 3 (I think). This OAV is centered on the three goddesses themselves, and why Tokimi is who she is. Her actions in the past had something to do with the destiny of the Choushin, and she was the one who was the most hardworking in turning it into reality.

If you have any concerns or questions about Tenchi Muyo's Timeline, view this HP - http/ questions about who or why the heck my understanding of what Tenchi Muyo is will be answered, and also, take note that I 'combined' some of the plots from different Tenchi Muyo Divergences.

If you expected to see writings that reflected the same episodes/comics the various anime followed, then go watch the anime or read the manga instead. Why are you reading fanfictions then!

As for why this chapter is late, I have to get used to the 1024 x 768 pixels screen area, which originated from 800 x 600 before. Man did I get a headache for about a day or two.

I was tempted to revert it back, but when I did, it all looked kinda fuzzy, so I returned it to the higher one.

Another reason was that I took some time researching about the timeline of Rurouni Kenshin. 1880s something... I think.

Also the Sakura Taisen timeline... approximately 1920s.

In another note, FINALLY! Reiko and Meiko returned to the future! Now I can concentrate on developing Ranma's currently changing body.

Also, I could concentrate on the parallel timeline Ranma is currently treading on.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	8. Chapter 4

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Summer heat evaporates most of the creative juices in the brains of fanfiction writers. Really, it's a known fact. I'd rather spend my day sleeping rather than think in this heat. Good thing it's the rainy season in my location right now.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. for pre-reading this stuff. Saiyan No Baka 03 is released, and can be found either in or his homepage.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 4 - THE WHEEL OF FATE SCREECHES TO A HALT

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The whole battle screamed to a stop as they all witnessed a new player in the field.

The young boy was currently flexing his newly recovered arm, which was still sporting bits and pieces of the bandages that were wrapped around the formerly amputated arm. That and he was also glowing red.

Yosho almost dropped the Tenchi-ken in shock. He recognized the symptoms of that... creature that he has encountered once before. It took him a long time and almost half of the universe before he even got to defeating that demon that used to ravage the planet of Jurai all those years ago.

Yosho was thankful that he got the lucky shot over to the demon's neck,  
momentarily sapping her strength that gave him the time to yank all of her gemstones out of her body. He entombed the totally drained destroyer of worlds in this planet all those years ago, using his own Juraian energies to create the prison that could hold her powers in check. He then sealed the gemstones he got from the monster into the Tenchi-ken's hilt, all three of them.

Now looking at this rather impassive looking young boy that Yosho had accompanied all these years, no matter how short it was, he can't help but remember that demon... the demon Ryoko.

But there was a contrasting difference between this boy and the one he encountered way back then in the past. For one, the boy exhibited a more stoic and seemingly pacified flux of power, which could be a boon or a great curse, Yosho really didn't know. Whilst he remembered that Ryoko's aura of pure hatred reeked out of her body as she exploded with destructive energy, she attacked Jurai without any second thoughts at all. Second, the boy's expressionless face really took the cake, which looked like he really hadn't got any qualms about the repercussions of spewing this much energy on his currently very young body. It seemed to Yosho that Ranma has yet to master the power he unwittingly unlocked within himself, and was now acting on pure instinct alone. Ryoko on the other hand went wild and berserk, although by the looks on things on Ranma's end right now, the possibility of him going haywire is not far from the list.

Miroku shielded the gaping Sango with his body, as he watched intently on the events that were transpiring in front of him. His body shuddered strongly at the waves of pure energy that he felt that was coming from the boy in the middle of the energy tornado. He just knew that his Kazaana was useless in something like this.

Sango felt her knees buckle at the sight. All their enemies seemed to converge towards the boy's position. As she watched Ranma's hand regenerate itself from the stump before, her awe was unmatched. It was rather handy that he had that kind of ability, but it also made her wonder what kind of monster the boy was. Having no obvious conclusion,  
she just settled to watch the upcoming confrontation.

Kagome had long made her way to the non-moving hanyou Inuyasha, who used his sword as a prop to hold himself upright as he glared on the spectacle. The energies Kagome felt weren't really malevolent, but it wasn't all that friendly either. She held Inuyasha's red yukata tightly as she looked fearfully on the light show. If Yosho's accounts about his companion were true, then this young boy could very well be her cousin.  
She shuddered at the thought.

Inuyasha was quite livid and a bit wary upon seeing the glowing Ranma.  
The way the boy regenerated made him remember someone named Naraku, the one his group was really after before the encounter with these new monsters. He somehow detected a faint loss of control on Ranma's part,  
for some reason, so he gripped his sword tightly in his right hand. All the while he leaned absently on Kagome's ready shoulder.

Ranma's pupiless eyes surveyed the surroundings. As he spotted the forementioned monsters, his lips curled up into a nasty smile.

The shrill cries of the Manticores reverberated loudly all over the field, making all the people present save for Ranma cover their ears. If possible, Ranma's grin just grew wider as he heard the cries. He leapt to the air, and stayed floating up in the air, much to the surprise of the spectators, although Yosho's expression reflected that of dread.

The shrill cries turned into gurgles of horror as the monsters got mutilated one by one. But there was something weird about the battle itself, because Ranma refused to give the final blow. The boy clearly avoided his more devastating moves and just swerved against the swipes of his enemies. The spectators also took note of the glowing things along Ranma's upper wrists. They looked like gemstones, and were glowing bright silver.

A third gem glowed brighter than those other two on Ranma's wrists,  
which was located somewhere on Ranma's chest. Even if Ranma's body was clothed, the brilliance of the silver glow still filtered through the fabric on his chest.

The boy continued his onslaught upon the monsters, his afterimage appearing more than twice in one place. But, even as impressive as his attacks were, none of the monsters disappeared as of yet.

Yosho's eyes narrowed slightly. "He's toying with them." He stated quietly, but it was picked up by Inuyasha's sensitive hearing. The hanyou turned sharply at him.

"Waddya mean, 'He's toying with them', huh?" Inuyasha growled as he limped towards Yosho's position, with Kagome on tow. Sango and Miroku heard Inuyasha's angry question, and was approaching him with their own curious expressions as well.

The older man glanced at the approaching group. "He's not delivering the final blows. He has enough energy to destroy them at this point. He's still... testing the waters... of his new found powers."

"W-what is he!" Everyone turned to the shivering Kaede, who was transfixed at the one-sided battle in front of her.

Yosho gave her an appreciative look, and nodded to himself. "You can feel it then?"

Kaede turned to glare at the long haired man in front of her, but the shock was still too much for her to change her expression. "How can you not feel that! Aside from the clearly visible battle aura, which may I add for all I know is known to usually be invisible to the naked eye,  
the pressure in the air is so great that I could get smothered in it!"

"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked loudly as she took in the weird emotions playing on her friends' faces. If this boy Ranma was really her 'cousin', then she would have to understand how the hell he got up from his coma state and recovered his limb like that. It seemed to her that he was some sort of a monster, just like what he's currently fighting right now.

Miroku frowned. "The boy is expending so much life energy that it is phenomenal. And the way he moves... he's even faster than Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru combined!"

"But..." Yosho gritted his teeth, as he tightened his hold on the Tenchi-ken, "I don't feel the boy's familiar ki in it. Whatever he's doing, he's not controlling it right now. I would suggest that we prepare to defend ourselves if ever he decides that those Manticores are not enough for him to play with."

"Who is that boy!" Kaede asked Yosho once again. Her desperation in her voice was evident.

Yosho grimaced. "He is not of human descent, if that's what you wished to find out." He sighed loudly as he massaged his temple with his fingers. "I am not entirely human too, but his origins are more obscure than mine. There are other lifeforms out there in the stars..." he trailed off.

Kagome gasped. "You mean... my cousin's an alien! And so are you!"

Yosho shot Kagome an thankful gaze. "So, you are not from this time, I figured just as much. Anyway, that is true."

Inuyasha, Kaede, Sango and Miroku had blank expressions on their faces.  
"Aliens?" they asked in chorus.

Kagome turned to her uninformed friends. "Well, you see... those stars out there in the sky are more than just decorations. They are like our sun itself, with planets like ours, and supporting life. In the future,  
we called them 'Aliens' or 'Extra-Terrestrials', meaning, those who came from outer space."

Kaede faced Yosho. "Is this true? Are you beings from another world?"

The ponytailed man nodded hesitantly. "Yes. I crashlanded in this planet almost two Earth centuries ago. Although I am part human, because my mother was half-Earthling. My race is called Juraian. Ranma over there,  
from what I gathered from his stories, came from the future. He was born on this planet, but his blood is completely non-human. The most obvious species in his anatomy is his Saiyajin trait, which was because of his tail. Although his tail color was the first I've seen so far. The power he's exhibiting right now, I've seen this one a long time ago. I am still hoping that isn't the case though..."

Sango scratched her head in confusion. "Juraian? Saiyajin?"

Yosho nodded once again. "Juraians are from a far distant world from here. They were known for their special powers which I can't explain clearly to you as of yet. Saiyajins on the other hand are known as planet-destroyers. They have powers way beyond the imagination of anyone in the universe. The Juraians are the only ones that could match the powers of the Saiyajins. The Saiyajins have a special condition that makes them grow into giant uncontrollable beasts once they are exposed in the light of a full moon. Don't worry, Ranma seems to have none of that special condition." Thankfully! Yosho mentally added gratefully.

The group fell into silence as they went back to watching the battle in front of them. Ranma was still dancing around the decapitating blows that were intended for him, and his feet never even touched the ground.  
His quick orientation to aerial maneuvers strengthened the emphasis of the Saotome Aerial Combat specialty.

Suddenly, Ranma found himself in the middle of a tight circle, with the monsters in each side. He grinned nastily and gathered red energy in both the palms of his hands. He spun and released multiple ki blasts on all sides.

The group had to duck and shield themselves as the explosions filled the air.

"Dammit!" Inuyasha screamed eloquently as he shielded Kagome from the flying debris.

Ranma lowered his hands as he watched the dust settle down. Still grinning at his foes, he phased out of his position and reappeared on the ground, holding his arms to his side. Yosho noticed at least four fifteen inch luminous blue blades jutting out each of Ranma's knuckles as he clenched his fists.

The soft blue blades in Ranma's knuckles looked like wings when gazed from afar, especially with Ranma standing with his arms spread a bit wide on his sides like that.

Ranma then proceeded to blur out of existence once again and gutted his enemies left and right, unmindful of the savage way he did it.

As the pieces of the Manticores flew everywhere, Ranma took to the skies once again. The blades on his hands mysteriously vanished as he cupped his hands near his torso, aiming at the still dusty area that he had whirled himself into a while ago. His hands glowed red as a ball of something appeared in his hands.

Yosho bristled as he felt the power build-up in Ranma's direction. He turned to the spectators and shouted, "Everyone, find somewhere to hide.  
Ranma's going to release something real powerful that might reach even us!"

Sure enough, the bright glare of light coming from Ranma's now outstretched palms became a signal for all of them to run and take cover somewhere.

BOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!

The loud cries of the rapidly disintegrating bodies of Manticores sounded off across the battle site. The earth shook and shuddered as pieces of soil and stone flew in all directions, even occasionally hitting the now hidden watchers. Strong gusts of wind created a backlash that emulated from the ground zero of the blast.

When Yosho and the others finally managed to peek through the cloud of dust that covered the area, they found a rather large crater that was once where the monsters lay cut up and helpless a little while before.  
Nothing was left except for some pieces of burnt wood and the smoking dug-up earth hole. They looked up and saw the still floating Ranma hanging on the air, his arms on his sides as his head drooped down.

Ranma's head snapped forward, and slowly turned towards the cowering group.

His pupiless eyes bore into them, as he seemed like he was staring into their souls with them. His hands twitched visibly, and the blades of blue appeared once again on his knuckles. He grinned at them evilly.

Yosho cursed under his breath as he unsheathed his own sword, the blade sprung forth from the wooden hilt of the Tenchi-ken. "Inuyasha, take everyone away from here. I'll try to stall Ranma as long as I can."

"Wha?" Kagome asked stunned as Inuyasha perked up to Yosho's request. He was about to comment about it when Yosho's voice broke his thoughts once again. "I know you want to stay and fight, and believe me if you were a bit in better shape now I would welcome the company. But seeing as you are now, you will only give him an easy target. Listen well, in Ranma's state right now, he might be even far more dangerous than the Manticores themselves."

Sango unslung her gigantic boomerang and positioned herself beside Yosho. "I'll stay with you." She said in a calm voice.

Yosho shook his head. "No, I better handle this alone. Conventional weapons will just irritate him more."

Kagome finally found her voice. "You're not serious in saying that we should leave you behind here while you battle... Ranma... alone! Don't you trust us?"

"Dammit! I fought with someone like him a long time ago! She had destroyed a thousand worlds before I barely beat her with this weapon of mine! I assure you, if you stay here, I will not be able to defend you.  
You might even count as a distraction for me!" Yosho growled. He breathed in deeply and continued, "It's not that I don't trust you at all, it's me keeping you alive! Right now, you can't even beat the Manticores, how long do you think you will fare to him, who destroyed those monsters a little while ago without any effort at all!"

Sango quickly backed off at the tenacity of Yosho's outburst. She exchanged glances with her companions, who nodded back reluctantly.  
Sighing, she looked at Yosho once again, who still haven't taken his eyes off the floating Ranma. "Alright, just be careful, okay? We still would like to learn more about you."

Yosho laughed half-heartedly. "If I survive this, me and Ranma are gonna give you the story of your lives."

Sango nodded and rejoined the group as they backed away quickly from the impending fight. Meanwhile, Ranma on the other hand got impatient and raised his arm, pointing the bladed knuckles towards Yosho. The older man just growled and looked back at Ranma defiantly.

With a smile of glee, Ranma dove for Yosho. The latter lifted his sword up and desperately blocked the test swipe the former had thrown to test his defenses. His whole frame shook as he felt the power behind the blow despite its slow execution. Yosho knew that Ranma was able to him at that first attack alone if he had been serious.

"So... there is still Ranma in you after all! Still holding back against your opponents..." Yosho said out loud. If Ranma had heard the comment,  
he didn't give any signs of acknowledging it. The pigtailed boy just cocked his head to one side and proceeded to test the strength of Yosho's Tenchi-ken by furiously attacking it with swipes of his 'claws'.

Clucking his tongue in annoyance, Yosho pushed off the confrontation and backed off. When he had succeeded in keeping the berserked Ranma away,  
he concentrated on his own powers. Suddenly, the whole area was bathed in a soft white glow. As the light died down, Yosho was garbed in the white Juraian battle armor. The last time he has summoned this was when he battled Ryoko. Yosho felt that this was such an emergency that needed the armor.

SHHHHHH-CHINGGGGG!

CLANG!

CHINGGG!

The sound of sliding blades of energy echoed all over the field, as the blurs of Ranma and Yosho met each other in furious swipes and thrusts of their respective weapons. Sparks of blue cascaded out as the blades encountered each other, which showed just how strong their blows were.

In an eye blink, a strike scored for Yosho. The older man had struck a forward thrust into Ranma's lower right abdomen. The blade went into the front side straight out of his backside. The pigtailed boy grimaced in pain as he bit off a scream, but nevertheless the tenacity in his eyes hadn't dimmed the slightest, though he did stagger a bit as Yosho quickly pulled the humming blade from the wound.

Yosho allowed himself to rest a bit as he watched Ranma back off from his strike. As he watched, the wound was already glowing blue and closing itself up. Yosho just sighed. He needed to at least slow down Ranma, but how? Unless he stabbed at the boy's throat Ranma couldn't be fazed by anything anyway. But never mind that as of now. Ranma just straightened up once again.

Yosho lifted the hilt to eye level, the sword horizontal up on the air.  
He pointed the blade towards Ranma's leg. It would have to do.

Yosho lunged, aiming for the leg. Ranma quickly sidestepped and let Yosho pass by him. The pigtailed boy raised his clawed hand up in the air to slash at Yosho's back, but was surprised when Yosho twisted his body and used the centrifugal force of the twist to throw the illuminated sword directly into Ranma's unguarded neck.

THWOCK!

Ranma's gurgled scream filled the air as his head snapped back. The energy sword, with its hilt still filled with power, struck devastatingly into Ranma's throat. The blade went through and through once again. Ranma's hands quickly clawed at the air as his body fell back to the ground with a thud. He was jerking wildly.

Yosho quickly reoriented himself and made his way towards Ranma's writhing body. His hand went to the hilt of the sword as he fed energy into it once again. Yosho grunted as he struggled to stabilize Ranma's thrashing.

"Crap..." Yosho's eyes twitched as he realized what he just muttered.

I've been hanging around Ranma for too long...

The Juraian Prince looked sadly at Ranma. "Good thing he's in berserk.  
Who knows how proficient he is when he's in control and is evil?" He blinked when his gaze went to Ranma's hands. The blades were really wicked-looking.

"Where the hell did you get those!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Inuyasha abruptly paused in walking as his fluffy white ears flicked and heard a loud cry coming from the battlefield. The inhuman growl wouldn't have been picked up by normal ears, but he is all but normal after all.  
His resolve stiffened as he clutched the untransformed Tetsusaiga to his side. He turned back towards where the battle was waged and prepared to run.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome strutted up to him, glaring all the way. "What do you think you're doing?"

The hanyou snorted softly as he continued to gaze towards the battlefield. "I'm gonna go back."

"What!" Kagome bellowed out in shock. "But why? Are you just going to ignore Yosho's wishes!"

"No!" Inuyasha retorted hotly. "But if I don't go back and help... my pride will be crushed forever! I don't wanna feel that! A human... or.  
something... shielding a demon! Unthinkable!"

"Inuyasha..." Kaogome began, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her sentence. She turned and saw Sango shaking her head.

"He's right, Kagome." Sango said softly. "I feel the same too. My own pride as a demon exterminator is screwed. I can't sleep knowing that I left someone like Yosho out there to defend me. I will go back with Inuyasha."

"I'm going with you." Everyone turned to see Miroku calmly looking back at them. His fierce expression seemed foreign all of the sudden.

"Why... why are you all doing this?" Kagome struggled not to cry out in irritation. They were given a chance to escape... and they wanted to get back? Why?

"Pride mostly, but also the fact that I wanted to help Yosho." Sango replied.

Miroku shrugged. "I just wanted to protect Sango as much as I can."

Inuyasha snorted. "Whatever!"

Kagome was silent for a moment, as if debating to herself whether to agree to their plan or not. After a while of consideration, she finally looked up to them and nodded tiredly. "Fine..." she muttered, "But make sure you come back, you hear me?"

At their nods, the trio of youkai hunters went back towards the path to where they came from to help Yosho.

Back in the battle, Yosho grimaced as Ranma's movements became much more erratic and jerky than before. He was having a bit of trouble trying to control Ranma's angered body while he drained it of the excess energy.  
The pigtail boy's head was still in the red color, although it was now pulsating back to its original black color. Despite the danger in his situation, Yosho managed a small smile as he saw the brief return of Ranma's psyche.

Just a little bit more... Yosho thought to himself as he tightened his hold in his wobbling sword once again.

But alas, Fate has something in store for them once again, as Yosho's hand suddenly stiffened in numbed pain. Yosho's eyes widened as his grip finally slipped off the sword, and watched in slow motion as Ranma's head slowly lifted up from its downed state. The surrealness of the situation was really quite foreign to the Juraian prince, and that he couldn't believe that he might be doomed to die in the hands of a thirteen-year-old super hybrid alien.

Yosho closed his eyes as he in turn fell back to the ground. He resigned himself to his fate.

Some scuffles were heard, but other than that nothing touched him. Yosho hesitantly opened his eyes and saw a red garbed figure standing between him and Ranma.

"Inuyasha..." Yosho said softly as he watched the hanyou struggle to hold down Ranma. On either side, Sango and Miroku helped in clamping down the pigtailed boy's motion.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder and grunted. "Don't need any of our help, huh? Yeah right..." He muttered gruffly.

"Inuyasha! Stop that!" Sango chided the hanyou softly.

"It's alright..." Yosho said as he struggled to stand up. "Truth be told, I'm actually quite glad you came back. I thought I was a goner in that slip-up." He walked over the huddled group and held down the Tenchi-ken once again. This time, the interval of Ranma's flickering red to black hair became longer, until it finally stopped into black.  
Ranma's blue pupiless eyes faded and shrunk back into the blue-gray pupils. With that, the boy's movements ceased as his eyes shut closed.

"Is... it... o-over?" Inuyasha stuttered out as he panted. Ranma's strength was a bit too much for him. He could imagine what would happen to him if he did challenge the pigtailed boy earlier.

Yosho nodded tiredly. "Yeah, I guess... uhmm. Miroku, what are you doing?"

Miroku looked over to Yosho as he paused from his work. On his hand was a rectangular piece of paper that resembled a ward of some sort. "I'm planting some demon wards for Ranma if ever he wakes up."

The older man shook his head. "That won't work. He's no demon. It would just irritate him once he wakes up." He looked over his surroundings and grimaced. "By the kami... everything's destroyed."

Inuyasha snorted. "Feh. The village was totally obliterated. I guess only us, Kaede-obaba, Koneko and Ranma survived."

"So, now what?" Sango finally asked the ultimate question.

"Now..." Yosho said tentatively as he brushed a strand of black hair from Ranma's face, "We go back to my land. I might know someone who can explain and perhaps help in Ranma's predicament."

"Oh?" Sango asked. "And who might that be?"

"Hakubi Washuu." Yosho deadpanned.

They hurried back to the village, or whatever was left of it. Inside the now-demolished hut of Kaede, Yosho and the rest entered. Kaede and Kagome tensed when they saw Ranma's unconscious body being carried by Inuyasha and Yosho. Kirara ran towards its master after casting a wary glance towards the sleeping pigtailed boy. Shippo just ducked behind Kagome's back.

Yosho and Inuyasha carefully placed their cargo unto the crumpled mat inside the ruined hut. Koneko quickly went to the boy's side, caressing his arm softly. The Juraian Prince then faced the frightened people and raised his hands slightly in the air. "No need to panic. Ranma is harmless as of now. But we need to take him back to a place where he could be examined. Since there is nothing much left here but us, I would like to invite you to come with me."

Kaede looked around her hut. Huge holes decorated the walls that were caused by the multitudes of explosions that had occured because of the battle. She looked further and saw countless dead bodies of the people in the village, who were very much alive a while ago. She suppressed the urge to cry.

Everything was a mess.

The old miko knew there had been survivors, and wished them all the luck in the world. Looking back at the ponytailed young man in front of her,  
she nodded her consent.

Time to live once again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Gates of Time of this Parallel World, a certain green haired Senshi awoke in her sleep. She sat abruptly on her soft bed, panting as sweat pour down her brows. She quickly leapt off the comfort of her bed and strode up to her Time Key. She gestured to the blank large screen in front of her and managed to conjure the project she has been working on for the past three thousand years. Her red eyes widened when she saw the images.

The future was in disarray, and it branched from the one she had set up into a thousand other possibilities. Not only that, those thousand possibilities branched out into other thousands upon thousands of other possible futures.

The Crystal Tokyo was nowhere to be seen.

She cried out in dismay. "This can't be! The Senshi aren't even born yet! How could this have happened!"

The Senshi of Pluto frantically searched in the Time Gates for any clues as to what or who caused the greatest disturbance in the timeline up to date.

The only clues that she had successfully extracted from the Gates were of a young man with a hair in a pigtail, with a fluttering picture of a reddish tail.

Her irritation grew when the images failed to clear themselves up.  
Instead of clearing, they blurred a lot more than normal, preventing her from making a definite lock on her target.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Home World Masaki Shrine, Washuu's Pocket Laboratory...

The diminutive redhead was sitting on her console, typing something on the keyboard. She occasionally took a peek at the large bell-like container on her right side that housed a certain silver shelled egg,  
which was approximately seventeen inches in average diameter. Quite large compared to the first cabbits Washuu had encountered.

"Amazing, simply amazing!" Washuu cackled out loud as she gazed on the egg. "I hope Ranma would forgive me if he finds out that I took a sample of his blood a long while back. If Ryoko has Ryo-Ohki, Ranma should have his own as well!"

Washuu still remembered the time when Tsunami had disturbed her sleep.  
It was almost twelve years ago when Tsunami came to her with a boy in tow. He was severely injured from scrapes and cuts along his body. At first, Washuu was outraged that Tsunami would just wake her up for this little thing. She demanded why Tsunami couldn't just have solved it by healing the boy. As far as she remembered, the blue-haired woman was the Goddess of Life in the first place. Healing the boy was a small thing for Tsunami.

The redhead was then surprised when she heard Tsunami say that she couldn't heal the boy. When she finally examined the young child, her surprise grew tenfold when she realized who he was.

Tokimi's child... a Choushin with a mixture of a Saiyajin...

A worthy specimen...

She finally understood Tsunami's reluctance in this case. The healing power of Tsunami might not work in this case, and would probably make things worse. So Washuu took the boy and started her work.

After the examination, Washuu's enthusiasm was greatly diminished when she found out how serious the wounds were. The boy was literally dead,  
but for some reason, he was stubbornly holding unto the thin thread of his life by pure willpower.

Just like his mother...so stubborn. Washuu thought warily.

Washuu knew that if left alone, the boy will die in less than a day's time. They had only one chance, and the risk was great.

That was when she had spliced Ranma, the boy's DNA with the last Masu DNA sample she had left. Ranma may have had super fast healing even without the addition, but the graveness of his wounds was even far too much even for his enhanced healing. The gamble paid off, but Washuu was a bit cautious. She took precautions in limiting Ranma's power by locking some ingrained instincts in his head, especially from the Masu point-of-view.

Ranma healed perfectly, as if there was any doubt on her success.

As a habit, she took a sample of his blood and kept it for safekeeping.  
But Washuu was finally tempted to use it anyway, when she remembered how her daughter Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki interacted way back then. Ranma might become lonely and would come to need some company, so she took the liberty of using the blood sample and turned it into her third cabbit.  
Ranma was finally released and her 'parole' has expired, so it was back to the cryo-chambers Washuu went. But not before storing that silvery colored egg that Ranma's blood had produced in another cryo-chamber.

Now, after twelve years, she finally remembered about it when Ranma visited them almost a month ago. The egg had been dormant for a short while, and was now ready to hatch. Washuu calculated that a new cabbit will be born within the next fifteen days.

Washuu just couldn't wait the possibilities of how this new hybrid of cabbit will turn out. Having a minute amount of Ranma's DNA in this cabbit's own would prove to be very interesting indeed...

The silver egg suddenly pulsed a bright red glow that originated from its center. Washuu grinned as the egg pulsed into life.

"Yes! I have a new guinea pig!" She smiled.

Maybe it was a change in the lines of destiny, or fate, or whatever.  
but one thing was for sure. Washuu is going to have the shock of her life.

It seems that like its own 'sibling', the egg was saturated with Chaos.  
A short moment after the egg pulsed, a small rip in reality appeared on top of it. Washuu's glee turned into horror as she watched the silver egg disappear into the dark swirling hole, into what place, we do not know.

For now at least...

Even as the rip resealed itself, Washuu continued to stare blankly at the empty container.

A few moments later, a loud screech of indignation echoed all over the Masaki home, eliciting shudders of fear from each and everyone in the said home.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Parallel World, Ranma's 'dumpsite'...

Climbing up a small hill, Yosho and the rest of the group walked across the grassy plains, with Ranma in a makeshift stretcher in tow. Some youkai managed to attack them since they left the ruined village, but they were successfully fended off. Lucky for them, it would seem that the Manticores have also made themselves scarce, perhaps recuperating and regrouping from that sudden loss that they experienced a while back.  
Although Yosho had no idea if the monsters were that intelligent or not,  
he just shrugged as he thought of the worse-case scenario anyway, just to be sure.

It has already been four to five days since the beginning of their trek towards the shrine Yosho spoke of. As of now, they are currently refilling their canteens made out of skins of animals that have been hunted before from a clean river that was located at the bottom of the small hill that they have transversed.

Silence permeated the area as the group worked amongst themselves. They have decided to stop there for a while to rest. Finally, Koneko was the first to break the stony silence.

"Yosho-san..." Koneko began, "What do we do when we reach the shrine you spoke of?"

Yosho sighed as he continued to wash some cooking utensils that they were about to use to cook some food. "I wish I knew. I plan on freeing someone well-versed in Science and as well as Technology. She also has the knack to discover secrets... even when confronted with magic."

"Will she be able to help Ranma?" Kagome couldn't help but ask as she gazed down to the unconscious pigtailed boy.

"It has promise." Yosho replied shortly. "It's better than to wait and see whether Ranma has broken the berserker state he was in or not,  
right?"

"I guess..." Kagome relented.

Sango walked up to Yosho and Kagome's area and sat down beside them.  
"Yosho-san, can you tell us anything about this... Washuu person?"

Yosho smiled gently and stopped his work on the utensils. "Well... keep an open mind here. Remember, I'm not from this planet." he began, "As far as I heard from where I came from, Washuu was the best scientific mind in the known worlds. She could conjure anything out of junk heaps,  
create her own large place of work out of a small area, and was very curious at anything she hadn't heard of before. If it's a mystery,  
she'll be the one to solve it. She was involved in an experiment that locked her up. I've heard that she's been double-crossed by her assistant, who stole her creation."

"You have very high hopes for this..." Sango commented on the side.

Yosho nodded. "We have to find out what happened to Ranma... as well as prevent it from happening again. I only lucked out in stopping him this time. What if I fail the next time? Who will be able to stop him?"

"May this old woman join in?" Kaede came wobbling into their semi-circle. Yosho stood up and helped Kaede sit to one side.

"Kaede-baba, we were just talking about what we are to do in the future." Koneko intoned seriously.

Kaede nodded slightly. "I know, dear. We have much to do... so many secrets to uncover, right?" She looked meaningfully at Ranma's sleeping form.

Yosho cringed slightly, just below the observation level of the others.  
But somehow, Sango caught the small action.

"Yosho-san..." Sango said meaningfully, casting a half-lidded stare unto the now slightly sweating Juraian prince, "Are you telling us everything?"

Yosho's eyes widened a bit, but he didn't say anything.

"Yosho-san?" Kagome asked as well.

The prince suddenly expelled the air in his lungs as he tried to muster the courage to tell. "Well I..." he began reluctantly, "I mean... oh well. Since we are going to travel together, you might as well know.  
Ranma's state was a bit familiar to me..."

"What do you mean?" Kaede prodded.

Yosho grimaced as he forced himself to remember the past. "At least two hundred years ago, I volunteered to hunt down a dreaded planet destroyer. Her name was Ryoko, and she was truly an exact match for her name. It was as if she summoned demons as she tore across the universe during that time. I chased her off, and wandered until we reached this faraway planet. We battled for days, not even resting one bit. I poured every ounce of power I had in that fight, and I almost didn't make it.  
Her powers were astonishing, and it seemed that she had an infinite source of it. Finally, I got a lucky blow in, and ironically, it was the same blow I tried on Ranma. I got her by the neck, and kept her there until I pulled off three gems from her. You see, I realized that it was the source of her powers. That left her terribly weak and helpless, and I sealed her inside the cave where the shrine was located."

Yosho held out his sword hilt as he showed the three red gems to the listeners. "It was a long fight, but it finally ended. In the battle,  
she destroyed my ship, so I got stranded here. Then two hundred years later, I fight another one like her. But the difference here is... Ranma doesn't have any of the three jewels in him. I did see some kind of a different gem within him. But that wouldn't make him any less dangerous.  
Did you see the rate he recovered and the way he regenerated his lost limbs? That's quite tiring to fight with..."

"That is true." Kaede nodded sagely. She had been surprised that Ranma had been able to recover his lost limb effortlessly.

"I just hope Washuu-san can help us." Yosho muttered to himself.

Everyone kept silent as they just looked at each other. It was a long trip, but it will be worth it.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Ranma's mind...

"Great... now I'm lost in here?" Ranma snorted disdainfully as he floated in the darkness. It has been a while since another image appeared, but now he realized that it was all over. So what the heck is he still doing here?

As he was about to start another bout of curses, the room suddenly lit up. Ranma was blinded by the light. He rubbed his eyes furiously and blinked them as he tried to get reacquainted with the light. When the spots finally went from his eyes, he gaped as he saw a red haired girl standing in front of him, her arms clasped behind her back. Ranma was sure she wasn't his female form, because the color of the eyes was all wrong. They were green, and her red mane was in a crab-like design. It reached to her upper waist. She wore a black fit body stocking that had long sleeves and leggings. It was then overshadowed by a pair of shorts and a loosely fit t-shirt.

To Ranma, the girl was about thirteen years old, and was currently staring intently at him.

Ranma gulped nervously. The way she looked at him felt like a cat watching a mouse. "Uhm... hi?" he squeaked as he slowly backed away. He knew who this little girl is! And not only that, but the memory of her 'little experiments' were still fresh in his memories.

The girl blinked. Then she giggled lightly at some private joke only she knew. "Hello, Ranma-chan!" she chirped cheerfully.

Seeing his pensive state, the girl cocked her head to the side slightly.  
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Ranma looked at her suspiciously, his tail quickly unwrapped from his waist and started to twitch in the air. "Well excuse me for being curious as to how you entered here, but I just want to know what you wanted."

The girl nodded. "Direct to the point... I like that in a man." She winked at him seductively, which was currently disturbing for the fact that she was just a kid anyways. "I am Washuu, the greatest scientist in the whole universe!" She cackled madly as two puppets emerged from her shoulders, clapping and throwing confetti around.

Ranma sweatdropped. "Uhmm... yeah. Actually, I kinda know who you are. I met you before I got here. But that still doesn't answer why you're here, right?"

The girl named Washuu immediately stopped laughing and blushed. She coughed and cleared her throat. "Oh... right. Sorry about that. As I was saying, I am Hakubi Washuu, a scientist. You can call me Washuu-chan."

She started pacing in front of Ranma. "This place here is inside your mind, and if you're here, that means you're currently unconscious out there. Now that I'm here, then something must've happened to trigger the failsafe I installed in your head when I healed you up all those years ago. I assume it was years ago. I am not really here, mind you. I am just a memory that I hid in your brain, dormant, until such time that it will be needed. Well, such time is now I'm afraid."

Washuu gazed towards Ranma and saw his bewildered look. "You were taken inside my lab by Tsunami. You were all scratched up and wounded pretty badly. I had no idea how to treat you. By the way, you already know you're not human right?" Seeing his nod, she continued, "Okay, even with your incredible healing abilities, the wounds you sustained from whatever did that to you really put a damper on things. In other words,  
you were dying. I had only one way to save you, and that was to use a special kind of treatment. I spliced your DNA with some other race that I classified as the Masu. These amazing creatures had this hyped up healing ability that surpassed everything I had expected. I even used it when I conceived my daughter. But that's beside the point now right?"

"That means I have Masu blood in me, as well as the Saiyajin and"  
Ranma faltered because he forgot the other one.

"Choushin... you have Choushin Megami blood in you as well. Anyway, the treatment went perfectly. But that doesn't mean that it won't cause any problems." Washuu explained.

"Problems?" Ranma asked fearfully.

Washuu sighed. "Ranma-chan, I did something horrible to you. I did something to change you permanently and didn't ask permission to do it.  
But it was the only way to heal you. Please understand that."

Ranma looked at her for several minutes before answering, "I understand.  
Now what seems to be the problem then?"

Washuu grimaced a bit. "Well, the Masu were not only known for their fast healing, but other abilities as well. Their bodies can naturally negate gravity as well as their lack of need for air. One of their unique skills was their ability to displace their own mass to be able to pass through solid objects. It's pretty handy. Another is teleportation,  
meaning, instantaneous long distance travel by use of thought only. I also know that they can split their bodies into two, but I don't know if it can be more than two. Their energy levels are a little higher than the Saiyajins, and their bodies can survive the vacuum of space. As their name denotes, as long as there is Mass, they survive. Constant mass is their main theme. They were able to assimilate some characteristics and abilities of some things that they can come in contact with, and that which they can bow down to their own wills.  
Though I was not able to decypher what characteristics that the Masu DNA in you had taken."

She gave Ranma a pinning look. "Ranma-chan, you are very very powerful,  
even before the splicing with the Masu. Now that you are part Masu, I shudder to think about it. So I put some mental blocks in your mind, to act as a limited limiter of some sort. You cannot access some of your more powerful abilities because of that. But for some reason, you broke the blocks. In turn, it activated this interactive memory drone in your head to instruct you just in case. I don't know if I can help, but I will darn try."

She turned her back to him and gazed at the dark beyond. "I heard that my daughter went berserk when her full powers were unleashed. Although I am not sure if that was intentional or not, she was quite a powerful world-destroyer. Yes, Ranma-chan, she destroyed thousands of worlds before Yosho defeated her. I don't want that to happen to you."

"Why?"

Washuu turned to Ranma when she heard him ask that. "Why do you care so much about me?" he continued.

Washuu kneeled down and cupped Ranma face in her eyes to make him face her. "Ranma-chan... the blood that flows in you came from my sister,  
Tokimi. Eventhough sometimes I think she's misguided, she is my sister.  
I love her, and now her son, my nephew, is in trouble. You are family,  
and I will feel devastated if I don't help you."

She suddenly blinked and backed up. "I can't connect with my remote computer from here. No sign of it whatsoever, and the coordinates of dimension are a bit off. Where are we anyway, I mean outside this mind that is..."

Ranma scratched his head. "Oh that. Well, I made this wish from a certain Nanban Mirror, and it was kinda broken when I used it last.  
Probably it took me to some remote dimension or something, but as far as I went in this world, it's a distant past parallel to where I came from."

Washuu nodded. "I see. You have to find my counterpart in this world. I may be able to help you if I could actually touch you. Don't worry about this installed memory, it will erase itself once it served its purpose.  
Again I'm sorry, Ranma, for what I've done to you."

Ranma shrugged. "No biggie. It's not really a bother to me."

Washuu gently embraced the boy. "Just find my counterpart here,  
Ranma-chan, and I will help you. Take care of yourself for now, nephew.  
I'll be back a little later to accompany you if you're still here. When my counterpart is found and is able to download the necessary data she will need to reconsider about your condition, I will be deleted. I cannot delete myself as of now because I hold necessary data for my counterpart to use or whoever is qualified to take care of you."

The pigtailed boy smiled and hugged the diminutive scientist back. "I understand, Washuu-chan. And thanks... you know... for saving my life all those years ago."

Washuu nodded and let Ranma go. She smiled softly at him and backed away, slowly disappearing in a black mist.

Ranma sighed. "Things just kept getting better and better, ne..." he muttered.

He was once again left alone in his mind. For now.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back to the Parallel world...

Five more days on the road later, the group finally reached the bounderies of the future Masaki Shrine. As in the future, the land was littered with ancient trees that grew into clumps of forests. A small mountain was in the middle of it all, and they could see a small trail leading to the top. A small structure stood at the top of the small mountain.

"So... that small shrine up there is the place you spoke of?" Inuyasha asked gruffly as he looked at the scenery around him with an air of boredom. Kagome elbowed him, however, mumbling something about being discreet about his words or something.

Yosho just chuckled. "Actually, the whole forest area that surrounds that small mountain is part of the land."

"Wow... a big area of land..." Koneko gawked at the whole scope of it.  
Miroku beside her had felt the intense energies that swirled over the air. Since they have stepped in the bounderies of the place, he had felt the wall of pure ki that hung over. It scared him to some degree,  
because he had never felt anything so powerful before. Miroku looked back at the old miko Kaede, who was also gazing contemplatively at the surroundings, trying to discern whether everything was real or not. As like the monk, Kaede felt the strong spiritual energies that reside in the area.

"By the way..." Yosho mused as they walked on, "The shrine is run by me with four other priests. The other priests have no idea as to who I really am. I would like you all to practice caution with what you speak of in front of them."

The others nodded in agreement.

After a short time of taking note of the surroundings, the group finally was on the move once again. Eventhough they have entered the area, they were still a bit far from the shrine. It was already noon, and as they moved now, they would reach the shrine by early evening. Ranma hadn't even stirred from his slumber as he was carried by Inuyasha and Yosho on a stretcher, nor do they want to. They were still wary about him being berserk when he awakens.

About a half hour of hiking upwards the slope later, they stood in front of a simple but big wooden house, that the group following Yosho assumed that was the shrine. A smaller house was situated at the left side of the shrine proper, which Yosho pointed out to be the office of some sort. There was a small path that veered to the left in the middle of the shrine and the shrine office, which led to a light forest behind the shrine itself. Far beyond the forest was a small stone mountain, small compared to the other mountains that encircled the area.

A group of four men in priest clothes emerged from the office. They all looked at the group and immediately recognized Yosho and the stretcher-ridden boy. They quickly went to them and relieved Inuyasha and Yosho of their cargo.

Yosho smiled gratefully at the priests and turned to the newcomers.  
"Well, let me introduce you to my fellow priests of the shrine... Genjo Tanaka, Hino Akira, Yamano Eiji and Tendo Hisaki. They took care of the shrine with me, especially if I leave for some important errands such as the one I've been with Ranma."

Almost as one, the four mentioned priests bowed their heads slightly towards the visitors.

The tallest priest with the name of Hino Akira spoke up, "Yosho-san,  
welcome back. What happened to Ranma-kun?"

Yosho sighed. "A long story, Akira." He told his fellow priests about what had transpired for the last five or so years of traveling of Ranma and Yosho. The priests blanched when they heard of the sudden abundance of monsters around the countryside. They also kept in mind to stockpile enough wards in the near future to repel the youkai. Although the priests were a bit wary about Inuyasha, Miyoga, Shippo and Kirara's presence, they realized that they were some of the good youkai that tried to live peacefully with the humans.

Yosho ushered the group inside the rather deceptively large office hall,  
since Inuyasha and the rest of the youkai in their group can't enter the shrine anyway. Inside the office, Ranma was carried to one of the spare futons located at the back room, which was used if ever some homeless individual managed to stumble unto the shrine and ask for a roof to sleep under. After the priests made sure Ranma was quite secured (they tied him in bedposts with huge chains, which its origins were still unknown up until now, and wards plastered all over the place... because as far as they understood from Yosho's explanation, more like assumed,  
Ranma was possessed), they rejoined the exhausted group and served tea and some bread to them, which was gratefully accepted.

After a short while of resting, Inuyasha finally said, "So, when are we gonna see this Washuu person?"

One of the priests, Hisaki, immediately rebuked, "What? Were you planning to free the dreaded goblin Washuu!"

"Goblin?" Kaede, Kagome, Sango, Koneko and Miroku asked altogether.

Yosho rubbed his palm on his forehead. "There's no other choice, Hisaki.  
I'm afraid we have to free her. Although the stories about her being a monster goblin was a bit highly exaggerated, partly to make the illusion of her being highly dangerous so that she may not be awakened unnecessarily. But she is needed now."

Tanaka shook his head. "Everything is happening too fast. Sudden monster population outbreak, Ranma's gone berserk, the goblin Washuu being freed... what else is next? Ryoko being freed as well?"

Yosho and the other three priests blanched visibly.

"Bite your tongue, Tanaka!" Akira hissed, "The demon Ryoko must never be freed! You heard what happened all those years ago!"

"Please, don't quarrel again." Yosho groaned. "Washuu's help is needed.  
She may be the only one to explain and probably bring back Ranma to us.  
Don't worry, I will keep her in line."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After much debate, Washuu's release was finally approved. By the early next day, they went outside of the office and followed Yosho towards the slightly used path. Kaede, Koneko and the other priests chose to stay and tend to Ranma's needs because the young boy was still unconscious.  
Kirara was convinced by Sango to stay as well.

The group of Yosho, Kagome, Sango, Inuyasha and Shippo reached a small intersection of some sort. Yosho opted to go to the right path, which swerved a sharp turn towards the other side of the stone mountain.

"Yosho-san?" Kagome asked after some time of silence, "Where does the other path lead to?"

Yosho glanced down to Kagome. "That path goes to the sealed cave of Ryoko, the world destroyer I defeated all those years ago."

"I... see." Kagome nodded.

A lingering silence enveloped the group as they hiked their way towards Washuu's depository. It was nearing early noon when the finally reached a small clearing. Across the clearing lay a more elaborate path towards a small apparatus of some sort that was sticking out in front of the mountain face.

"Washuu's prison, a cryo-stasis chamber that was designed specifically to contain someone as resourceful as her, crashlanded here long ago. She was trapped there by her own assistant, who goes by the name of Kagato by the way. He's the same one who kidnapped Ryoko and used her to destroy Jurai, in order to steal Tsunami's tree. You see, Kagato wanted to take the greatest power in the universe, and he discovered that Tsunami's tree was that." Yosho explained as he examined the apparatus.

The Juraian nodded here and there as he prodded with the device in front of him. Just as he was about to press something, he felt a huge manifestation in the air. He turned suddenly, to the surprise of the rest of the group, and stared at the black swirling rift that hung on the air in the clearing. He slowly walked towards the rift and examined it cautiously, followed by the others.

When Yosho finally walked up underneath the portal, a silver light shot out from it, temporarily blinding them all. Yosho, in his haste to cover himself, started to raise his arms up to his face. Halfway there though,  
a soft thud was heard. Yosho grunted as he fell back down to his backside. When he opened his eyes, he gaped at the silvery ball that was clutched to his chest. Kagome carefully approached Yosho, followed by Sango. Inuyasha and Shippo hung back on the background, examining the surroundings for surprise youkai attacks.

The odd ball shaped like an egg pulsed in silver light. Yosho stood up and brushed the dirt from his backside with one hand. He chuckled and said, "Well, we really DO need Washuu this time. Strange things keep on appearing, and we need her to analyze them."

After securing the egg in his arms, Yosho went up to the contraption that imprisoned Washuu and pressed his palm on the surface. A soft blue glow erupted from Yosho's body, which flowed out to the surface of the equipment. With a loud clang and a long hiss, a cloud of cold air emerged from the machine, covering most of the nearby surroundings.  
Kagome and Sango hugged themselves when they felt the biting cold air rush past them.

The contraption was a bit of a bubble size, with it's chromed sides glistening against the high sun. A small porthole of a circular window was the only opening one could find from it. The front side of the bubble opened up and revealed a figure within the foggy interior. Small bits of ice chips were quickly melting from the figure's pale cheeks.  
Her red hair burst out of their containment, which fell down on the figure's shoulders. She was quite tall, and her childish body was covered by her hands, which were crossed over her chest. Although she had a modest black bodysuit over her slender body, it still covered little of her body. Slowly, her eyes snapped open, which revealed green pupils to everyone.

The small girl tried to move, but fell forwards as her body had still to cope with her new awakening. Yosho saw this happening and tossed the egg to Inuyasha, who automatically caught it. He dashed forward and caught the falling redhaired girl. The girl's stiff body slowly melted in Yosho's arms. She slowly lifted her head up and reoriented herself to her surroundings.

Yosho helped the woman to her feet and said, "Hakubi Washuu, I presume?"

"I... erk... I..." The girl stammered, unable to stabilize her voice.  
Instead she opted to nod at the question.

Seeing her nod, Yosho smiled. "Welcome back, Washuu-san. It's been a long time, more than two hundred years have past since then. You are on Earth, where your pod had crashed all those years ago. By the way, your daughter, Ryoko, is imprisoned in this planet as well."

Washuu's eyes quickly gazed to Yosho, seemingly asking a question.

Yosho understood her gaze, though. "She's alright. Ryoko caused quite a ruckus on Jurai and other planets back then, but I learned that she was under Kagato's influence. I stopped her though, and she's currently sleeping in a cave not far from here. But that's not why we awakened you."

Looking intently at Washuu, he continued with all seriousness, "Someone very powerful appeared to me one day, five years ago, and now he quite lost control of his powers. Washuu-san, the symptoms of the berserker state he was in was somewhat similar to Ryoko's, not to mention the power. I wish for you to examine him."

Washuu nodded, then finally noticed the silver egg in Inuyasha's hands.  
Her eyes' widened extensively as she pushed Yosho aside to stagger towards Inuyasha. The half-youkai felt a little peeved at the small girl that was slowly approaching him. He was about to scream at her when the girl grabbed the egg in his arms. Washuu turned away from him as she looked intently at the egg. Her eyes gleamed mischievously as she directed a small smile in Yosho's direction. Her mouth formed some words as her voice cracked from the lack of use.

"C-C-Cabbit... E-Egg." Washuu gestured to the egg. Yosho quirked his eyebrow and nodded to Washuu, understanding her proclamation. But Inuyasha just had to open his big mouth, much like Ranma's more colorful version of the foot-in-mouth disease.

"Feh!" Inuyasha snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "This shrimp will help us? She's just a kid! What can she do, huh?"

Before anyone could shush the hanyou, Washuu glared at him and tapped a button on her watch. Something above Inuyasha glowed a bit and a narrow beam of light encompassed the surprised hanyou. Before their very eyes,  
Inuyasha shrunk down into two feet, with disturbingly green scaly skin and a yellow beak for a mouth. The top of his head was covered with a golden disk of some sort, that reflected the rays of the sun.  
Surrounding the disk were white strands of hair. Also, two fluffy ears popped out on the sides of the disks.

Kagome, Sango and Shippo sweatdropped as they watched Inuyasha make some sort of growl/quack noise. He was furiously stamping his foot on the ground, which was ignored by the smug Washuu.

"Interesting... a Kappa, I presume, Washuu-san?" Yosho nodded sagely.

Washuu just smiled with satisfaction.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It was late afternoon when the group and an additional companion arrived back at the shrine office. The priests almost freaked out when they saw the small redhaired girl with green eyes. Yosho tried his best to pacify them, which worked in most parts. Kaede was a bit curious as to how a small child could help them, but thankfully she kept her questions to herself. Being a kappa like what the old miko had seen that happened to Inuyasha was rather... weird.

Washuu lay the silvery egg delicately unto the table as she went to the sleeping Ranma's side. She quickly took his wrist in her hands and checked his pulse, muttering to herself all the while.

Yosho stood a little ways behind her, as well as Kagome, Koneko, Sango and Kaede. Inuyasha was held at bay by Miroku and Shippo outside the office doors. The hanyou was still pretty mad at what happened to him back when Washuu was freed.

Washuu then stood up and faced the assembled crowd. "Amazing..." she mumbled, not really paying attention to her surroundings. She whipped up her holographic computer out of thin air, much to the shock of Kaede and Sango. Even Kagome was a bit surprised at the sight of a transparent computer hanging on the air.

Washuu typed furiously for several moments and continued her rants,  
"Excellent Saiyajin genes... the best Masu genes as well... and... what in the name of all that is holy is this!" She almost stumbled back as she checked the results of her findings once again.

Yosho grew impatient. "What's wrong, Washuu-san?"

Washuu snapped her head to Yosho. "I told you to call me... nevermind.  
Sorry, I was a bit busy back there. Did you know that this boy is probably one of the top two greatest specimens I have ever encountered in my twenty thousand years of mortal life?"

Yosho snorted. "You mentioned Saiyajin and Masu... so he's both those species?"

The redhead sighed and finally sat down on one of the open seats left.  
"Yes, but there is something you should know. The boy has Choushin blood in him as well."

Everyone except Washuu watched in morbid fascination as Yosho paled visibly and stumbled backwards, stammering incoherent words.

Kagome eyed Washuu curiously. "Choushin? What's that?"

Washuu turned to the raven haired girl. "It's not a 'what', but a 'who.  
You see, in the beginning of this universe, there were a race of extra-dimensional beings known as the Choushin Megami. As the name implies, they are Central Goddesses... known as the pillars of the universe. They are known to be one of the elder gods that had been first created out of the Void. This boy here, has the blood of the Choushin in him."

"How do you know such things?" Kaede asked.

Washuu glared lightly at the old miko. "As I've said before, I'm the greatest scientist in the whole universe!" Then her gaze went to Ranma.  
"But, you may have to know the truth as well." Her gaze snapped back to Kaede. "More than twenty thousand years ago, together with my sisters Tokimi and Tsunami, we became the pillars of the Universe. Tokimi is the goddess of Chaos, Tsunami is the goddess of Life, while I, was the goddess of Knowledge. I gave up my goddess status and became a mortal twenty thousand years ago."

Kagome, Koneko, Kaede and Sango's gasps of surprise were heard. Yosho just nodded sagely, the rumors were proved to be true about Washuu's origins.

"Y-y-you're a Goddess?" Koneko asked fearfully.

The diminuitive redhead graced Sango with a soft smile. "'Was' a goddess... I gave that up long ago."

"So that means..." Yosho cleared his throat, "That Ranma is a part of your family, right?"

"Nephew, actually." Washuu clarified as she brushed an errant strand of hair on Ranma's face. She looked back to Yosho, and with all seriousness, she continued, "He's Tokimi's son, by the way."

Yosho once again backpedaled, screaming all the way, "T-T-Tokimi! He's of evil blood? By the kami... it's bad enough that he went berserk like Ryoko did long ago, but TOKIMI! Although he already mentioned this piece of info a few years back... I never would've imagined it to be true! But with you confirming it... dammit!"

"Excuse me, Yosho of Jurai." Washuu intoned so formally that Yosho quickly shut his ranting up. "I must inform you, that although my sister Tokimi was obsessed about some things, it doesn't necessarily mean that she's evil. Besides, what is 'evil' anyway? The division between good and evil were made by mortals, you know. There is actually no good or evil, only choices."

"B-b-but... Tokimi's son!" Yosho whined.

Washuu snorted. "Oh please, stop patronizing yourself. Even Jurai has some evil in it also. You just don't see it because you are on their side. As I said, it's all in the choices really. Now, I need to extract the installed memory that seemed to have been inserted in his mind. It would seem that a counterpart, or maybe someone other than me who is well-versed in science, had treated him before. He, or she, already detected the vast potential in Ranma, and installed mental blocks to limit his abilities. I need to see the interactive memory I detected in his mind. It would help me assess his current condition and what I should do."

She blinked and glanced at the silver egg sitting innocently on the table. "Oh yeah, that egg is for later. But as far as I have already scanned earlier, it's a cabbit egg. Now I think its connection with Ranma is a bit too obvious, right? Anyway... now to extract the memory..."

Washuu summoned her computer once again and took out some... thing from some... where (shrug who knows where she gets her tools, but my bet would be in hyperspace). She took out a palm sized scanner and waved it near Ranma. The scanner immediately lit up and the small monitor flickered into life.

An image of Washuu herself formed in the monitor itself, much to the scientist's curiosity. "Well, it would seem that I, rather, a counterpart of mine treated Ranma in the past already..." Washuu said.

Everyone went behind the redhead in an attempt to see what was happening in the device.

"Oh good!" The Washuu image said in relief, "You've been found. That's great. Listen, you probably already know this, but I'm another Washuu from a different reality. Therefore, Ranma himself is not in his home reality. Now that I have access to your computer, I calculated that this reality we are in is a parallel to Ranma's original world, with a spatial difference of 2.78 percent. But be careful, it is growing unbalanced rather rapidly as of late. You know what will happen when it reaches critical stage, right?"

Washuu groaned and rubbed her temples with her fingers. "Yeah, yeah.  
anyway there is time for that later, what I would like to know is what is happening to Ranma as of now."

The image nodded. "Ah... that. Well, I pacified Ranma-chan earlier. His consciousness is sort of... drifting in his sleeping mind right now.  
It's a failsafe, if ever he accidentally unleashed a tad too much of his power too early. Now that his powers have reawakened, the abilities I locked up back then will slowly restore themselves in his head. He will eventually learn and remember some of the more devastating attacks that I hid from him before. I suggest you make him a special limiter temporarily."

The redhead sighed. "I see. Well then, have you deleted yourself in his memory?"

"I already started, and I'm going to finish after I give you the data you need." The image replied. "I also already downloaded the necessary data in your computer, as well as the pre-recorded impromptu speech of Washuu back home."

Washuu smiled softly. "Thank you. Now all I have to do is find a place for my laboratory room." She glanced around and saw an innocent looking closet at the left side of the office.

She pointed to the closet and referred to Yosho, "What's in that?"

Yosho gazed at the furniture. "Just the broom closet. You know, cleaning supplies and stuff."

Washuu cackled with glee. "Perfect! Now I have a place for my laboratory!"

"Eh?" Everyone sweatdropped at the sight of a Washuu laughing madly. For some reason, it sent shivers up and down their spine.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"By the way, Washuu-CHAN..." Kagome began as she watched the redhead tinker with... something... inside the closet. "Why do you look like a thirteen-year-old if you are more than twenty thousand years old?" In truth, she was a bit skeptical at that one, but the presence of Yosho and his abrupt acceptance of Washuu's proclamation was a factor for her to believe it anyway.

Loud clanks and a couple of hammer blows can be heard from the inside.  
Behind her, Koneko, Kaede and Sango took naps on some spare futons to placate their headaches because of what they have seen before. So much information was crammed up in their minds in so little time. Shippo and Inuyasha decided to explore the forests that surrounded the shrine. It will also serve as a patrol of some sort. Good thing Inuyasha had already turned back to his normal form, much to his relief. He was still a bit wary around Washuu though.

Without stopping from her work, Washuu replied in a muffled tone,  
"Something bad happened to me when I was in my more... mature version.  
I'd rather not talk about it, so let's just leave it at that. But I can transform my body to any age I want at will."

Kagome's face scrunched up. "You can control your appearance?"

"I can change my physical age, yes. But my looks are a different matter altogether. But it's possible, because I'm the greatest scientist in the universe!" Washuu paused in her work to cackle loudly. Kagome just sweatdropped, big time.

"Anyway..." Washuu continued, "Why are you so curious about it? Do you want me to... wait. That's it! I finished it! I'm really a genius!"

Kagome had to step back as Washuu backed out from the closet. With a flick of her wrist, Washuu made her transparent computer keyboard appear once again and typed into it. A small flare of light erupted from the closet, and immediately died down. Kagome peered into the closet and saw nothing but midnight darkness inside.

Washuu took note of Kagome's questioning look towards her direction, and turned to Yosho. "Yosho-dono, please bring Ranma and follow me. And Kagome-san, please bring the cabbit egg with you as well." And with that, she turned and entered the closet fearlessly. Yosho just sighed and mumbled under his breath about small redheads with pushy attitudes.  
He walked past Kagome and followed Washuu through the dark insides of the closet. Kagome watched in fascination as Washuu followed by Yosho were both swallowed by the darkness. Kagome shrugged her shoulders and carefully wrapped her arms around the silver egg that was laid on some blankets on a table. She cautiously followed the pair, tentatively touching the black interior. With a yelp, she was sucked inside the darkness anyway.

Kagome was a bit disoriented but regained her footing. She looked around blearily and gasped. Instead of darkness, there was a bright light inside wherever she was. Not only that, but in it was one of the most complicated and advanced apparatus she had ever seen. Sure, she came from the future, but the things she saw inside this place was still a bit too futuristic even for her. She hadn't noticed that her mouth hung open as she stared at the scene.

"Please put him down on the table, Yosho-dono. Kagome-san, please place the egg on the small glass container." Washuu asked as she tinkered on a machine. As soon as Yosho set down Ranma on the makeshift bed with white sheets, a couple of tentacle like things came down from the machine that hung on the ceiling and latched unto Ranma. A diagram of Ranma's body appeared on the huge screen at the back of the room. Washuu nodded as she changed the view perspectives of the diagram. Kagome stiffly went to the other side, where a glass bowl was held up by a small pedestal. As she put the egg inside, the other half of the glass bowl lowered itself from the ceiling and sealed the egg in a ball.

"H-How!" Kagome finally found her voice as she walked up to the Yosho,  
who was gazing intently at the different apparatus around the lab.

"Washuu certainly has the best gadgets in the universe." Yosho commented lightly.

Washuu whirled around and opened her arms wide. "Of course! By the way,  
to answer Kagome's question... this laboratory is in a pocket universe.  
It's always there, and all I have to do was install a gateway from somewhere towards this place. In which, I used the broom closet."

"Anyway..." Washuu continued to prod on Ranma, as she glanced once every so often at the charts on the large screen. "So far he's in perfect shape... a bit fatigued because of something like an extensive power expendage. His mind is in somewhat a standby mode. The mental blocks that were installed in his brain did its job, but from what you told me,  
he still went on attacking eventhough he was not in control. According to the interactive memory I extracted from his mind, my counterpart in his home world was afraid of him being unable to control his extensive powers, hence the failsafe. Hmmm... he also seems to have learned about how to manipulate his age by instinct. I doubt that he noticed it."

"Really?" Yosho asked thoughtfully, "I taught him how to use his ki to hide his true age, more like a disguise field, because he was involved in an accident that caused him to revert back to a child's body. He is actually at least in his twenties, I think, as far as he told me. So that's why he could change his age at will, eh?"

Washuu nodded. "Yes. He thought he was doing the disguise field technique, but the truth is that he learned how to change ages by choice, although I figured it drains him more than necessary."

Yosho sat down on one of the stools. "So when will he wake up?"

Washuu placed her index finger on her chin and tapped it thoughtfully.  
Glancing at her watch, she says loudly, "Just about... now!"

Ranma's eyes snapped open as he suddenly sat up on the table. He gasped for air as he sweated a little, as if he just woke up from a long nightmare. He felt his tail unwrap from his waist and started to twitch at his back, but he was far too disoriented to care right now. Looking around wildly, he spotted Washuu who was looking at him curiously.

"Washuu... chan? Yosho? Wha... what? Am I awake or is this still a dream?" Ranma asked groggily as he supported himself up with his elbows.

"Ranma..." Yosho patted the boy on his shoulder, "You've been unconscious for more than two weeks. We were afraid of the worst."

"Two... weeks? Wait... last I remember... those monsters... my hand.  
KONEKO!" Ranma was about to bolt out of the bed when three metallic strips latched themselves around his torso and his arms. He fell back down to the bed with a thud. "Hey! Lemme go!"

Washuu wagged her finger in front of Ranma's face. "No way, Ranma-chan.  
You're still not in the clear to go out. That last stunt you unconsciously pulled really took out a lot in your reserves, and also some people are quite afraid of you right now. So you better sit tight."

"Besides..." Yosho continued after Washuu, "Koneko is alright. Right now she's resting just outside the laboratory."

"Laboratory?" Ranma queried as he looked around. "Ah... Washuu's pocket universe. By the way, what the heck happened to me? And why's my hand back? I remembered my whole hand got cut..."

"It just reappeared, Ranma-san." A new voice attracted Ranma's attention. He turned to the source and saw a very familiar girl, with long raven hair that reached up to her upper waist and was dressed in a green collared school fuku. Wait a minute... school fuku!

"Who are you? And why are you dressed in a fuku?" Ranma lifted his eyebrow as he examined the girl from head to toe. The girl was a bit surprised at his question.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome. How did you know that I'm wearing a fuku?" Kagome asked.

Ranma nodded slightly and sighed. "I'm from the future. But according to what someone taught me before, when someone goes back to the past, he or she alters his own future, so this must be a parallel past for me."

"Really?" Washuu was curious, her head bowed down on a small worktable as she seemed to work on something. "The theory you explained is partly correct. You can always send someone back to the past because a new parallel path will divert itself from the main path. Although, for some reason, the path we are on is unstable, as what the memory in your head had explained to me before."

"Unstable?" Ranma shook his head. "Anyway, so what happened to me?"

"Wait!" Kagome called out to him. "What's your name?"

Ranma cocked his head to one side. "Huh? Saotome Ranma... why do you ask?"

Kagome stood up, surprise and joy evident in her face. "S-Saotome? As in, Saotome Genma and Nodoka's son? Then that means, you're my cousin in Saotome Genma's side!"

Ranma shrugged. "Adopted. The truth of the matter is that they are not really my parents. I'm not even human. But take note, this is a parallel world for me. There might be a real Saotome Ranma that will be born out of Nodoka and Genma in this world, but he is not me. I'm from a parallel world to this one."

"I... I understand." Kagome said lamely. "It's just that, we received news that Ranma had died because of a training accident. It's a shock to learn that he's still alive, although now I think it's just wishful thinking."

"I died? Dang... I must be a weakling here then..." Ranma sighed. So,  
his counterpart will die in this world. What a waste.

"Ranma-chan..." Washuu called Ranma's attention to her, "The blackout you experienced was due to the failsafe my other self in your home world temporarily installed in your head. That won't happen anymore, but just to be sure, I will give you these special limiter bracers. It limits the amount of bio-energy you give out, which in turn prevents you from going berserk because of too much power."

Washuu lifted her hands up to show Ranma two ornate bracers, much to Ranma's surprise. He suddenly remembered that he lost his other bracers a long while back, which he didn't remember how and when. He carefully took the bracers and snapped them on. The bracers glowed light blue for a moment, then diminished. He felt his body weaken for a bit. He quickly compensated by giving out a bit more of his ki.

Ranma nodded to himself, then turned to Yosho. "Yosho, how's the situation with the Manticores?"

Yosho was about to answer when Washuu interjected. "Did you just say.  
Manticores? You mean to tell me that those... things... arrived here"  
The redhead almost screamed out as she was almost nose to nose with Ranma.

Ranma gulped as he saw Washuu's eyes twitch rather dangerously. "Uhm.  
yeah... that's what cut my hand before..."

Washuu cried out as she clutched her head. "Dammit! How did those things reach here!" She breathed in and out as she tried to pacify herself.  
"Manticores were some sort of a genetics experiment from a planet thirteen thousand lightyears from here. That was about six thousand fifty years ago. The planet Rosgoth, if I remember it right. They were a race of conquerors, and they created the Manticores as their foot soldiers. It is said that their very same soldiers destroyed their culture, and thus the Rosgothans disappeared from the universe. Their experiments, the Manticores, started to move from planet to planet after that. Their resiliency, their ability to regenerate and their ability to survive space made them very mobile. The whole armada of Juraian warships and Galaxy Police battle cruisers were needed to destroy them.  
The only way to stop them was to neutralize every cell in their body. I didn't know that some had survived and reached here."

"They did." Yosho sighed. "And they have quite a large group. More than a hundred fifty of them are on this planet. For some reason, they started targeting locations where there might be a strong person,  
bio-energy-wise."

"Yes." Washuu nodded. "That's why Ranma was being pestered by them."

The redhead smiled at Ranma. "By the way, there is also a weird field of some sort surrounding your body. I tried analyzing it, but it was a bit fuzzy. It was just classified as a transmogrification ability, although how you do it I don't know."

Yosho actually chuckled at that, but stopped when he saw Ranma glare at him.

"It's a Jusenkyo curse." Ranma said sullenly. "I turn to a girl with cold water, a boy with hot water." A splash later, Onna-Ranma appeared,  
red hair and all. Onna-Ranma turned her glare towards the other redhead,  
who was smirking at her with a water gun in her right hand.

Meanwhile, Kagome's jaw fell down to the ground as she stared on her newly found 'maybe' male cousin turn to a very... healthy redhaired girl, disturbingly quite like the grinning scientist in front of them.  
The only differences were the hairstyle and the eyecolor. Oh yeah, and the breast size too. For a thirteen year old girl, onna-Ranma seemed too busty for her own good.

Just when Ranma was about to scold Washuu, the scientist's water gun blurred and squirted unto her... err his face once again. Ranma transformed into a guy once again, much to the relief of the boy.

"I have got to take some tests with you female form later, Ranma-chan"  
Washuu almost jumped with glee. So far, Ranma has been everything a genius scientist like her ever needed. "Regarding the abilities you will gain, you will have to train in them for a while, before fully mastering them."

Ranma nodded seriously. It would be fun to train once again.

A rapid bleeping sound caught their attention. Washuu quickly moved to her console and examined the results that appeared on the enlarged screen in front of them. She turned to the glass ball that was situated at the other side of the room. Ranma blinked at the sight, because he had just noticed the thing now.

"Washuu-san?" Yosho asked as he moved near Washuu.

The scientist turned to Yosho and nodded slightly. "The cabbit egg.  
it's hatching."

Before Yosho could ask any more questions, a soft crack was heard from the glass container. Washuu, Ranma, Yosho and Kagome all crowded around the ball as they watched the silver egg distort its shape. A large crack appeared on top of the egg that grew larger and larger. Finally, a small hole appeared on the egg's surface. A small snout started sniffing and pushing itself out of its containment. With a louder crack, the egg broke into half, spilling its silver furred content. The small furred thing that emerged from the egg shook its head and meowed loudly. The gem that gleamed against the light on her forehead was black. Its large rabbit-like ears flapped around as it continued to groom itself.

"Well congratulations, it's a cabbit." Washuu snickered as she turned to the diagrams near the glass ball. "And it seems the cabbit's female too."

"It's so cute!" Kagome gushed as she stared on the half-rabbit, half feline animal that was grooming itself inside the container.

The cabbit finally realized that she was being probed, so she opened her eyes and stared at her surroundings. Washuu took note that the cabbit's eyes were blue, the kind of blue that was found on Ranma's eyes as well.

Everyone watched as the furry animal perked up when Ranma and the cabbit locked stares with each other. Their eyes bugged out when the cabbit slowly faded out of existence and reappear at Ranma's foot. It took some willpower for Ranma not to scream and jump up in fright. Instead, he just stared with his mouth open.

"Miya! Miya?" The cabbit hopped up and down as she looked up to Ranma.

The pigtailed boy seemed to have shaken himself out of his shock and replied, "What, oh, I'm Ranma." He suddenly have this urge... well he gave up and bent down to pick the cabbit up. The silver furball could only meow in delight as she hopped into Ranma's open arms. The pigtailed boy turned to Washuu, absentmindedly scratching the cabbit on her ears.

"Washuu-chan, what exactly is she?" Ranma gestured to the sleepy creature in his arms.

Washuu pulled out a pair of glasses and replied in a scholarly tone,  
"You see, a cabbit is an original creation of mine. It is a hybrid of a Masu gene with a special live mineral not found in this galaxy.  
Basically, cabbits can transform into large space ships, and are very powerful at that. But the cabbit in your hands is a lot more special..."

"Why?" Ranma asked curiously.

"Because..." Washuu said as she crossed her arms across her chest, "Not only did my other self use some Masu DNA, it seemed that she used your own DNA. You see, although you have Masu in you, you also have Saiyajin and as well as that Choushin in you."

"Choushin?" Ranma tilted his head to one side, then brightened up considerably, "Oh! You mean that Juraian thing?"

"No, Ranma-chan..." Washuu wagged her finger in front of his face.  
"According to the data of the interactive memory from your head, it was purposely put on the records that you are of Juraian blood. Before you ask, it's really simple as to why my other self did it. Imagine if someone found out that you are really descended from a goddess.  
imagine what the reaction of the whole universe to that would be, ne?"

Ranma paled at the thought. Images of countless experiments of different alien breeds conducted into his body really dampened his mood. But still... a goddess! Then again... according to the amount of chaos in his life, this was not something really new at all.

"Hmmm..." Washuu examined the cabbit's DNA structure on the screen. She typed a few words and the figure changed into Ranma's DNA. Washuu patted herself on the back. "Amazing, Ranma and the cabbit have almost the same structural DNA, although not as close as siblings are though..."

The cabbit wriggled in Ranma's arms. "Miya... miya." she said softly.

Ranma nodded to the cabbit. "I see... don't worry. I'll take care of you."

"Actually, you are the only one who the cabbit will listen to anyway"  
Washuu commented as she reached up to scratch the cabbit too. "You see,  
the only way for you to understand her is a telepathic link. As her master, you are the only one who can share thoughts and feelings with her, and of course that's vice-versa as well."

"Miyaaaa..." The cabbit purred as she rubbed her head on Ranma's chest.

"Wha-what! What the heck do you...? Not with that again!" Ranma sputtered as he mock glared the cabbit on his chest while his tail stood up to one end. It was deftly ignored all the same.

Ranma looked up to the heavens, muttering, "What the heck did I do to deserve this...?"

Washuu then turned her smirk to Yosho. "So, Yosho-dono. What's a Juraian Royalty doing in this planet, hmmm?"

Oh yeah. Yosho sweated at Washuu's intense stare.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The next day, we see Ranma staring up to the blue sky.

He sighed.

This was one of the rare times that he got to relax. Whenever he got the point where he relaxed, something or someone interrupts everything, and chaos ensued. Now, he was a bit relieved and paranoid at the same time.  
He was expecting something incredible to interrupt his nice day out.

The cabbit, which he affectionately named Rin-Ohki, was sprawled unto his chest as he lay on the soft grass. The name 'Rin' meant 'bells', for her soft meows which cuts through silence like a tinkle of bells. He found a perfect spot for resting under the leaves of the giant tree near the shrine. It was near the lake too, so the air was rather cooler there.

He had been sparring with Yosho and eventually Inuyasha, and it has been a long day. He was specially training his body to adjust with the abrupt changes that swept his body. He found that he can actually lift off to the air without much effort at all, and his ki reserves were really really large as of the moment. During the fight, he was barely able to keep his battle aura from bursting forth from his body. But the biggest surprise was when Ranma was caught unguarded for a moment, he was swatted off to the trees. Instead of painfully knocking dow the trees one by one with his body, he went through them! Washuu mentioned something about his body able to rearrange its molecules and stuff in a heartbeat, but he really didn't understand any of those.

Inuyasha was up on a tree quite far away from Ranma. He had to admit, he was quite surprised that the squirt could actually match strength with him. Only, Ranma was still a bit disoriented and was tripping once in a while during their sparring session. Otherwise it was all good. At first he thought of Ranma as a hanyou like him, but once again he heard the story of aliens and outwordly lifeforms from the redhead scientist herself. The girl Washuu even confessed that she was also an alien herself.

He still remembered what happened when they went out of the laboratory...

- FLASHBACK -

It has been five hours since the whole entourage entered inside the laboratory. Outside, the other part of the group grew restless, most specifically Inuyasha, who began spouting colorful words. Not that anyone would fault him at worrying, Kagome was still inside the strange wherever it was that the small redhead brought her into. Inuyasha was about to follow Kagome, but when he opened the closet all he saw were straw brooms and empty pails inside.

Just when they were about to take a second look at the aforementioned closet, the old wooden door creaked wide open, and out came that little girl called Washuu, followed by a rather haggard-looking Yosho and a really disheveled young boy who looked at the same age as the scientist.  
He was the same boy that they had carried from the destroyed village.  
Something furry was draped over the boy's shoulder. His reddish tail was lose and was dangling between his legs on his back, which was really quite disconcerting. Kagome trailed behind them as she tried hard not to giggle at the sight.

Yosho sighed loudly as he fell back on a chair. "I hope I never get to feel that again, Washuu-san."

When Washuu giggled, Ranma snorted. "You got it easy, I have to spend two hours in that thing, you know."

Yosho glanced tiredly at Ranma and nodded. "True... how true..."

They both sighed dramatically once again.

"Oh, don't be such big babies!" Washuu chuckled as she got a glare from the two. "Besides, at least now we can monitor everything, ne? By the way, Ranma-chan... start practicing those new skills of yours.  
Especially floating and phasing through objects. Don't forget teleporting too."

Seeing rather blank stares coming from the group except Ranma, Yosho and Kagome, Washuu reiterated, "Ranma is not human. Because of that last stunt he pulled, he managed to break a seal in his abilities. Now,  
rather than lose control again, I suggest that he train himself in those abilities, right?"

Nods of agreement was seen from the group.

- END FLASHBACK -

Inuyasha pouted. It was bad enough that he felt scared at those monsters that Yosho and Ranma had called Manticores. He heard that they were world destroyers or something, that they strive only for the destruction of the planet they land unto. So he resolved himself to spar with Ranma and Yosho, when the two broke off the group and announced that they will spar outside the grounds.

He knew that Ranma was strong and fast. He just didn't realize how much.

- FLASHBACK -

"You wanted to spar with us?" Yosho asked curiously as he led Ranma and Inuyasha to a clearing just beside the beautiful lake. The shrine was a bit far away now, and unwarranted damages can be kept to a minimum with them being far away from the place.

Inuyasha growled and gripped his sword. "Yeah, what's wrong with it? Ya think I can't take you on!"

Yosho raised his hands in a placating manner. "No, no, no... it's just that..."

"You're too angry. And impatient." A boyish voice interrupted Yosho.  
Inuyasha turned to face the owner of the voice. It was Ranma.

The hanyou growled loudly and lowered himself until he was face to face with the stoic Ranma, who was scratching something on his shoulder. That furball thing that hung there, apparently.

"What didya say, punk?" Inuyasha growled out.

Ranma sighed. "I said, you are too angry and impatient."

"ALRIGHT!" Inuyasha straightened and leapt back a good twenty feet, and unsheathed his sword. The small blade suddenly glowed bright and was replaced by an enormous white blade with some white fur surrounding the base at the top of the hilt. He took a couple of practice swings and pointed the huge sword to Ranma. "C'mon, show me what ya got!"

Ranma just shook his head and lifted the furry thing on his shoulder.  
Inuyasha was a bit astonished when he realized that the thing was alive and was... meowing? Ranma handed the thing to Yosho and walked a little ways away from them, looking at Inuyasha rather intently. He took his time, judging from the slowed pace he set himself into.

Inuyasha grumbled as he got impatient. He watched Ranma as the boy leisurely took his time to reaching wherever he planned to be. The hanyou finally lost his patience as he leapt towards the still walking Ranma, who just calmly looked up to the incoming half-youkai. Inuyasha swung his sword to a downward slash, which was promptly evaded by Ranma.  
The boy quickly floated away from the hanyou as he landed unto the ground. The soil gave way from the extra weight, creating a small crater.

Inuyasha whirled around and slashed at the spot where he last saw the floating pigtailed boy before. Once again, all he hit was air. He looked around and saw Ranma floating at least two feet off the ground behind him. The boy had a serious calculating look on his face as he floated there, with arms crossed across his chest.

The hanyou growled and once again leapt towards the boy. This time,  
though, Ranma didn't dodge. Instead, he slapped the heavy blade to the side with one hand. Inuyasha was momentarily stunned at the unusual attack Ranma did, and was temporarily off balanced. The small interval was all Ranma needed to use the force of his slap to whirl Inuyasha around by use of centrifugal force. Inuyasha was disoriented enough to let himself be whirled around on the air, and Ranma caught the scruff of the hanyou's hakama by the neck. Inuyasha blinked when he realized that he was stopped in midair and was dangling on his neck. He turned his head and saw Ranma calmly looking at him.

"Are you done?" Ranma asked in a bored tone of voice as he started to lower them down to the ground. Inuyasha just growled as he threw his sword down to the ground and punched Ranma. The hanyou was surprised once again when Ranma caught the strong punch with his free hand without any effort at all. He then struggled as hard as he could, hating the feeling like he was some sort of a bad puppy being punished.

When they finally touched the ground, Inuyasha twisted away from Ranma's grip and leapt for his sword. He rolled on the ground and stood up, his sword ready. But he was shocked when he couldn't see Ranma anywhere in front of him. Then, he felt a presence behind him, and he got a sinking feeling he knew who it was.

"Your back is open. You should've been hurt pretty badly by now." Ranma said casually as he floated away from Inuyasha. The boy went to Yosho and retrieved the furry animal, yes now Inuyasha knew it was an animal,  
and was cooing at it.

The Tetsusaiga fell to the ground from Inuyasha's nerveless fingers as he slumped down to the ground.

- END FLASHBACK -

"He is strong... really strong." Inuyasha muttered to himself as he gazed on the blue sky. "He would've been one heck of a teammate with the battle with Naraku months ago. But I don't wanna face Naraku again"  
He still remembered how Kagome almost got killed in that encounter. He carefully fingered the pink glass ball that hung inside his hakama by his neck. Kagome had given him the Shikon no Tama, maybe because she knew of what he wanted. But now that it was over, it was really not that clear anymore what he wanted. He loves Kagome, but if he wished to be human, he will die before he could even get to see Kagome in her own time once again. If he wished to be a full blooded youkai, what purpose of that for him then? Nothing at all... nothing right now.

Inuyasha sighed. It was real confusing for him.

Meanwhile, Ranma was happily oblivious to everything around him. Inside his mind were some subtle questions and battle plans that were being redrawn. Some skills were still in the rough, like phasing through walls and stuff. Floating and flying he got used to real easily because he already knew the mechanics of it, even the energy claws that he managed to generate while he was in berserk mode. The Neko-ken was quite responsible for that one, because his body was still nostalgic about the technique. Hiding his ki right now had been a bit harder to cope unto,  
and teleportation he just figured out the theories behind it. It might be a better substitution for the other skill he lost somewhere along the line, the one Goku taught him long ago.

"Miyah..." A soft meow broke Ranma from his thoughts. Glancing on his chest, he found that Rin-Ohki was looking at him with her own blue-gray eyes.

"Ah... sorry. Was it too messy in my head? It's just that... there are a lot of things to consider right now." Ranma replied.

Rin-Ohki sat up on her hunches, still on Ranma's chest. "Miyah, miya miya miyah."

Ranma sighed and reached up to scratch the cabbit on her ear once again.  
"Alright... I'll try to relax for now. And thanks, Rin-Ohki."

"Miiiyaahhhh..." The cabbit had closed her eyes in delight as she curled into Ranma's chest once again, truly happy feeling Ranma's massaging fingers on her special spot. Yes... life is good for her.

Suddenly, she felt her master stiffen up. She opened her eyes and gazed to her master questioningly.

Ranma looked at the cabbit. "Say, Rin-Ohki, I'm bored. Let's go exploring."

The cabbit seemed to shrug as she jumped down to the side, allowing Ranma to stand from his previous position.

Ranma bent down and lifted the cabbit to her shoulder, saying, "Yeah,  
let's go to that cave Ryoko was trapped in. Yosho mentioned it earlier."

"Miya miya!" The cabbit said indignantly as she swatted Ranma's head with her ear lightly.

"Hey, I'm not Juraian, so it's okay... right? I can't break the seal so it's alright." Ranma tried to reassure the cabbit.

Rin-Ohki just sighed and let her master do what he wants.

Ranma saw Rin-Ohki's resigned look and took that as a yes. He smiled warmly at the cabbit before floating up in the air. They took off towards the cave that was situated on the left side of the crossroads that separated the road towards the cave and Washuu's former prison.

They spotted the cave easily enough, which was barred at the mouth by a metallic fence. It was barely new, and it was already sporting some bad rust spots that made Ranma think. It wasn't such a good seal after all.

Ranma and the cabbit perched on his shoulder approached the fence. With a quick tug, the lock snapped open, much to Ranma's surprise. He cautiously entered the dark cavern. As he walked a bit further, he spotted another sealed opening in front of him. But this time, it was barred by what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, much to Ranma's irritation. Just as he was about to turn back, he spotted a small area to the side where an old wooden sword hilt was stuck into a stone slab.

"Miyahh..." The cabbit said in a warning tone as she looked suspiciously at the sword.

"The Tenchi-ken." Ranma confirmed for the cabbit. "I'll be damned... the one Yosho carried is a fake hilt. Probably made it out of the wood from his own space tree, Funaho." He blew off the dust from the hilt, which exposed large red gems, much different from the ones that were displayed on the fake hilt Yosho carried around with him.

"I think he made the fake hilt before we went on that adventure. He can't pull this one out, because it will break Ryoko's seal. Instead, he asked his tree to craft him a new one, an exact replica of the original one. Maybe for good times sake... or sentimentality. But it still worked okay." Ranma contemplated as he reached towards the hilt.

When his hand brushed unto the red stones, the gems erupted in red light, bathing the whole cave in the glow. Ranma gaped as he watched the hilt vibrate from its position, causing the stone it was imbedded in to crack and finally crumble to dust. The hilt still had a rusty blade as its edge, but it was shattered once the freed sword fell to the hard ground. The ground suddenly shook violently, and the apparent end of the tunnel suddenly lowered itself down to the floor.

Ranma and Rin-Ohki looked at one another. The pigtailed boy gulped, his tail twitching from side to side behind him. He summarized the whole thing in two wonderful words.

"Oh crap."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Heaven, Kami-sama's Office...

The Almighty nodded as He watched everything. He leaned towards His special telephone and picked up the receiver. Dialing a long series of numbers, He waited as the line rang to the other side. After three rings, someone finally picked up.

("Moshi-moshi... Hild-sama's Office, this better be important!")

"PATCH ME THROUGH HILD. THIS IS KAMI-SAMA." The Lord of Creation answered patiently.

("Uh... right away, Kami-sama.")

"HMMM... THE DEMONS ARE REALLY SHORT-TEMPERED..." Kami-sama muttered to Himself.

("Erm... this is Hild. Kami-sama, is that you?")

"HILD-CHAN..." Kami-sama replied as He tried to pool His thoughts. "IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE LAST TALKED."

There was a momentary silence in the line. "HILD-CHAN?" The Almighty called to the receiver once again.

("H-Hai... Kami-sama... Deus-chan... it has been a long time hasn't it?")

"YES, IT HAS." He answered, full of emotions. "IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU LAST CALLED ME BY MY REAL NAME. HILD-CHAN... YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING WHY I CALLED, RIGHT?"

A choked sob was heard from the line. ("N-Not really. I just wanted to hear your voice again, anata. Nevertheless, you'll still tell me why,  
right?")

Kami-sama smiled to Himself. "IT'S TIME, HILD-CHAN."

("Is it that time already, anata? Shall I declare 'Him' a rebel in Nifelheim, then?")

He nodded, despite knowing that Hel wouldn't be able to see it anyway.  
"SO WILL I FOR ASGARD. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A BETTER FUTURE, WE HAVE TO DO THIS TO THEM, ESPECIALLY TO 'HIM'. BUT STILL, WE HAVE TO DO THIS."

("Alright Deus-chan. By the way, could you lose the big voice thingie? It hurts in the ears you know.")

"Ack. Sorry koishii... I got used to it. After countless millennia of keeping my persona as the most powerful being in the universe, I tend to forget who I was." Kami-sama replied sheepishly. He sobered immediately as He continued, "I will remove his restrictions now. The others will break their weaker seals by themselves."

("Sigh, then we'll start the preludes of Ragnarok then? The REAL Ragnarok?")

"Yes, Hild-chan. I just hope the others will be ready by then."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Home World...

Once again, a brown haired girl's vertical elliptic symbol on her forehead glowed for a moment, then split into three small black dots that were in a triangular pattern. After a moment, it reverted back into the elliptical symbol that was once there before.

The girl blinked to herself when she felt her energies shift in a fraction of a second, then return back to normal. She finally ignored it and continued humming as she continued her work in the kitchen.

In a parallel dimension that was saturated with magic...

A young woman in a tavern was tending to her customers with ease. She wove into the crowds as she carried drinks and plates of foot without much effort at all. Suddenly, she felt her magic simmer like a kettle of water on a stove. She didn't see, though, that her forehead shone momentarily as three golden dots in an inverted triangular pattern.

Once the feeling has passed, she took note to consult her books about the strange feeling later on. She tossed her long blue hair to one side and continued her work.

In a parallel past...

Unknown to those who don't know what and how to look for it, a young man's forehead lights up momentarily. Three silver dots in an inverted triangular pattern emerged from his forehead, just between the eyes, and vanished once again as if nothing happened.

He suddenly stiffened when he felt a slight change within him, but after a moment he shrugged it off as he continued what he was doing. That was,  
cursing the fates.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Author Rants:

Sorry it took so long. Summer heat is bad... real BAD. Got my mind fried and dried.

Spent the summer days sleeping... to relieve myself of the heat.

We all know that it is much easier to cope with cold than warmth. When it's cold, all you have to do is bundle up. When it's hot, you need aircon, electric fans, handheld fans, etc. etc.

See? Cold good. Heat bad.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	9. Chapter 5

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Finally, the weather in my area changed drastically. It's now raining every day, stopping only for about minutes of intervals before starting up again. The cold is easier to deal with than warm weather, so I'd choose to have cold weather anyday. So yes, I'm gonna update quickly for the next few months.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus sorry for misplacing your email add the last time ) for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 5 - THE THREE 'DEMONS' OF JAPAN!

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma and Rin-Ohki stared as the wall that signified the end of the tunnel submerge itself into the ground. They bigsweated as the ground opened up and revealed a lower cavern. According to the amount of moss on the lower walls and the stagnant smell that wafted on the air, it hasn't been explored for quite a while before.

Rin-Ohki slapped her long ear on Ranma's head, eliciting a yelp from the pigtailed boy. "Miyaah! Miya mi-miyaaah!" she... well, meowed... as she glared on the boy.

Ranma scratched the base of his pigtail rather nervously. He added a really raspy chuckle with it as well. "I wonder how that happened. I had no idea it would happen, really!"

"Miyah." The cabbit snorted.

Ranma looked to his shoulder where the cabbit was perched. "Really, you heard Washuu. I'm not a Juraian, so how the heck did I pull that rusty sword anyways?"

Rin-Ohki seemed to shrug when she realized that Ranma might have a point.

Her master just sighed. "Whatever. Since we're here anyways, why don't we go and explore some more? I get to see what Ryoko's tomb is like first hand!"

Rin-Ohki rolled her eyes as she clutched tighter on Ranma's shoulder to balance herself. As Ranma floated towards the bottom of the descent, he raised his palm at chest level and concentrated, until a small sphere of blue light emerged from his outstretched palm. The surroundings immediately lit up because of it. The light revealed a wide passage to their front, which ends with a small tomb of some sort.

Curious, Ranma and Rin-Ohki slowly approached the intricate sepulcher at the end of the hall. Despite Rin-Ohki's warnings within their mental link, as well as her loud meows of protest, Ranma felt his hands slowly lifted themselves from his sides and touched the cold tomb that housed Ryoko's mummified remains. In his home world, he knew all these, but now with him touching it evoked powerful emotions from him just the same. He could feel the immense loneliness she felt all those years being left here, all alone. Perhaps her body hasn't degraded too much as of what happened to her in his home world, but still even two hundred years is such a long time for anyone to be trapped alive underneath the earth.

As Ranma's hands brushed against the grave, a bright flash of light encompassed everything. Ranma backed away from the grave as the top cover exploded outwards, showering everything with dust and debris.  
Ranma's eyes bugged out as pale hands reached out of the open tomb and grasped the sides for support. Cyan hair emerged as the hands pulled their body out. Slitted golden eyes suddenly opened and looked around its surroundings. Those eyes zeroed in unto the paralyzed Ranma, who just stood there gaping like a fish. The same eyes snapped its gaze to Ranma's shoulder, and saw the cabbit that was perched unto it.

"R-Ryo-Ohkiiiii?" A raspy voice emerged from the figure as she struggled to sit up.

"Miyaaah..." Rin-Ohki said in a soft voice as she tightened her hold on Ranma's shoulder.

"I know... she's kinda creepy..." Ranma whispered to the cabbit as they slowly but surely backed away from the rising body.

The body shook the slick moisture that have gathered around it during its dormancy. It stood up inside the tomb and took a leap, landing a little in front of the frozen Ranma. Once again, the slitted yellow eyes glared at the boy.

"Nottt... Ryo-Ohkiii... who... are youu?"

"Err.." Ranma bigsweated. This was not expected at all. "Ermm... Saotome Ranma. Is that you, Ryoko?" ((Oh sure, nice question you baka! She just rose from the dead and all you can ask is that silly question?)) he mentally chided himself.

The body jerked as it heard the name. "H-How did you know? Who... are you?"

"Look." Ranma said as he tried to placate the reawakened space pirate.  
"Let's just all calm down and discuss this in a dignified manner."

The body finally finished its regeneration. Ryoko's face slowly reformed out of the quite wrinkled face that it had once before. Her eyes slowly glowed angrily as she glared at Ranma. Her wrists started to glow red as well, at the same time with a gem on her throat. She took menacing steps towards Ranma, who started stammering excuses.

Just as she was about to reach out and grab Ranma, her aura dissipated,  
leaving her staring at Ranma in shock.

"What... what happened?" Ryoko gasped as she examined her wrists.  
"These... are not my gems. Where are my gems!" Then a momentary light of comprehension lit up in her head. "Yosho..." she growled out,  
remembering how the Juraian stabbed her before that darkness knocked her out before.

"Yosho took out my gems!" Ryoko bellowed as she dropped to the ground.  
Before she hit the hard surface, a pair of arms caught her. Momentarily immobile, Ryoko struggled to turn her face, and her eyes met with the nicest shade of blue she had ever seen in her lifetime. Sensing that she stared at him too long as Ranma's face adopted a curious look, she blushed heavily.

Ryoko struggled to control her emotions. "What the hell are you staring at!"

Ranma sighed as he placed Ryoko on the ground and cradled her head on his lap. Ryoko watched the cabbit hop from his shoulder and sniff at her tentatively.

"Relax... you expended too much energy on your anger." Ranma said in soothing tones as he caressed her hair.

Ryoko shivered a bit as she felt his fingers kneading deliciously into her scalp. "That... that cabbit... is it yours?"

Ranma blinked, but continued to administer his massage, much to Ryoko's secret glee. "Yeah, I guess. Her name's Rin-Ohki... she was just born yesterday."

"Miyah!" Rin-Ohki replied as her name was mentioned. She was curled near Ranma's hip.

Ryoko sighed as she settled down on his lap. "I'm sorry for my outburst before. I dunno why, I just felt so angry before. And about the cabbit,  
I had one before..."

Ranma nodded. "Ryo-Ohki, right?"

Ryoko almost started at that. "That's right. How'd you know?"

The boy shook his head sadly. It was then that Ryoko finally noticed that he was a bit younger than her. But there was something in the boy's aura that was a bit off and was very familiar to her.

"It's a story even someone as well-traveled as you would think impossible." Ranma said softly.

"Try me." Ryoko said in a very serious tone.

Ranma looked thoughtfully at Ryoko for a moment. He nodded slightly and closed his eyes. "You've been trapped here for more or less two hundred years..."

The cyan-haired girl tilted her head to one side. "Sooo... what does that have to do with anything?"

Ranma chuckled. "There is another world out there where you were trapped for several hundred years." Seeing her disbelieving look, he continued,  
"It's true. I am not from this world, or time, or reality... I really don't know how to explain it. In my world, it's not me who's gonna free you, but my cousin, Tenchi..."

He lifted Ryoko to his lap until her body became comfortable in his arms. "Many legends were created out of your battle with Yosho. They say you are an evil demon that threatened to wipe out everything and the descended god Yosho defeated you. He imprisoned you in this temple for several hundred years. His descendant, that was my cousin Tenchi, freed you of your captivity."

Ryoko sniffed. "It was a Juraian that did this to me." she pointed out her wrists, which one of them has no gem in it.

Ranma shrugged. "You were being controlled. You had to be stopped, or else everything would perish, right?"

The space-pirate wilted. "Yeah. Kagato brainwashed me. It's bad enough that he was able to use me for his own gains, but to remember them as I did all those things... those people I killed... I feel guilty and angry at the same time..."

Ryoko felt her body being hugged tightly. "Shhh... it's okay Ryoko. It wasn't really you." Ranma whispered in her ear as he started to rock her body with his own.

Suddenly, his ears picked up the subtle sound of footsteps from the opening of the tomb area. Ryoko managed to catch his silence so she too strained to listen. Sure enough, footfalls padded the ground above the crypt, accompanied by various voices talking in hushed tones.

Ranma slowly stood up, pulling Ryoko with him. He bent down to pick up Rin-Ohki, who was meowing at him quite loudly.

"The seal has been broken!" A voice Ranma recognized as Yosho wafted through the opening.

"So what! What are ya yappin' about now old man?" Oh, that was definitely Inuyasha all right.

"Inuyasha! SIT!" A loud yell of indignation followed by something hard meeting the floor echoed in the cave. A small quake was even felt after that. Judging from the volume and the irritation towards Inuyasha,  
that voice must've belonged to his would-be cousin, Kagome.

"Well, shall we go down then?" It's the one carrying a staff and wearing monk clothes, Miroku, if he remembered right.

"Do we need wards or anything else?" That one is the boomerang lady,  
Sango, Ranma scratched his head as he thought about it.

((Sango has one mean boomerang... kinda reminds me of Ucchan...)) Ranma thought morosely.

As Ranma was about to shout that he was in there, a cloud of dust emerged as soft thuds came from the bottom of the hole. When the dust finally settled down, it was revealed that Yosho, Inuyasha, Kagome,  
Miroku and Sango came down from the upper floor. Ranma took note that Yosho had his hands on the real Tenchi-ken. The main gem out of the three was a bit larger and far more defined than the faked one.

Yosho quickly looked around the tomb area, and finally saw Ranma.  
"Ranma! What are you doing here? Don't you know it's dangerous in"  
His voice trailed off when he finally saw who was hiding behind Ranma.  
"YOU!" he screamed, igniting the Tenchi-ken as an afterthought.

Inuyasha just looked confused but followed suit. He pulled his old sword out of the scabbard and let it transform into the real form of the Tetsusaiga. Behind him, Kagome readied her bow and arrows, while Sango unlatched her giant boomerang from her back. Miroku tightened his hold on his staff.

Ranma quickly jumped between Ryoko and the assembled group. "What the heck are you doing! She's done nothing wrong! It's my fault the seal broke!" At his shoulder, Rin-Ohki miyah'd in agreement.

Yosho angrily waved the Tenchi-ken in the air. It hummed menacingly as it cut through the thin air that was in the room. "She is EVIL! She must be sealed back!"

"NO!" Ranma replied angrily. "She's been manipulated by someone, and YOU know it! Stop living in the past, Yosho of Jurai!"

Behind Ranma, Ryoko was quite surprised at Ranma's outburst. It has been a long time since someone defended her honor. Her mother abandoned her while she was trapped in the Soja. For some reason, her mother and creator disappeared. She was then subjected to mind control that had been a nightmare for her. She can see and feel what she's doing, but she couldn't control her actions at all. Those horrible acts she did while under that person, Kagato's control was remembered up to this day.

"Step aside, Ranma, or I will cut you down just to get to her." Yosho intoned seriously.

Ranma just snorted as he crossed his arms across his chest. Unnoticed by him, a silver corona of power erupted from his body, much to the surprise of Yosho and the rest of the people inside the tomb. "Do what you will, but I will not be beaten just because you said so." Ranma turned to his shoulder and said, "Rin-Ohki, please protect Ryoko."

"MIYA!" The silver-furred cabbit replied enthusiastically as she jumped from her position and took her place in front of Ryoko. She hissed angrily at the attacking group.

Ryoko just stared dumbly at her two protectors as she used the tomb that imprisoned her as leverage for her to stand up. Her energy reserves were still too low for her to be able to combat such threats. Battling a Juraian and four other unknowns are a bit too much, even for her fast-healing body.

Yosho quickly raised his sword and slashed a feint to the left side as he swerved to the right. He wasn't really planning on hurting Ranma, but he has to get him out of the way to get to Ryoko real quick. Besides,  
the cabbit that Ranma has with him was still a wild card for him,  
because nobody really knows what she can do.

Ranma was about to follow Yosho's bait, but he saw the slight change in posture. He realized that Yosho would use the momentum and use his other foot to pivot out of the way, so that he could sidestep Ranma and be able to encounter Ryoko without any hassles from him. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Inuyasha tensed up and dashed to take a swipe at him,  
but it was too late. Ranma already saw the feints and was able to divert his direction towards where Yosho's sword swerved. Ranma saw that the most dangerous right now was the Tenchi-ken, so he quickly raised his hand up in a desperate attempt to stop Yosho's downward swipe towards Ryoko.

Yosho smirked at the wide-eyed expression on Ryoko's face. He knew that her powers were nothing right now, and she will not be able to summon her shield to block this strike. He took out her gems before he imprisoned her, just to be on the safe side, and he was right all along.  
As the sword was about to strike Ryoko, a bright flash of silver exploded from the strike, flinging Yosho to the air.

Ranma watched in shock as he saw Yosho blown back by some force. He was about to summon some of his aura to throw and at least redirect the blade from slashing Ryoko. Yosho flipped in the air and landed in a ready position, his face reflected a shocked expression. Inuyasha on the other hand took his chance and slashed at the monster Yosho pointed out.  
He got the same results as Yosho had, which resulted in him being blown back and his sword returning to its dormant state. Ranma saw a flicker of blue at Ryoko's foot, and caught the cabbit's eyes glowing menacing blue as a silver shield emerged in Rin-Ohki and Ryoko's position.

Ryoko had crossed her arms over her head when she saw the weapons approach her, but was quite surprised when she felt nothing afterwards.  
When she opened her eyes, she saw everyone staring dumbly at the silver shield that flickered just ways away from her, which had protected her from the strikes. Her gaze lowered and saw Rin-Ohki's eyes glowing blue,  
as it would seem that she concentrated on raising the shield.

Yosho's momentary shock turned to a bit of anger. "Damn! That cabbit can produce high-powered shields at this young age! Time to use the big guns." And with that, he concentrated until a small glow covered his whole body, shredding his old clothes and morphing them into a white garb armor.

Ryoko gasped. She remembered the summoned armor. "Ranma!" she called out to him, "Be careful! That's a Juraian Battle Armor!"

"I know." Ranma said grimly, without looking back to Ryoko. Instead, his aura began to intensify more as the seconds trickled by. He glared angrily at Yosho. "Stop this Yosho, please." he asked once more.

The Juraian Prince just furrowed his brows in concentration as the Tenchi-ken's lit blade widened its arc.

Ranma's face hardened. "So be it." he said softly. His anger grew, as well as his energy levels. He hadn't noticed it yet, partly because he thought the limiters placed with his bracers would stop unnecessary energy explosion. Yosho noticed the strained expression on Ranma's face,  
but it was far too late for him to back out. As he was about to leap in and attack once again, Ranma finally snapped his head back and roared an inhuman growl from within his throat.

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The ground shook as Ranma's silver aura exploded violently outwards his glowing body. Yosho and Inuyasha, as well as those behind him took quick steps backwards as they remembered what had happened the last time this occurred.

Yosho whirled to his companions and yelled, "Get out of here, now!" He saw the confused and terrified expressions on their faces, so he dashed to the bottom of the opening and quickly transversed the steep steps to set an examples. To his relief, he heard other footsteps rapidly following him.

Ryoko on the other hand was rooted to her position, as Rin-Ohki protected her from the flying debris that was dislodged thanks to Ranma's sudden outburst. The silver cabbit seemed to be totally unafraid at the sight, as if she was expecting it. The cyan haired woman gaped when she saw Ranma's hair color slowly changed from black to dark red.  
Not only that, but Ranma also started to float off the ground.

"Ranma!" Ryoko called out over the roar of pure energy that seemed to echo across the whole tomb. Large cracks and fissures appeared across the walls of her prison.

The boy in question circled around to face Ryoko. The space pirate gasped, because the blue-gray of his pupils now covered most of his eyes, and in place of his blue-gray pupils, a more menacing golden color of pupils glowed against the dimness of what's left of the cave. She also took note of his red tail swishing violently at his back. The hard on his face slowly melted as he spoke, "I will not let anyone hurt you,  
Ryoko."

"Ranma..." Ryoko's eyes widened in comprehension. "You're... you're a..."

The enraged boy turned his back to her. "I'm a monster."

Before Ryoko could retort to that, Ranma lifted his hands and released a silver ball of energy towards the walls, effectively blasting the whole area apart.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Yosho and the others just got out of the dark cave when the whole mountainside erupted in silver energy. The group managed to duck into the huge carpet of trees as a huge explosion rocked the whole vicinity,  
showering everything around it with dust and debris.

When they finally opened their eyes, they saw the former opening of the cave much much larger than it was before. Most of the mountain face that stood in front of them now sported a huge gaping hole. Not only that,  
but a bright light emerging from the middle of the huge dark cavern that was once the prison for the world destroyer Ryoko pierced through the remaining dust that swirled around. Figures were silhouetted by the dust, which was slowly dissipating as the group stared dumbly at the devastation. When the dust finally split, they were quite unsurprised when Ranma stepped out, with Ryoko slowly staggering behind, and an alert Rin-Ohki leading in front of her.

The Juraian Prince's eyes widened slightly when he noticed Ranma's hair color changed from black to the fiery red color. The color Yosho clearly remembered when the boy was in a berserker state during the fight with the Manticores. But he noticed that Ranma's eyes were a bit different from before. When Ranma was in berserk, his eyes turned into a blue color with no pupils. But now, his eyes still had those blue no-pupil eyes, but now there were golden pupils that really looked intimidating when one stares at it too long. Ranma's tail was unwrapped from his waist, twitching agitatedly as the boy stared at them.

"Yosho..." Ranma growled out, "I will not let you hurt her."

Yosho sighed softly, biting a scalding remark down. "We have to seal her again, Ranma. You know the stories... you know how dangerous she is.  
she might revert back to that state of mind and---"

Whatever Yosho was about to say was effectively cut off when a small ball of highly condensed energy flew inches past his head, veering off to one side that exploded strongly against a few clumps of trees.  
Inuyasha and the others just watched amazed when they saw the small ball destroyed everything that stood in its path, and the fantastic explosion in the end as well.

"Spare me the monologue, Yosho." Ranma said in an eerie calm. "All I felt was a lonely girl that was left in that cave for kami knows how long. The control in her head that once forced her to do those things before is already gone."

"Still..." Yosho said softly as he took his position, "It never does me anything wrong to be sure..."

Ranma shook his head and floated above the ground. Yosho lifted his sword in the air and charged. As Ranma met him head on, Yosho blurred and swiped at Ranma's right side. The pigtailed boy grunted as the sword whistled past his head. He had sidestepped just in time to avoid the swipe, but was not ready for the follow-up kick from his left. Ranma was twisted himself for balance as he wobbled in the air. Yosho took the momentary pause as a sign for attack and struck the sword into Ranma.  
The boy just floated there as he watched Yosho rise up from the ground towards him, with the Tenchi-ken's tip pointed towards his abdomen.  
Ranma quickly spooled his resources but was too slow when he felt the hot blade rip into his abdomen. All Ranma heard was a soft swish as he watched Yosho's triumphant smile when he impaled the boy unto his sword.  
As Yosho finally spent his upward momentum, he let himself drop,  
dragging the bloodied sword with him downwards. Ranma staggered as he clutched unto his stomach, grimacing as he floated a little higher to gain ground as well.

As he saw Yosho smirk a bit at his accomplishment, Inuyasha darted towards Ryoko, who was by now a bit more oriented than she was before.  
Ryoko narrowed her eyes at the incoming demon and raised her hand. A red crackling ball of energy emerged from her outstretched palms. Kagome on the other hand fired her enchanted arrows toward Ryoko, while Sango released her boomerang as well. All the projectiles were deflected by Rin-Ohki's shield, much to the girls' dismay.

Satisfied by the amount of energy gathered, as well as being careful not to strain herself too much, Ryoko released the ball to the hanyou's direction. Inuyasha stopped from his dash and raised his sword to block the energy ball. A loud clang followed by fritzes of energy sounded off as the ball collided with the sword. Inuyasha was pushed back by the ball, until he angled his sword to let the energy pass to his side. The red menacing energy remained on its disturbed path and disintegrated in the air.

Back to Ranma and Yosho's battle, the pigtailed boy stared at his bloody hand as he floated high up in the air. His body started cackling with energy, and the tendrils slowly wafted into his wound. The cut slowly healed, leaving only a dull ache for Ranma. But the feeling of betrayal was fresh in his mind.

The boy took his tail in his hand and wrapped it around his waist. With a low growl, he quickly launched himself towards Yosho, who was waiting at the bottom of the descent. As Ranma was about to reach Yosho, the boy suddenly vanished, leaving a surprised and unbalanced Yosho, who had his sword at a ready stance. The Juraian frantically searched around the vicinity, only spotting various members of his party that were as confused as he was. Yosho momentarily stiffened as he felt the hairs at the back of his head raise up. He quickly ducked from a horizontal swipe and rolled forwards, avoiding another downward slash from some unknown source. When Yosho completed his roll and stood up, he saw Ranma crouched on the ground, the same long blue energy blades jutting out from his knuckles. Yosho fought off a shudder as he watched Ranma slowly pull out the long blades from the ground, which left four deep holes.

The two main combatants stood face to face with each other, both glaring all the time. With an unseen signal, they both snarled and leapt for each other. As they were about to deal blows with the other once again,  
a loud shrill voice stopped their movements.

"STOOOOP!"

Everyone in the battle froze immediately. They all looked at the source of the voice, and saw a small redhead who had her hands on her hips. Her green eyes flashed dangerously as her foot tapped against the ground.

"Washuu... san." Yosho said lamely as he tried to hide the Tenchi-ken,  
its blade sputtered out all of the sudden. In all truth, he was quite happy with the intrusion. He had to control his fear when he found out what his little trick did to Ranma's psyche. Yosho was really only trying to get Ranma to back off, so a minor gash and a little scare would suffice, but he never realized how serious Ranma was in protecting Ryoko. Because of his little prank, Ranma became enraged and transformed once again into the red-haired demon that annihilated those Manticores back then. But there was a difference though, this time Ranma was in control, and his eyes hadn't taken the complete blue hue. Instead, his pupils became golden in color, and frankly for Yosho, it was more intimidating.

Ranma just lowered his arms and let the blue blades disappear. His red hair slowly turned black as he turned around and walked towards Ryoko,  
who was staring at Washuu weirdly. Rin-Ohki meowed as she floated up beside the bewildered Ranma.

"You can fly, huh?" Ranma asked the cabbit as she floated past his head.

"Miyah!" The cabbit nodded enthusiastically.

"AHEM!" Ranma finally faced Washuu, who was a bit miffed at being ignored. Once she saw Ranma's eyes, though, she gasped. "Y-Your eyes.  
they're..."

"What?" Ranma asked irritably.

"Tokimi's eyes... they're of Tokimi!" Washuu replied in a livid manner.

"She's my mother." Ranma commented simply. "Of course my eyes... wait what's wrong with them?"

Washuu gaped like a fish for a while, then pulled out a mirror from her subspace pocket. She tossed the hand mirror to the boy, who caught it expertly.

Ranma looked at the image that the mirror reflected back at him. His eyes widened when he finally saw what had happened. His eyes were solid bluish-gray all over, except for his pupils which was golden in color,  
which seemed to glow every now and then. Ranma looked back to Washuu with a panicked expression on his face.

"What the heck happened to me? Are these my mother's eyes!" Ranma almost screamed in terror as he fervently wished that the condition were only temporary.

Washuu shrugged as she shook her head. "Not exactly like Tokimi, but it is basically the same. Your body is slowly adapting and assimilating each of the attributes of your ancestry. One is your tail, and now your eyes. I don't know what will happen next..."

Ranma slumped down to the ground. "Is... is this permanent, then?"

The redhead nodded sadly. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Ryoko, having recovered somewhat from the weariness of battle, slowly strode towards the sulking boy, at the moment confused of what to do. It has been years since she last cared about someone, and she had been betrayed every step of the way. Kagato's control over her actions really put a great big chasm in her heart, that prevented her from feeling much emotion towards anyone. But the young boy in front of her stirred a bit of the emotions she lost before in her heart. Slowly, she knelt down to Ranma's level and took him in her arms. "It's... it's alright, Ranma"  
she whispered in his ear. She felt him nod a bit as he muttered a soft 'thank you'.

Rin-Ohki hurriedly hopped up towards Ranma's shoulder and nuzzled his free cheek lovingly. She sent waves of comforting emotions through their link, which was greatly appreciated by Ranma in return. The boy lifted his hand to Rin-Ohki's ear and scratched her there, which made her purr softly.

"Ryoko-chan!" The red-haired scientist quickly made her way towards the trio as they hugged themselves. Ryoko looked up to the scientist (she was kneeling, and Washuu was standing... go figure) and gasped as comprehension finally lit up in her eyes. The same eyes narrowed after a while when she suddenly stood up and growled.

"Don't Ryoko-chan me, Washuu! You left me alone with that... that.  
monster!" Ryoko screamed to the scientist's face, who stopped her advance when the cyan haired woman stood. "I was all alone... even though I was controlled, I was aware of what I was forced to do! Do you have any idea how bad I feel! Do you have any idea how relieved I felt when that Juraian finally struck me in the throat! Do you have any idea how happy I felt when I knew I was going to DIE!" Her eyes now sprouted tears, which leaked down her cheeks.

Washuu slowly changed to her taller adult form, which earned sharp intakes of breath behind her that she pointedly ignored. She slowly approached the fuming Ryoko and gathered her in her arms. Ryoko struggled violently at first, screaming obscenities at how unfair her life has been when she was being controlled. Washuu couldn't really blame the girl. Compared to her imprisonment, Ryoko has been forced and was aware of what Kagato had her do. To remember each and every innocent kill she did was a bit too much even for Washuu to handle. She just let Ryoko vent her frustrations.

Ranma cradled Rin-Ohki as they gazed sadly on Ryoko and Washuu. Ranma had already heard the story behind everything, and he had already shared it with his partner through their mental link.

"Forgive me, Ryoko..." Washuu's much richer voice reverberated in the air as she placated the still struggling Ryoko, "I was imprisoned by Kagato in his ship as well... I was just freed yesterday." Her voice was full of anguish.

Ryoko slowly abated her struggles when she heard Washuu. ((She had been imprisoned as well?)) she asked herself. "Is... that true?"

"Yeah, it is." The duo turned to face Ranma, who was looking up to them.  
"Kagato imprisoned Washuu-chan in the Soja, and was lost in space.  
Kagato stole you from her and used you to attack the planet Jurai, to get Tsunami's source of power, which he believed will make him the most powerful in the universe." Ranma sighed. "It was a coincidence... that both of you are here..." Ranma's eyes narrowed. "You know what? That IS weird. Washuu shouldn't have been here at all. In my home world, some Galaxy Police detective named Mihoshi accidentally rescued Washuu.  
Washuu didn't crash land on Earth at all."

Ranma shook his head. "Anyway, that's not important as of now. Washuu hadn't abandoned you intentionally, Ryoko. She's just as trapped as you were back then."

Ryoko turned to Washuu, who was staring at her intently. "W-Washuu.  
I'm sorry... for what I said earlier."

"It's alright, really." Washuu said with full emotions, "I think I deserve that. I'll examine you to be sure you are free of any contamination and the controlling device in your brain is gone. I'm sure Kagato hid something in there that could reactivate his control."

Turning to the crowd and the still sitting Ranma, Washuu asked, "Now,  
can someone PLEASE tell me what happened!" She gestured to the destroyed surroundings. "I leave you for a few hours and this happens!"

Yosho chose the moment to speak up. "Ryoko is free. I swore an oath to keep her locked up because of her crimes."

Ranma angrily stood up, his eyes glowing in ethereal light. "I keep telling you she's not in control that time!"

Before the discussion degraded into another shouting match, Washuu finally stepped in. "Is that what this is all about?" She whirled around to face Yosho and glared at him. She mentally smirked when she saw the Juraian Prince wilt under her even gaze. "I agree that what she did was wrong, but how can you still hold it up to her when she wasn't in control at that time? So it's true then, how stubborn and prideful Juraians are... even in front of their mistakes!"

Ranma couldn't help but snicker when he saw Yosho's pout when Washuu snorted, "Yosho no baka." Despite their skirmish, he still considered the older man a good friend. Oh yeah, also the hanyou who was gaping at the background as well, as well as those who were trying to hide among themselves.

Yosho sighed and approached Ranma hesitantly. The Juraian was a bit queasy looking into Ranma new eyes right now. The seemingly luminous golden glow left him wanting to run away in fright. He steeled himself as he offered a hand up. "Sorry about that, Ranma-kun. You have to understand that I was doing it out of duty." Yosho turned his gaze to Ryoko. "I've chased Ryoko far too long, and our battle wasn't all that nice. A lot of planets were decimated because of it, so the memory was a bit bad for me." Ryoko nodded her acceptance in Yosho's explanation.

Kagome stepped up and hesitantly added, "We're sorry too. We just got rallied up with Yosho, I guess. So on behalf of everyone from my group,  
I want to say we're so sorry for the misunderstanding."

The pigtailed boy took the offered hand and stood up. "I understand how you feel. But I won't let anyone get hurt just because of old presumptions about them. People change... especially in Ryoko's case.  
And I'm sorry too, knowing you are doing your duty, but I don't want to see her hurt anymore."

"Why?"

Ranma and Yosho both turned to look at Ryoko, who was gazing at Ranma curiously. "Why did you protect me? even though I was controlled back then, Yosho was right. I am dangerous, and could be used again."

Ranma shrugged. "When I entered your tomb, I felt the aura of loneliness in there. It was so strong that I started to feel lonely as well. I just felt like I don't want you to suffer like that anymore. Besides, Washuu is here. She can check up on you to be sure."

Turning to Ryoko, Ranma continued, "Let's get you checked up, shall we?  
So that we can all be sure."

Ryoko nodded and floated off the ground. As she went to Ranma's side,  
she was a bit put off as to why he's not surprised by it at all. Her question was answered when Ranma smirked at her and floated as well. Her surprise caused Ryoko to wobble unsteadily on the air as she gaped on Ranma.

"Y-You're...?" Ryoko stuttered, still livid at seeing Ranma float past her.

Washuu interjected, "That's right, Ryoko. Ranma has Masu heritage, like you do."

"Sooo..." Ryoko cocked her head to one side. "You can teleport?"

Ranma nodded.

"Form energy swords?"

"For me, I think I used energy claws. At least that's what I saw earlier..." Ranma replied thoughtfully.

"You can split yourself into two?"

Ranma got into a introspective mood. "Hmmm... not that I can remember.  
Nope! Haven't tried that yet." He eyed Ryoko for a moment before continuing, "Say... can you teach me the stuff 'we' can do?"

Ryoko was taken aback. "But... why me? I mean..."

"Why not?" Ranma pouted innocently.

Washuu smiled. "You know, that is a great idea. Ryoko can teach Ranma all the tricks there are on being Masu. But... lessen the damages will you?"

Ranma and Ryoko, as well as Yosho and the rest of the group looked around warily. They all nodded meekly, even though it was only meant for Ranma and Ryoko.

As Ryoko followed Ranma floating from behind the boy, Ryoko was left to her thoughts.

((Someone... someone who's like me...)) she silently thought.

"((Thinking about something, Ryoko-chan?))" Ryoko almost fell down when her telepathic link with Washuu, which was unused for more than five thousand years, was finally used once again.

"((N-Nothing! I'm not thinking anything!))" Ryoko mentally shouted.

In front of the group, Washuu winced a bit. "((Calm down. I'm just asking a question, you know.))"

Ryoko huffed silently. "((Well, just leave me alone about it!))"

Washuu mentally shrugged. "((Fine, fine. Just remember though, take your time. Don't force him to love you...))"

Ryoko growled. "((And how the hell would you know, huh?))" She stopped the thought as she realized something. "((Nevermind. I think I'm gonna practice turning this link off.))"

The cyan haired space pirate could hear Washuu laughing hard in her mind, which greatly irritated her. She also remembered, that she had to revive her cabbit, Ryo-Ohki, in a little while. The sight of Ranma's own cabbit, Rin-Ohki, on his shoulders, made her feel a little envious.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"There's nothing that could be used by Kagato to recover control of your body, Ryoko. There is no need to worry anymore." Washuu's small chirpy voice echoed all over the subspace laboratory. The scientist reverted herself back to the child-like appearance again once they entered the office.

Ryoko lay on the white covered table that held Ranma the day before. She was nude, and was quite undisturbed about it. Ranma had accompanied her inside, just to keep an eye on her he claims, but the etch of worry in his newly transformed eyes were quite obvious. Rin-Ohki followed them inside as well, but for some reason she disappeared somewhere in one of the doors of the lab. Ranma received only one response from her when he asked about her whereabouts, and that was 'hungry'. Feeling that it was unimportant, he shrugged it off and kept it to himself. His companion might've found a hidden cupboard or something inside the huge lab, and he wasn't about to go between a hungry cabbit and her meal.

Only a thin white blanket covered Ryoko's body from whoever was with her, but still Ranma didn't take the chance and turned around. He floated on a random corner as he examined the interior of the lab. Ranma was quite impressed at how big the scientist's domain was. He even accidentally opened a door somewhere, and he found himself floating in outer space. For a moment, Ranma forgot his none-dependence on air as he held his breath. He almost slapped himself when he did remember about it, though.

Ryoko lifted her head to look over Washuu. "So... I'm all set to go,  
right?"

Washuu frowned. "Not so fast. I still need to take your gems back from Yosho's Master Key. Although before I go yanking them from the Key, I have to make sure Yosho's space tree Funaho takes roots somewhere safe,  
perhaps a new ship for Yosho."

The space pirate slumped back to her bed. "Sigh... I wonder when I could summon Ryo-Ohki back again..."

"Well..." Washuu tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I could ask Yosho to return two of the gems. I mean, he could still siphon energy from the remaining gem without any problems. I'll ask now."

Pressing something on her really cool watch, Washuu started typing on the astral computer that appeared opposite the watch. A second later, a shimmering figure of Yosho appeared in the lab in front of them, frozen on a sweeping motion with the broom still on his hands. Yosho shook his head and frantically looked around him, as if trying to wake up from a dream that suddenly turned into a nightmare. As the Juraian's gaze finally locked to the smirking Washuu, he sighed.

"You... summoned, Washuu-san?" Yosho said warily, twirling the broom idly on one hand.

Washuu beamed at the young man, who in turn paled when he saw the twinkle of mischief in the scientist's eyes. "Please return the gems you took from Ryoko, rather, only two of them for now, until I finish creating an ideal environment for your space tree."

Yosho dropped his broom as his fingers fumbled suddenly. "You can't be serious!"

The small redhead glared slightly at Yosho. "Let me rephrase that, then.  
Return the two gems, NOW."

Yosho squeaked a small 'eep' and pulled the hilt of the Tenchi-ken out.  
He flared it for a moment, then pointed the blade towards Ryoko. The gems let off a small glint of light and with a 'pop', two gems detached themselves from the hilt. The two gems floated past the gaping Ranma and the smiling Washuu, and went directly to Ryoko. The cyan haired woman held out her hands gratefully, and the two gems latched themselves on the circular sockets that seemed to have appeared on Ryoko's wrists.

A huge miasma of energy filled the large laboratory, bathing everyone in red light. Ranma's whole body tingled as he felt the huge gobs of power leaked off from Ryoko's floating body. Ranma suddenly jolted, as he felt some slight burning in some parts of his body. The pains were pulsating in sync with the blinking crimson glow coming from the gems.

After several moments, everything stopped. Ryoko slowly fluttered down back to the bed and slumped, while Ranma's pain in his body slowly abated.

Ryoko's eyes fluttered open as her face split into a glorious smile.  
"Finally!" she jumps up, almost giddy with excitement, "I can summon Ryo-Ohki again!"

Before he could say anything, Ranma was grabbed by the arm and was dragged outside the laboratory. Yosho just looked at Washuu quizzically,  
while the scientist shrugged back. Outside the lab, Kagome, Sango,  
Koneko and Kaede gaped in shock while Inuyasha, Myoga, Shippo, Miroku,  
and the four shrine priests sweatdropped as they saw a blur, which turned out to be Ryoko and Ranma, phase out of the cabinet doors. Ryoko was pulling Ranma so hard and was flying so fast that Ranma was like a flagpole flapping against the wind as they passed the main shrine office. The group's gazes locked unto the two as they watched them pass through the door leading outside of the office as well.

Ranma finally got his bearings back when his eyes were assaulted by the harsh glare of the sun. He realized that he was outside, and he was still being dragged by Ryoko. "Ryoko! Lemme go! I can follow you just fine you know!"

The joyful Ryoko quickly disengaged and continued on her flight path.  
"Fine! Just follow me then."

Sighing, Ranma followed Ryoko by the air in a more sedated pace. Having thought about Ryoko's cause for being excited, he chuckled. It seemed that Ryoko would gain her friend back. He thought about his own companion, Rin-Ohki, and was quite confused as to why he could 'see' her in his mind as she was eating those scraps of metal. For some reason,  
the background in his mind was recognizable.

"Ranma! Hurry up!" Ryoko called to him. Ranma shook his head to clear it and accelerated towards the girl.

He found Ryoko standing at the edge of the shrine's lake. She turned her head to one side and addressed him, "Watch and learn, Ranma-chan." Ryoko smirked as she raised her hand perpendicular to the lake surface. Her two gems glowed brightly as she gathered the energies within the orbs,  
while the lake glowed with the same color as Ryoko's gems.

Once she was satisfied with the energy she had gathered, Ryoko shouted in a loud voice, "Ryo-Ohki, come back to me, NOW!"

Ranma felt the ground shake as the middle of the lake lit up in red light. A loud 'MIYAAH' came from somewhere in the lake. The waters suddenly split open, drenching Ranma without delay, who was standing at the water's edge. A large crystalline ship emerged from the lake, which suddenly shrunk into a small black ball of fur. Ryoko gleefully caught the ball and hugged it to her chest.

"Ryo-Ohki!" Ryoko laughed out loud as she clutched at the black ball.  
She opened her arms and revealed a small black furred cabbit with rounded ears and golden eyes. The cabbit looked about her and meowed softly.

"Ranma! Look at her! Isn't she... eh?" Ryoko sweatdropped when she turned and saw a wet and fuming female Ranma tapping her foot against the ground.

Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki suddenly lurched as they heard a mental shout from a rather infuriated red-haired scientist.

"((RRRRRAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!))" Ryoko grimaced and clutched at her head as an almost incomprehensible chatter echoed in her mind, while Ryo-Ohki's ears furled into themselves in response.

Ranma saw this and immediately went to her side. "What's wrong?"

Ryoko struggled to balance herself as she used Ranma's body as a crutch.  
"Wa-Washuu... she... she says that... Rin-Ohki... ate half her... lab"  
she stuttered out.

The boy turned girl blanched as she explored her own link to Rin-Ohki.  
Sure enough, Washuu's angry face welcomed her as she saw what was happening through the cabbit's eyes. Washuu was screaming at the cabbit's face, which was held by the scruff of her neck so it seems.

Ryoko continued, "Washuu says your cabbit ate... EMP generators and shielding, several prototypes of particle beam cannons, the only two samples in existence of those banned Black Hole Cluster cannons... hmmm I never knew she still had those, they were considered banned coz they're too dangerous... a lot of rare crystal samples she collected,  
tons of deflector shields, some new stealth components... those rare metal alloys... phase disruptor arrays? Wow... Rin-Ohki really did a number on Washuu's lab, eh?"

Ranma sweatdropped as Rin-Ohki meowed piteously in their link.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"I wish I could stay, but I can't..." Kagome said sadly as she stood in front of the Bone-Eater's Well. She used the counterpart of this same well in her time five hundred years in the future to travel back through time. Now that Naraku has been finally vanquished, her job was done.

When the thought hammered itself to her head, her thoughts of going back to her own time were hampered when she realized that Inuyasha would be lost. Her feelings for the half-youkai were strong enough, and even though Inuyasha was still peevish in showing it, Kagome knew that the hanyou loved her just as well. If she goes back, her chances of meeting her in the future would be zilch, especially since she gave the Shikon no Tama to Inuyasha. It was said that the jewel would grant extra powers to a youkai, but it also could turn Inuyasha into human. The hanyou still haven't told her his decision as to what path he would take, and it didn't appease her one bit.

"That's right, you can't stay here." Ranma said sagely as he floated in front of the group while holding Rin-Ohki in his arms. Truth be told,  
Ranma actually liked being with Kagome, although she didn't really belong in this time. Neither was he, but Kagome was here for a duty.  
Ranma's own trip was his choice.

A small gap of silence filled the air as they all looked at one another.  
Ranma spoke once again, "But we'll meet again. I don't exactly have a normal lifespan anymore, anyway. I'll see you... soon in your time probably." Ranma smiled towards Kagome. The girl smiled back.

"I didn't really get to be with you for long, but I feel good vibes from you. As Ranma had said, I'll meet you soon as well, with Ranma of course." Ryoko chuckled as she floated near Ranma's position. Ryo-Ohki meowed in response as well. Ranma just blushed deep red as he tried to fly away from the sexy girl, but Ryoko's grip was somewhat stronger than normal.

Kagome smiled gently at the floating woman. She had been able to get used to the idea that she can fly effortlessly, and so was her cousin as well. There were still so many secrets that she still didn't know about them, but it was enough to pacify her. She felt no ill thoughts from the cyan haired young woman, and besides, the wards don't work at her at all anyway. So there was no way Ryoko was a demon at all. It was all presumption.

Koneko shyly waved at her. The girl was silent most of the time, except when talking to and about Ranma though. "Have a safe trip back,  
Kagome-san, although I still don't understand anything about time-travelling and those other things..."

Kagome smiled in return. "Call me Kagome anyway, Koneko-chan."

"Hai, Kagome..." Koneko nodded.

Sango took a step forward, and wrapped Kagome in a hug. "I'm sorry you can't stay as well, Kagome. But this is not your time, or place. You have to go back." She then held Kagome at arms length. "Thank you for everything you have done..." Kirara rubbed herself on Kagome's legs as the two girls hugged each other once again.

Miroku placed his hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Thank you, Kagome... for helping us defeat Naraku. I wished we could say the same that we shall meet once again in the future, but we can't live that long. Nor do we want to."

"That's right." Sango nodded in agreement as she stepped back to Miroku's side. "Sadly, we're just humans, and five hundred years is way too long for us to wait for you."

"I know." Kagome sighed. "I'm gonna miss you guys..." She really would miss them. Sango still had to search for her lost little brother,  
Kohaku, who after the battle suddenly disappeared. They had believed that he was dead, but lack of evidence hereof gave them hope that the boy was still alive. Somehow maybe, Kohaku had survived even without the evil Shikon Shard that Naraku stuck at his back to revive him the last time.

Sango and Miroku nodded. "We are going to miss you as well." Miroku responded for the both of them. They stepped back and allowed Kaede to face Kagome.

"You are going to be a great miko someday... no. You ARE already a great miko, Kagome-chan." Kaede said with a smile on her old face.

"Kaede-baasan..." Kagome began, but was interrupted when a mass of brown fur suddenly glomped unto her.

"KAGOMEEEEE!" Shippo cried out, as the little kitsune hugged desperately on Kagome. She was like a mother/sister that he never had,  
and now he was going to lose her just because she doesn't belong in their own time. In his childish mind, he knew that he really can't tell Kagome to stay, because he knew it was not right. So he just contented himself on hugging her with all he had for the last time, that is until he meets her again in the future. Probably at that time, he would be all grown up.

Little Myoga hopped up on Kagome's shoulder as Shippo jumped down, with a forlorned expression on his face. "It's too bad you have to go, you have good blood to suck for me!" When Kagome finally released her finger that crushed Myoga flat on her shoulder, the flea demon puffed up back to shape once again and resumed his serious expression. "I'm sorry Inuyasha couldn't be here. You see, he is..."

"He's here." Everyone turned to look at Inuyasha, who was walking slowly towards the group. He ignored the looks he was given by the others and concentrated on reaching Kagome.

"Inuyasha... I..." Kagome tried to explain something, but was stopped when a finger shut her mouth up.

"Listen..." Inuyasha growled out, grabbing the Shikon no Tama out of his hidden breast pocket, "I'm gonna meet you in the future, alright"  
Seeing the questioning look in Kagome's eyes, he continued, "Well... I'm not gonna use the Shikon no Tama to become human, nor to become full demon. I'm just gonna guard it with my life, and wait for you, alright?"

Kagome gave him a shaky smile and nodded her head furiously. She quickly gave Inuyasha a quick peck on his lips, which shocked the poor demon stiff, and backed away. She slowly made her way to the well, her transport back to her own time.

Kagome's eyes were filled with tears as she gazed back at her friends.  
Ranma and Ryoko stood quite apart from the crowd. Ryoko still felt the animosity between her and Yosho, so she thought of leaving the Juraian himself to decide about it. Ranma stayed by her side, saying that nobody should be left lonely like she was before her freedom. There was a hint of experience from Ranma's eyes when he talked about loneliness. The cabbits lay content in their respective masters/partners' arms. They were very intelligent, and if they could only speak normally, it would be easier to understand them.

Washuu stood behind the two floating egomaniacs, tending to her sensors or whatever. The scientist was quite curious as to how her way of travel worked.

Inuyasha stood ever so stoic in front of her foster family here for many months, avoiding her eyes as much as possible. Or was he still in shock at the kiss?

Yosho stood beside Kaede. For some reason, the two have talked about pasts and stuff when they were together. Yosho had the eyes of an old man in a younger man's body, and it was greatly appreciated by Kaede.  
She had someone to talk to whenever the days are slow.

Miroku and Sango stood hand in hand. The months of battles against Naraku had been fierce, but it didn't stop the budding romance between the two. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from loving the hanyou herself, so she wasn't any better. Kikyo, her own rival on Inuyasha's love, died in that battle. Miroku's lecherous ways toned down drastically after they got together, but he still had the urge every now and then. Kirara and Shippo stood at the couple's feet, the latter bawling his heart out.

With a final wave and a soft goodbye, Kagome turned and jumped into the well, back to her own time.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Parallel present, Parallel World...

After waking up from her momentary forced sleep, Kagome stood up and dusted herself. Light wafted through the darkness of the well, which illuminated the abyss she was in.

Kagome sighed. She's back to the future, back to the giant robot wars that existed in her time. The world was at war as to who will own the alien artifacts that have been unearthed years ago. Two factions emerged from the fire, one was the Global Defense Forces, the other was the Rara Forces. They used the technologies they found from the ruins and pitched them against each other, betting land areas and stuff.

She slowly climbed out of the well, and opened the well shrine door. Her footsteps were heavy against the ground, and even after a short time she already missed her friends. She made her way to the house and opened the door.

"Tadaima!" Kagome called out, but stopped when she finally realized that her family had guests. The chatter from the tea room died down as her mom's voice called out to her, "Kagome! Come here quickly! There are these people who wanted to meet you!"

Kagome sighed and walked faster towards the tea room. When she opened the door, her jaw fell to the ground. "Wha-what!" she stuttered out.

At one side of the table, Kagome's mom, her grandfather and Souta were chatting with three other people, who sat on the opposite side of the table. The three visitors were sitting with their backs turned on Kagome. The first one on the left had black hair tied in a pigtail. He was wearing a dark blue long sleeved high school uniform, with the upper part removed and draped over his left shoulder. He was wearing a red undershirt beneath it. He had a tail that was twitching ever-so-slightly at the floor. He also wore dark tinted sunglasses for some reason. On his side was a silver-furred small animal that had really long ears. It was playing with the red tail that was curled beside it. The second one had cyan hair that was spiked beyond cosmetic help. She was sultry by the way she was leaned to the left side, and was evidently blessed with abundant curves. She was dressed in a female school uniform, which if Kagome remembered was from Furinkan High School across town in Nerima.  
To her side, another one of those weird creatures but it has black fur.  
The last one caught her attention though. He had long white hair with fluffy white ears at the top. He was also dressed in a red yukata and had a worn out sword at his side. Her family was staring at her, as Kagome gaped on.

The three guests turned, and the one on the left smiled brightly.

"Yo, Kagome!" The young man removed the glasses, and exposed his blue eyes with golden orbs.

The silver cabbit on his side ran up to her leg and rubbed herself to it. "Miyaaah!"

"R-Ranma? Rin-Ohki?"

The cyan haired young woman snorted. "It's as if you've seen a ghost!"

Ryoko's own black cabbit ran to Kagome's other leg and sighed. "Miya miya!"

Kagome turned to her and gasped out, "Ryoko! And Ryo-Ohki too!"

The cabbits meowed loudly and ran back to their respective partners as the white haired young man stood up and rakishly bowed towards Kagome.  
"Kagome... good to see you again."

"Inuyasha..." Kagome said as she slowly made her way to the young man and caressed his cheek. When she was close, she finally noticed the difference between the one he met before and the one that stood now. The hanyou aged a bit since the last time they saw each other. His face was more angular, and his eyes were matured. Gone was the hotheadedness that easily denotes the young hanyou she had met five hundred years ago. His yellow eyes were soft and teasing, not the angry and irritable orbs that she was oh-so-infuriated most of the time before.

Inuyasha grew up.

Kagome suddenly lunged into Inuyasha's startled arms, and held on tight.  
For her, even those few minutes of loss were too much for her. What about Inuyasha? He had waited for more or less five centuries to catch up with her once again. Tears slowly started to spring out of her eyes,  
as she burrowed her head deeper into Inuyasha's tight chest.

Kagome's mom, grandfather and brother were all smiles as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. The sight of two lovers reunited was really wonderful for them. Ryoko leaned her head unto Ranma's shoulder.

"I wish we could be like that right now." Ryoko sighed wistfully.

Ranma started at that, but Ryoko continued, "I know, I know... I have to wait for the one you've been waiting for too, right?"

Ranma nodded somberly. "I'm sorry, Ryoko-chan..."

Ryoko smiled softly and patted Ranma's chest. "It's alright, Ranchan.  
Akane better be good to you this time, or else. Besides, it's not as if you're really limited to one wife, ne? I'd rather have Akane or any other girls as a co-wife than be without you..."

Ranma looked at Ryoko lovingly, and bent his head to peck on her lips lightly. "Thanks, Ryoko-chan."

"Y-You... haven't changed a bit, Ranma..." Kagome said softly as she looked at him from her vantage point in Inuyasha's arms.

Ranma and Ryoko looked at each other and laughed loudly, earning a curious gaze from Kagome. In their embrace, Inuyasha chuckled as well.

"Not changed at all?" Ranma asked as he stood up, facing Kagome. "If you mean I haven't aged, then that's true. But then again, I could control my physical aging, and thanks to Washuu's lessons I perfected it"  
Ranma grumbled the last part, "But there has been a few changes actually..." At this, Ranma started to glow.

Kagome gasped. "By the kami... Ranma! That's... those are..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Parallel past, Parallel World...

After Kagome's ki finally vanished from their time, Ranma raised his palm towards the well. "Yami no Ha." He whispered, and a small ball of black ki erupted from his hand. The ball zeroed in to the well and detonated, obliterating the well and a little bit of land around it.  
When the dust cleared, only a deep crater was left of it.

After that, everyone turned and left except Ranma, Ryoko, and strangely enough, Inuyasha. The hanyou stood a bit far from the two, and gazed longingly at the remnants of the well. The cabbits were playing nearby,  
jumping and scurrying along the green clearing that housed the Bone-Eater's Well.

Ryoko slowly floated towards Ranma. The boy was staring at the blue sky,  
which was highlighted by soft touches of clouds.

"Ranma..." Ryoko said softly, but it gained her the attention of the pigtailed boy. "I can see it in your eyes, your wanderlust is acting up again." She reached her hand to Ranma's red tail, and slowly stroked it.

Ranma closed his eyes and groaned softly. His tail was a sensitive part of his anatomy, and Washuu had explained that this was because it was connected directly to his spine. The feelings he get from it were a hundred times more powerful than those from his feet. He turned to face Ryoko, but didn't take any steps in removing the girl's hand on his tail.

"It's not just that. I need to find the Manticores and destroy them"  
Ranma explained as he gazed on Ryoko's yellow slitted eyes.

Ryoko sighed. "I know that. If ever you decide to leave, know this. I will not be left behind here."

"But Ryoko..."

"Ranma." Ryoko said simply, effectively stopping any protest from Ranma.  
"I will not let you out of my sight, ever."

The pigtailed boy almost whined at that, but relented as he grunted his annoyance. He turned to stare at the sky once more as Ryoko held his tail within her soft hands, stroking it periodically.

"Fine." Ranma said finally. "But only after you get your final gem from Yosho. We will need all the strength we have against them."

Ryoko squealed as she launched herself unto him. Ranma squawked in indignation as the two of them fell down the ground, with the cyan haired young woman on top of his body. She quickly bent down and gave Ranma a loud kiss.

A soft pop sounded when Ryoko disengaged her mouth from Ranma's, who was struggling to say something.

"W-Waddya do that for!" Ranma almost screamed as he got his voice back.  
His face was flushed red as he tried hard to glare at the shapely girl on top of him.

Ryoko placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him, making her breasts jiggle a bit. Ranma blushed some more.

"Oh hush, you prude!" Ryoko laughed loudly as she noticed Ranma's eyes set on her prominent figures. She was proud of her body, and was very glad that the boy appreciated it, even though he was quite shy in expressing it. She also knew that the body he was in was just a ruse,  
which maybe at one time was thought to be his permanent one because of a magical mushroom, but now that he can control his physical looks, it was all a mask. Also, it was obvious at the way Ranma acted, which was too mature for his age, although sometimes he acts like a child,  
understandable for Ryoko. She suddenly felt something poking at her inner thigh, which caused her to grin evilly at Ranma, who blushed deep purple.

"Uhhmm... could you, you know... get off... please?" Ranma squeaked. As hard as he tried to keep in control, Ryoko was one sexy girl. In response, Ryoko literally purred and draped over Ranma, who ack'ed loudly and sank into the ground, much to Ryoko's chagrin.

"RANMA!" Ryoko yelled indignantly as she pushed herself to standing position. She saw Ranma emerge from underground, but was quite ways away from her.

Before Ranma could respond, Inuyasha cleared his throat and made his presence known. "If ya two lovebirds're done, I'd like ta come with ya when you go."

"EHHH!" The two floating aliens asked.

The hanyou nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I got nothin' to do here anymore, so I better help you get rid of those things and stuff... besides, I need somethin' to do while I wait for Kagome, ne?"

The impending argument dissolved at their comical expressions as Ranma and Ryoko alternated on staring at one another and at the weirdly serious Inuyasha. They nodded dumbly at the hanyou nevertheless in response to his request.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"What! You three are going to leave!" Sango asked loudly as everyone sat around the dinner table in the shrine office. Washuu was not present, because she was set at her work on building a rather large house just ways down the trail. She also planned to build a long flight of stairs along the path, but Yosho reminded her that he did not own the place. They have to get permission from the Masaki Clan, who are currently in a religious pilgrimage around the world.

"Uhm... yeah." Inuyasha was a bit surprised at Sango's outburst.

Yosho nodded. "Going after the Manticores, Ranma?"

The pigtailed boy nodded. "Yep. I have a score to settle with the critters. Besides, I can't let them run loose around the world now, can I?"

"No way! You might get hurt like you did before!" Koneko remarked.

"Don't worry! I'll be with him!" Ryoko scoffed imperiously as she brandished her newly acquired third and final gem. Washuu succeeded in transferring Funaho from Earth's soil to a small skeleton of the actual layout of its own container ship and preserving it. With the help of Tsunami, her job was a lot easier than she thought, and rejuvenating the tree was easy to the one who made them in the first place. With that done, Yosho returned the main gem eventually, after much bickering.

"That's what we're afraid off." The rest mumbled under their breath.

Ryoko bristled and stood up. "WHAT WAS THAT!"

Everyone cringed. "N-Nothing!" They all replied.

The cyan haired woman growled and sat back down. "As I was saying, I'll be coming with Ranchan and help him with his quest... what? Why're ya staring at me like that?" She noticed everyone gave her a look of varied amounts of shock on their faces.

"You... you called me Ranchan..." Ranma said softly.

Ryoko grimaced. "Is... is that bad? Should I..."

"NO!" Ranma placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. It just reminded me of some people back in my time... don't worry about it. You can call me that." Ranma smiled at her.

"Ahem! Anyway, don't you want me to go with you?" Yosho interrupted the by-play between the two.

Ranma snickered softly. "Nah. Not that I don't appreciate the extra help. But you're needed here. Besides, I'm from the future... where or whenever it is, and I think you must stay here, for future's sakes."

Yosho shook his head. "The fate of the world is much more important than that!"

Ranma sighed. "No. Who knows how much of the future have I changed already? I don't want to change it much more than it is. I think Ryoko,  
Inuyasha and me are sufficient enough to hunt down the rest of the Manticores. You have a responsibility here, which must take precedence when the other responsibility has options. I am not really part of this timeline, so whatever happens to me doesn't really affect the timeline... Ryoko was released a tad too early, and her participation won't be due in the next four centuries or so... and Inuyasha has to wait for Kagome. All three of us have no responsibilities whatsoever on the timeline. However, you are important, but I can't tell you in what way. Please understand and trust me on this one."

Yosho went silent for a few moments, but afterwards he sighed as well and nodded. "Alright. I still wished I could've been by your side fighting, but I guess I'm also needed here as well."

"That's good." Ranma commented. "Don't worry, we'll visit every now and then."

With that, everything was set in place.

The next day came by quickly and we see Ranma, Ryoko and Inuyasha standing at the bottom of the small incline that led to the shrine itself. The two cabbits were at their feet as they were half-finished on the carrots they were eating for breakfast. The rest of the group were inside the grounds, saying their farewells to the departing trio. The four priests elected to stay at the shrine for their duties, while Kirara and Shippo continued to slumber away.

"Before you go Ranma-chan, I would like to present this to you"  
Washuu stepped forward and handed a small device to Ranma. The three looked at it curiously. To Ranma, it looked like the small pocket televisions that he saw once at the stores back in his time.

"Uhm, that's good." Koneko commented, although she wasn't really sincere about it.

Seeing the blank look on their faces, Washuu snorted. "That is my patented Manticore Detector! Guaranteed to find those pesky monsters wherever they are on this planet. I launched a small satellite probe into space early this morning, and with that up there we can pinpoint their exact locations."

"Ah!" Ranma nodded enthusiastically. "I understand! This will help us very much... thank you Washuu-chan!"

Washuu beamed and cackled. "Muahahahahaha! Ain't I the greatest!  
Hahahahahaha!" Two small puppets mysteriously popped out on her shoulders and started waving victory fans and confetti around, declaring how great Washuu was.

The rest stared and sweatdropped as they slowly inched away from the madly laughing scientist.

"Ooookay. So we have everything, right?" Ranma asked after recovering from his nervousness. A cackling Washuu is something he was uneasy about up until now.

Ryoko smiled. "I guess..."

Inuyasha sighed and approached Kaede, taking her hand into his. He reached into his robes and handed something to Kaede's outstretched palm. The old miko gasped when she realized what it was.

"Inuyasha! This is..." Kaede began as she looked at the hanyou in a new light.

"Yeah... better keep it for a while, old woman." Inuyasha grumpily said as he nodded towards Sango and Miroku, who nodded back as they understood the hidden message.

"Well... we better get going then." Ranma said softly as he turned and floated down the rest of the path. Rin-Ohki quickly flew to Ranma's shoulder. Ryoko said goodbye mentally to Washuu and waved to the crowd as she hurriedly followed Ranma. Ryo-Ohki floated at her side. Inuyasha sniffed and turned, trailing the two floating persons in front of him.

"Goodbye, Ranma-kun! Good luck!" Koneko chirped as she watched the three walk away from them.

"Take care now! And if ever you encounter trouble you can't handle,  
don't hesitate to come back here!" Yosho called out to them. Ranma waved his hand in response.

As they watched the trio with two cabbits on their tails disappear on the horizon, Sango commented, "I can't help but think that we just released three powerful people in Japan."

Washuu snickered. "Oh yes! The 'three demons of Japan' are very suitable for them!"

Yosho, Miroku and Kaede blanched at that.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Alpha Prime Point of Existence...

Deep in the recesses of space and time, where the ancient rubbles of the first civilizations of planets floated freely, the Alpha Prime Point of Existence was still enveloped in a massive shield of dark matter.

The Chaos Disruption caused the surrounding space outside the first planet of the universe to fold and screw itself beyond recognition,  
causing everything to get in contact with it to disperse and return into non-consistent matter, just like the unlucky comet or planets that came in contact with it. There were no explosions, no fantastic light shows... just the quick disintegration of matter.

Inside the dark matter trap lay the Alpha Prime planet, which housed the Ancient Gods and unfortunately for them, it is also their prison.

"+How fare our endeavors, Hypnos+" The ancient leader of the former rulers of the universe asked as he gazed upon the darkness of their prison. For thousands of thousands of years he has watched the same scene, and he was growing tired of it. Revenge towards the universe is at hand, and the current rulers of the said universe are going to suffer for his and his fellow giants' imprisonment.

The one horned giant turned to his lord, with his instruments still at hand. "+The barrier breach is still going slow, my lord, but the Manticores were successfully deployed in that planet where the vast powers we seek to defeat the so-called gods are located. Sadly, most Manticores we sent to that one planet... the Jurai... were destroyed after some time. For some reason, those Juraians had some sort of power that can hurt the beasts. Nevertheless, the planet we sent most of our Manticores to was out to the boondocks, and is primitive to boot. Too bad we have to destroy it soon.+"

"+Ah... that planet called Earth, right+" Chronos said disdainfully.  
Their probes indicated that the planet housed a great source of power that was quite familiar to him, but he could not place where it was. He turned to Hypnos and said, "+How fare the battle in the planet, then+"

Hypnos looked at the screen of his rather large computer and replied,  
"+Surprisingly, some Manticores went missing. It seems that the planet has some fight left in it after all.+"

Chronos shook his head. "+Instruct the Manticores to assimilate prominent figures in that planet. I want the source of that energy found and if we can't claim it for our own, dealt with. Prepare the Carrions as well... we might need them.+"

Hypnos nodded grimly. "+Yes, my lord+"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Atchoo!" Ranma sniffed as he looked around suspiciously.

"Miyah?" Rin-Ohki asked as she looked down to him from her perch on his head. Ranma just shrugged.

"I don't know. Must be the wind..." Ranma replied as he continued walking. Behind him, Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki were drinking on the scenery of green trees around the forest they were in, while Inuyasha guarded the back of their little entourage.

"So... where to, Ranchan?" Ryoko asked after a while of walking.

Ranma stopped on his tracks and pulled out the tracker. He pressed the button that indicated the power and the device flared to light. He was surprised when he saw a grid-like pattern on it, and an approximate map of the world in it. There were five dots blinking blue, which indicated their own positions, while a bunch of red dots covered most of the areas in Japan. Ranma frowned further when a lot of red dots, with a mental count of at least thirty-six red dots, were concentrated in China.

Ranma turned to his companions and answered, "We have to get to China first. That was where Yosho and I saw that meteorite that crashed there which housed the Manticore eggs while in space." Ranma readjusted his dark glasses that covered his eyes, which were not normal by any means.

Washuu gave the glasses to him to hide his new eyes from the public, so as to avoid questions regarding his origins. The red-haired scientist also took the liberty of developing a special battle suit for Ranma that Washuu has made based on Ryoko's own, with some slight alterations. It automatically adjusts itself when he shifts forms. The suit was also upgraded to be more resilient against physical attacks as well as energy blasts. Ryoko's own battle suit was upgraded when his was. Where Ryoko's suit was black and red, Ranma's was black and blue.

They breached into a clearing outside the forest they were in. Ranma looked back up from where they were from, and saw a faint outline of the shrine in the horizon. They have gone pretty far in just a few hours,  
which was good in his book.

"I'll set camp here. It's going to be dark soon." Ranma declared as he let his huge backpack fall down to the earth with a thud. Ryoko looked at him oddly at first, then followed his example by dropping her smaller backpack beside Ranma's as well.

Ranma looked at his two companions. "Ryoko, can you please gather some firewood from around here? Inuyasha, you can hunt right?"

Ryoko smiled at him and nodded as she sauntered around their chosen spot for a while before taking off with Ryo-Ohki into the forest. Rin-Ohki looked back at Ranma, asking for permission to go with them. Ranma nodded his permission, and watched amused as Rin-Ohki bounced after the two. Inuyasha had long disappeared into the forest, probably to hunt for something to eat.

Ranma sighed as he removed his glasses from his eyes. His blue eyes with golden pupils almost lit up into the slowly darkening surroundings. He took out the three tents from their backpacks and quickly assembled them. Since the change in his eyes, his sight became much more acute,  
with him being able to see pretty well even in total darkness. He sighed... he still remembered that Washuu had mentioned something about it being like his mother's... the goddess Tokimi's. Even the Neko-ken had its own manifestation in his body in the form of the long energy blades from his hands. He had subconsciously used them twice before, and had been training hard to control them since then, much like Ryoko and her own red menacing blade. After he had reawakened Ryoko, she was eager to have someone to spar with, aside from Yosho that is. Ryoko was still peevish when it comes to dealing with the Juraian, because Yosho had been the one who trapped her in the first place.

Ryoko was a welcome addition in his life, although sometimes she acts pretty much like Shampoo once did. The only difference was that this time, the cyan-haired woman was easier to talk to and if he didn't like what she was doing, all he had to do was say so and she'll stop. Ryoko listens to him, because she feels she understood his own loneliness. In a way, he agrees with her. Even if he put her down most of the times she sneaked her way into his arms, she takes it in a good natured kind of way and doesn't hold it against him. But that didn't mean that she'll stop trying, so she says. For some reason, he didn't mind at all.  
Perhaps his loneliness was catching up to him.

Ranma shook his head as he concentrated on clearing a small patch of grass where he assembled a circle of stones. This was going to be the place for their campfire.

A rather loud snap broke Ranma's thoughts. He turned and saw Ryoko with an armful of dried tree branches frozen in midstep glaring at Ryo-Ohki,  
who was also frozen in midbite at some fruit she probably got from the forest. On the cabbit's foot was a broken twig. Rin-Ohki floated beside Ryoko with a bemused expression on her face, and in her mouth was a different fruit as well. Just as Ryoko was about to chase Ryo-Ohki, the cabbit scampered towards the forest, with Rin-Ohki hot on her tail as well. Ryoko sighed loudly and walked towards Ranma. She dropped her load on the ground and flopped down beside him.

"Welcome back." Ranma said with a smile, as he picked up a handful of the branches and placed them strategically in the small stone circle he made earlier. He pointed his index finger to the clump and shot a narrow beam of ki into it, lighting the branches immediately.

Ryoko snorted. "Damned Ryo-Ohki... it was a nice time to surprise you,  
too. But she just had to ruin it, doesn't she?"

Ranma laughed lightly, which earned him a glare from his companion. "Ah,  
forget about it. She didn't mean it. Besides, I would've felt you when you get close, anyway."

"I guess." Ryoko slumped down. "I really miss being playful like this. I never got to play like this since I got out from that chamber I was kept in. And when I did come out, I was forced to..."

"Ryoko." The girl stopped and looked up to Ranma's serious expression.  
"I know how you feel." Ranma bent down and added some more twigs to the fire. "When I was able to walk, my father... or foster father,  
whatever... he took me into this training trip... to become the best martial artist of my generation. I wasn't given much choice in it either. I was forced into those insane trainings and those nearly killed me. I never got to play normally like those other children also." Ranma looked back to Ryoko, who was watching his expression intently. "In a way, I understand real well how you feel."

"It must be fate that I have to live that kind of life..." Ryoko mused.

Ranma looked at her sharply, his blue eyes with golden pupils blazing much to her surprise. For a moment, she noted that Ranma's forehead glowed as three faint silver dots in an inverted triangle appeared. "I don't believe in fate." He said flatly, "I would hate the thought of not being in control of my life, no matter what happened in my past. We need to take charge of our own fates, and go through with what we wanted to do, regardless of what this... 'fate'... dictates."

"R-Ranma..." Ryoko blinked when the faint dots slowly disappeared from his forehead. It disappeared as sudden as it appeared, which caused Ryoko to doubt the integrity of her eyesight at that time. She might be a bit sleepy at that time that she hallucinated about it... maybe. Ranma shook his head and looked straight into the fire.

"Sorry about that..." Ranma said absentmindedly, "I kinda got carried away. I just would hate the thought of being someone else's puppet.  
That's how I felt in the early years of my life." Ranma's face seemed to glow in ethereal light as Ryoko continued to gaze at him against the firelight. It was pretty late, and the sky had turned dark a while ago.

Their conversation effectively ended when Inuyasha emerged from the forest, with six deceased rabbits over his shoulder. Behind him, the two cabbits seemed to eye the poor white animals that looked like their very distant cousins or something. Ryo-Ohki meowed softly to Rin-Ohki, who nodded back sadly. After reassuring their respective cabbits that what Inuyasha brought back were not cabbits at all, they all settled down to cook their dinner and eat.

The night was clear and the stars were out and shining brightly. Ranma opted to stay outside his own tent to gaze at the stars. He didn't remember how long he stayed out there, but he drifted asleep after a short while. Rin-Ohki was pleasantly curled at his side, twitching every now and then.

He was dreaming about his life, how he came to be. Now that he remembered a bit more after the Neko-ken incident, much more of the things were suddenly put into place. His quick healing ability, as well as his luck that seemed to teeter between extremes were now explainable.  
Why he felt quite distant with his father, and why he didn't look much like him in the first place. The Neko-ken blunder on Genma's part was the death of him, but Tsunami, he figured by the voice, pulled him out of that hellhole and brought him to Washuu's pocket laboratory. The red-haired scientist had saved him from certain death, but not without any consequences. Now he had to live with the fact that he wasn't human at all, and that his life was basically a lie. Not that it was such a bad thing, but he wondered when he could meet his mother, his real one that is. Ranma also realized how lonely his real mother must've been.

His dreams shifted to the first time he, or rather she, appeared at the Tendo household. It has been an uncomfortable experience, and that pervert crack from Akane didn't help matters to his self-confidence at all. Nobody really stopped to think how hard this would be to anyone who contracted the curse, and they just jump into conclusions that he was some sort of a freak.

Then it was followed by series of old friends, which turned out to be enemies and rivals afterwards, trying to kill him. Then his father, no,  
Genma's sins caught up with them, and was dumped to his lap just like that. The old fat martial artist was good at running away from his responsibilities.

Various princes came and go, kidnapping Akane one way or another, with him on a 'sacred mission' to save her. Things would settle down for a while, and the violence towards him lessened, but it was doomed from the start. Everything escalates again once the dust settles, and Ranma gets caught up once again in the chaos that he didn't ask for.

Chaos... his name really suited him. After learning that his real mother was THE dubbed Goddess of Chaos herself, Ranma accepted this one fact.  
Chaos is stuck with him like a plague, and he can't really escape it.

That was why he was Ranma anyway...

Saffron... he regretted what he did to the demigod. Ranma knew that it was really their fault, and that they had disturbed a ritual that had lives of a whole civilization on the line. Saffron had to transform into adulthood and lead his people to prosperity. What did they do? They barged in and destroyed most of their home, along their leader with it.  
Although he really hadn't regretted saving Akane, the whole thing would've been avoided if everything was discussed in a civilized manner.

Then came the wedding... where everything fell into chaos. People almost got killed because of those bombs Ukyou and Shampoo threw into the crowds, which they claimed that they were aiming for Akane... as if that was any better. Actually, he really grew to love the tomboy. even though it was a bit early, it would've happened anyway. Well, not anymore.

Ranma felt betrayed.

Despite what others think, he treated Ukyo and Shampoo as friends. He knew their feelings for him, but he just can't abandon any one of them.  
Honor is a trap for him, where his honorless father threw his own out of the window, to Ranma it is the only thing that he had. Everything in his life was dictated for him.

Ten years of Ukyo's life were lost because of her chasing after him for revenge, for something that he didn't even realize he did to her. That simple choice that he barely remembered in his childhood, when his stupid father asked him to choose between okonomiyaki or Ukyo. At first Ranma was confused, and was also starving. His father thought it was a very good training module for him to fast for several days, eating those okonomiyaki that Ranma had won in the mock-fights with Ukyo. Of course,  
who would've thought of choosing his friend when he was six years old and desperately hungry. He quickly latched unto the okonomiyaki, being the child he was back then. The angry look on Ukyo's face when Ranma sat on top of the fleeing yattai was misinterpreted as his best friend being angry with him because he was leaving.

On top of all that, he never knew Ukyo was really a girl.

His own defeat of Shampoo was a bit of his own fault, however. But it was his father who dragged him there in the first place. Fresh out of Jusenkyo and of being cursed, he felt dejected and alone. The guide had led them to the Amazon Village, where they watched the annual tournament. As usual, his father dug into the untouched food table without asking any questions. His father had always thought of his stomach first, before realizing the consequences of his actions. Or he could just pass it on to Ranma, his scapegoat as always. even though it was his father's idea to eat the food in the first place, Ranma was the one who was forced to fight Shampoo, who at that time was the winner of the tournament. The food was supposed to be her food, and as compensation he must fight her. He was in his cursed form at that time.  
He won too, with a dreadful price.

That stupid law of the Amazons, to kill the culprit if an outsider female won against an Amazon. Shampoo had hounded them for months,  
chasing them all over the countryside. She even followed them in China,  
Ranma accidentally knocked her down in his male form. There he learned another stupid law of the Amazons.

If an outsider male defeats a female Amazon, marriage.

Ranma felt as if it was all an elaborate trap for him.

His mind flashed and saw that scene he spied upon, where Akane and Ryoga snuggled on a blanket in his secluded point in the park, kissing. Yes,  
kissing... and he felt betrayed. Akane claimed that she had waited months for him to come back, while he took more or less two years, and not once did he break his vow to Akane.

Was she easily swayed like that? He really didn't want to stay and find out.

He had to hand it to Ryoga, though. He really moved in fast. But his methods disgusted Ranma. His revenge was also a bit too stupid for Ranma to even consider. The bandanna-clad boy was totally late for their duel,  
and it was Ranma's fault? How could that be... especially since Genma had knocked Ranma out for him to be able to drag Ranma out of that lot.  
Ranma had no chance to tell Ryoga that, though, because the pig-boy was so focused on his revenge that he will never listen anyway. Was it his fault that Ryoga followed them into China? Even if Ranma did wait for Ryoga, chances are things are going to be the same anyway. Ryoga might come after him as revenge for losing.

Then Ryoga reappears out of nowhere, trying to kill him.

That night, when Ranma caught him as a pig, he didn't even remember if he really promised Ryoga to keep the secret, but he kept it anyway.  
Again, because of his honor, he was to keep this important tidbit from Akane. Ryoga took advantage of it, rubbing into Akane's bosom every chance he got. More than several times, Ranma tried to protect Akane from Ryoga's lecherous advances, but got malleted for it. Ranma got branded as the pervert, instead.

Ranma turned to go, away from everyone who hurt him, but Ryoga just had to nail the lid on his coffin. The pig-boy, which Ranma believed that he still hadn't told Akane about yet, force-fed him those Aging Mushrooms,  
which caused him to revert back to childhood.

That was the final straw, and he felt he just had to go away from there,  
even away from that dimension.

His mind flashed again, and saw everyone he knew circling around him. He felt small, insignificant, as they laughed at him from every angle.  
Akane even put out her mallet to bear and bashed him repeatedly,  
exclaiming how stupid he was to believe that she loved him.

Ranma couldn't bear it. He cried out in pain.

Ryoko was currently snuggled in her own bedroll, with Ryo-Ohki on one corner of the tent. She was dreaming of something which involves a ruler, an apple, three cans of whipped cream and Ranma when suddenly, a loud scream broke her sleep. She sat up sharply on her bedroll and heard another wail of despair, which she followed and led her just outside their tents. She spied on Ranma's sweaty form, with Rin-Ohki doing her best to pacify him. Rin-Ohki was licking Ranma's face as the boy continued to twitch wildly around his bedroll. Miraculously, the cabbit was able to hold on.

The cyan haired woman looked on helplessly as she watched Ranma twist and turn in his sleep, who seemed to be disturbed about something.

"No... I'm not... not a pervert... not a... failure... Akane... why.  
why... betrayed me..." Ranma was mumbling loudly. Rin-Ohki winced as she caught a glimpse of what Ranma was dreaming about in their link. She knew her partner had such a hard life, but to actually feel the emotions he was feeling at the moment, it was a bit too much for her to handle.

"Hey! Make him stop before I go out and kick his ass!" A shout came from Inuyasha's tent was heard.

Ryoko glared at the tent and turned back to Ranma. She didn't have anyone to ask what to do in this situation. She reluctantly agreed with herself that she was still a bit immature to handle this. Inuyasha definitely was no help at all, so she would just have to grope blindly in the dark with this. Ryoko didn't really have any experience in dealing with emotions, since her own childhood or whatever you call her past was anything but normal. Now she met someone who can understand her, and they both have little knowledge about feelings and whatnot.  
What an odd couple they are...

Couple? Is that what they are now? Ryoko was wondering how she got the notion. Her confusion was evident, but having so little knowledge about it, this was the only time someone spent time making her feel better.  
Ranma had saved her from the abyss of emptiness that might've doomed her for probably a lot longer than she already spent in that darkness. She might feel a bit grateful for that, but she realized that it was something deeper. Ryoko looked down on Ranma, and was surprised when she found herself hugging the shivering form to hers. When did she kneel down and embrace Ranma? She hadn't expected herself to act this way in an instinctive level. Ranma had stopped shivering and was now breathing deeply. Suddenly, his body emitted a soft glow, which tempted Ryoko to let him go. Instead she looked fascinated, as Ranma's form grew a little, and his features matured a bit. Washuu had mentioned that Ranma knew how to control his physical aging, but the release of pent-up emotions must've broken Ranma's dam of control over it. Ranma finally stopped growing, and was now a young man that looked like a little over eighteen or nineteen years of age.

"So... this is what you really look like..." Ryoko muttered as she continued to gaze at the young man that was still in her arms. Ranma's tail was unfurled from his waist, and was waving back and forth on the floor, brushing on Ryoko which gave her shudders of thrill. The fur on the pigtailed boy's tail was silky smooth, and Ryoko was rather surprised how Ranma kept it like that in the first place.

Ryoko was still staring at Ranma when the boy decided to turn and wrap his hands around the waist of the flustered former space pirate. Ryoko tried to pry herself loose, but to no avail. Even when asleep, Ranma's grip was like stone. After struggling for a few moments, Ryoko finally sighed and settled herself to a much comfortable position on the bedroll. She would need to if she wanted to get any sleep any time soon.  
Beside her, Ranma's peaceful face reflected a peaceful smile.

Never mind the fact that Ryoko could phase or teleport out of the embrace. She totally forgot about it.

When dawn arrived early the next day, Ranma was still outside his tent.  
He sleepily hugged something on his side closer, feeling the warmth emanating from it.

((Eh? Something warm? It's too big to be Rin-Ohki...)) Ranma opened his eyes and found his face so close to Ryoko's. He caught his breath as he watched a small smile displayed on her face, which greatly accented her serenity. Ranma looked over her and found Rin-Ohki splayed haphazardly on a stray pillow that managed to find itself outside his bedroll. He also noticed that his roll was zipped tight, so Ryoko was crammed inside it with him. He suddenly felt self-conscious as the woman in his arms wiggled slightly, mashing her body against his. Her soft features were burning against his own skin, as Ranma blushed hard. His black undershirt and boxers were thin enough that he felt as if Ryoko was naked beside him. Ryoko was wearing a thin nightie, probably because it was really warm last night. But that didn't help matters for him at all.

A soft moan caught Ranma's attention. He watched in horror as Ryoko slowly emerged from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open, her eyes still dilated with sleep. She turned to Ranma's scared face and smiled dreamily. She closed in on the distance between their faces and kissed his nose with a giggle. Finally done with her dream, Ryoko let her head fall down on the bedroll, asleep.

Ranma was blushing in the end, and was about to sigh with relief when Ryoko suddenly lifted her head back up once again. Her eyes now displayed her awakened state as she stared at Ranma owlishly.

Ranma managed to let out a weak chuckle as he lamely greeted, "Good morning, Ryoko."

Ryoko blinked and replied, "Uhmmm... what the heck were we doing?"

The young man blanched. "I swear, this is not what it looks like!"

"Eh? What? We weren't doing anything bad, right?" Ryoko commented. She tried to remember what happened last night, and everything came back to her. "Oh, I heard you screaming when you were having a nightmare last night. I came by to comfort you, and when I was about to go, you latched yourself to me."

It was Ranma's turn to blink. "Really? Oh, then... thank you,  
Ryoko-chan."

Ryoko blushed. "You're welcome, Ranchan." ((He probably didn't notice what he called me...)) Ryoko thought to herself.

"Uhh... could you, you know, let go now so that we can get out of here"  
Ranma said weakly as he tried to squirm inside the closed bedroll.

Ryoko looked at him. "Why didn't you just teleport out then?"

Ranma paused in his struggle and thought for a while. "You know, you're right..." He slowly shimmered from view and disappeared. For some reason, Ryoko felt empty when she encountered nothing in her arms. Ranma materialized beside the roll, but was now outside its confines.

"I'll prepare breakfast, and I think Inuyasha's waking up already. There are still some leftovers from the stew we cooked last night." Ranma remarked as he began to rummage for the food that was left the night before.

Ryoko nodded in agreement.

Ranma paused at his work and finally noticed his changed appearance.  
"Eh? I returned back to my original age?"

"Washuu did mention that you can control it, right?" Ryoko deadpanned.

The young man made a spectacle by smacking his forehead loudly. "I know that, but it wasn't as easy as before... the last time I did that, I lost much of my energy, and I wasn't able to transform for about a week."

At this moment, Inuyasha emerged from his tent and stretched. He froze in mid-yawn as he glimpse on Ranma's new form. His first instinct was to grab at his sword, but stopped once he found that the young man was also sporting the same pigtail and clothes as one of his companion, Ranma.

"Ranma? What the hell happened to you!" Inuyasha demanded as he pointed a shaky finger towards the embarrassed boy. He noted that Ryoko was still in Ranma's bedroll.

Ranma sighed. "A growth spurt or something." He said wearily.

Inuyasha snorted and threw an amused glance at Ryoko. "I didn't think the saying 'making a man outta ya' sounded really cool right now... now that's takin' it literally or somethin'..." he commented slyly.

Ryoko blushed, fully understanding what the hanyou meant. Ranma just got confused.

"Huh? What the heck do you mean?" Ranma asked curiously, eyeing the beet red Ryoko.

Inuyasha jerked his thumb over Ryoko. "You an' Ryoko spent the night together, same bed I figure coz she's on your bed right now, with you in boxers and her in that tight number. Go figure..."

Ranma's eyes widened as the statement registered in his mind. His face quickly turned red as he sputtered, "HEY! It wasn't like that! We weren't doing anything in there!"

Inuyasha grinned. "So, ya don't protest bein' in the tight bedroll with her?"

"That's not the point!" Ranma replied loudly.

The hanyou ignored him and turned to Ryoko, "So, ya enjoyed yourself last night, didnt'cha?"

Ryoko finally recovered. "That is NONE of your business, dog-boy!"

"So you did enjoy yourself..." Inuyasha commented with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Ryoko growled out.

"Make me." Inuyasha taunted.

Ryoko was about to throw an energy ball at the laughing hanyou when Ranma quickly stepped between them.

"Hey! Stop that!" Ranma said, then turned to Inuyasha, "What happened to you? You were all silent and all back there at the shrine, and now you get all talkative?" His tail flicked angrily side by side as he said this.

Inuyasha's brow went up. ((Ranma really looks like a cat right now...)) He thought as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Well, if ya really want ta know, I was the one gettin' the pranks and stuff back when I was with Kagome. But now, I understand how fun it was if I ain't the one getting dissed by the joke." He chuckled loudly.

Ranma groaned and looked up to the heavens, muttering, "This is going to be a long travel to China."

Ranma shuddered as the sky grumbled in response.

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To Be Continued...

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Author Rants:

Why is Ryoko affectionate with Ranma?

Remember how she reacted when Tenchi freed her? It's the same, although her feelings for Juraians in general when Ranma freed her were still a bit queasy about associating with them because she was released a bit too early (more or less five hundred years earlier). The fact that the one who imprisoned her was still alive gave her the willies. So her emotions are set on Ranma this time. Some might ask if Ranma has problems with her being his cousin, but if you remember, Ayeka was Tenchi's great aunt. Go figure.

How did Ranma have the power to free Ryoko?

Juraian powers are given form by Tsunami's powers, and Ranma has the blood of Tokimi in him. Everyone with the powers derived from the goddesses can free Ryoko from her prison. He didn't expect it, but he was just too curious. This time, it was all Ranma's fault.

Why is Ranma a bit more emotional here?

People change, especially when they mature. Ranma isn't always going to be an arrogant and irritating sexist, but he's still a bit of those nonetheless. The point is, Ranma might be clueless most of the time, but he knows sexual advances with his experiences with Shampoo and Ukyou most of the time. He still doesn't know how to act when he encounters these things though, but he's learning. He is a bit understanding at how Ryoko acts because he already saw how she acted with Tenchi back in his home world. No matter what other people think, Ranma is forgiving and understanding most of the time, and he really hates it when girls cry.

Besides, Ranma knew loneliness, so he can understand.

Why did Yosho give up the gems easily?

Being threatened by Washuu is a really bad thing, you know. Believe me,  
it isn't worth it. Besides, he still believes he can defeat Ryoko easily if the need arises.

Where the heck is Ayeka?

Hmmm... stasis pod, somewhere in space, in her ship Ryu-Oh I think. Her ship's sensors won't detect Ryoko's reappearance until it gets within the Solar System, and I think her ship is still cruising somewhere on the other side of the galaxy.

What's the deal with Ranma's age?

Yes, Ranma can control his physical aging now. It is a modified disguise field of the Juraians, coupled by Washuu's own technique. Now, his age is more of a realistic sense, rather than the shroud of bending other people's perception regarding his physical looks. If Ranma shrinks to a twelve year old, he really is a twelve year old. If he grew to a twenty five year old, he really is a twenty five year old, by physical looks.  
Blame Washuu, it's all her fault.

Isn't Inuyasha too harsh here?

Inuyasha was still a bit arrogant, because of his youkai heritage. He hides his emotions by rough speeches and angry responses. You don't believe me? See the anime. He was mostly being irritable and usually arguing with Kagome. Don't worry, he gets easy-going after a while.

What changes did Ranma have when Kagome got to see him in her future?

Uhhh... well let's just say it's... nah. Can't say much of it. Just that it will turn a few heads if he goes around exposing it. It was a freak accident, actually, and he doesn't really need it. But it's there,  
and if he doesn't let it out once in a while, it cramps bad. At least that's how Ranma will feel... not that I know about it.

What happened to Tokimi and the rest of them?

Oh, this one you're gonna find out in the next chapter. Also, the ones who got the tri-circular marks will be revealed, to those who still didn't figure them out.

NEXT CHAPTER:

Aside from what is mentioned above, we shall see what happened to Akane,  
Ryoga and the rest of them back in Ranma's home world. Tokimi and Tsunami finally arrives at the Tendo Dojo.

Also, what happens when Tokimi meets Nodoka? And Genma for that matter?

Can you imagine what happens when Happosai attempts to glomp unto Tokimi?

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water! 


	10. Chapter 6

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Ranma and Akane? Not that I have anything against the pair, in fact I like them, they won't get together in this fanfic.  
Whatever gave you that idea? There are a lot of tomboys in the known multiverses that sounds like Akane ya know.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 6 - LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER, LIKE SON...

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We momentarily return to Ranma's home world... to take a peek at what is happening...

In Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen Heroes near the entrance to the Gateway back to Midgard...

"Are you ready to go, Oneesan?" A blue-haired woman asked to her taller companion.

The taller woman nodded to her, saying, "Hai. Where are we going this time, by the way?"

The blue-haired woman giggled. "Well, if we can't find my nephew in this time for now, then we should meet those people who 'adopted' him."

"Oh really?" The taller woman's blue eyes glittered. "I still haven't seen their files as of yet. I can't go in there without any knowledge whatsoever of..." Her sentence was cut off when a folder appeared on the blue-haired woman's startled hands.

"Eeep!" The shorter woman started in surprise. "Kami-sama just loves to play His jokes! Anyway, look Tokimi-neesan! These are some general information concerning Ranma's experiences when he was on Earth."

The taller woman named Tokimi grasped the thick folder from her younger sister and skimmed on it a bit. Her blue eyes narrowed and reflected a dangerous glint as she angrily closed the folder after a few moments of reading through it.

"NEKO-KEN! Tsunami, that... human took MY SON and threw him in a pit of hungry cats!" Tokimi growled as she almost destroyed the papers in her hands.

Tsunami gulped as she commented, "I didn't know much about it. There was too much chaos in Ranma's aura that I can't keep tabs on him. I'm sorry,  
but I saved him before he... uhm..." She trailed off.

Tokimi glared at Tsunami. "Before what?"

The blue-haired goddess of Jurai backed slightly as she responded,  
"Before he... got killed. I think he was weakened up to the point where his aura cleared for a moment to allow me to see him and his condition.  
I saved him and took him to Washuu, who... well, saved him by injecting Masu in him. His injuries were too extensive, so we had to do that. Then I returned him at the pit just in time when Genma peeked inside it. I had Washuu's help in bending a bit of the time elapse between the intervals, so it seemed that nothing happened."

The brown-haired taller goddess was silent for a moment, still not breaking her sharp gaze on Tsunami. The goddess of Jurai felt very nervous at the time, because it was partly her fault for assuming things and taking the child out of Tokimi's womb anyway. She was quite sorry for that, but the damage has been done.

Tokimi finally spoke, "Yes, you did return him. Because of that, he got cursed in those cursed springs! That human you chose is so stupid! He endangered my son so many times that even if I kill him right now and send him to Hild it will not be enough!"

"But I chose the mother, one of the Jurai as the basis, not the father!  
I didn't know that Genma was going to be a creep in the future!" Tsunami whimpered.

The goddess of Chaos snorted unlady-like and turned her back from Tsunami. "Whatever, let's just go. I want to kick his sorry behind for the tortures he inflicted on my poor son!" Her eyes went glittery as she clasped her hands under her chin. "My poor manly son! Cursed to be a girl because of some stupid human! But otherwise... his near death only made him stronger than before. Saiyajins are known to be like that.  
they get stronger each time they cheat death. And Ranma still overcame the odds of his curse even if it bothered him. He reminds me so much of his father in so many ways... oh Nasu! You would be proud of our son!"

As Tokimi continued to rant about whatever, Tsunami sweatdropped.

"Oneesan..." Tsunami uncharacteristically pleaded to her older sister,  
"You're embarrasing me."

In Asgard, Kami-sama's Office...

The Lord of all Creation smiled as He monitored the newly freed Tokimi and her sister Tsunami talk as they prepared to return to Midgard. He turned to His computer and brought up a certain brown-haired goddess'  
file. He grinned as He erased a certain line in the entry that formerly stated: 'Memories Suppressed until further notice'. He entered: 'Full Memory Status Approved'.

Kami-sama sat back to his chair as He says softly, "I HOPE TOKIMI LIKES THIS GIFT WAITING FOR HER BACK IN MIDGARD."

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In Juuban Ward, Ranma's Home World...

Darkness clouded her mind as the Senshi of Mars slept on. She was sweating, twisting and turning in her sleep.

Everything was dark and cold, and it was making her weary. She was dreaming of the Crystal Tokyo that she and her fellow Senshi were hard-pressed to create. This goal of theirs was supposed to be rid of all evil and darkness. With just a spell from the Silver Crystal,  
everything will be alright. Just as the Crystal Tokyo was about to be completed, the whole image suddenly froze and shattered like glass. Its shards fell down to a non-existent floor and clattered loudly.

Rei watched horrified as a pigtailed young man who had dark tinted glasses over his eyes with a red tail hanging down his behind stepped on the glass pieces, along with several silhouettes of women behind him.  
They all stood close to him, as if protecting him from everything that might come to harm the young man. Suddenly, the group of girls parted as a tall older woman with dark red clothes and clawed hands walked slowly towards the pigtailed individual. She slowly engulfed the young man's body in a warm hug. Her eyes glowed blue-gray as her slitted eyes closed in on themselves. A bright light covered her dreamscape, and a fleeting image of... feathers... flying all over the non-existent air in her mind. The whole scene wavered and sleep slowly drifted away. Before Rei woke up, she heard the young man whisper, "Mother..."

The Senshi of Mars bolted upright on her futon, panting for air. Her bed was soaked with her sweat. She tried to recall her dreams, and received a full-body shudder. Everytime she dreamed of that pigtailed young man,  
Crystal Tokyo ceased to exist. Most of the time, she dreamt him of being in other worlds with different settings. Still, it all shattered their precious Crystal Tokyo, where ever he went.

She reached for her communicator, a wonder in modern technology developed by their friend, Ami. She needed to inform of the others about this.

In the Gates of Time, an artifact that was a gift from the gods to the first human civilization ever to create an intergalactic kingdom, its guardian jolted from her sleep. Her crimson eyes darted left and right as she tried to reorient herself with her surroundings. She grabbed her key-shaped staff, the only thing that could unlock the mysterious powers of the gates themselves, and transformed herself into Sailor Pluto.

The Guardian of Time quickly transversed the darkness of her domain, and hastily let the gates do its job of showing the Time Stream. Her initial reaction was to curse as she saw the multitudes of branched timelines.  
She calmed down when she realized that this was meant to be, as her future self had spoken before. One caused by the Chaos Incarnate himself, Saotome Ranma, and the sudden reawakening of his multi-heritage.

It was bad enough to know that he was a Saiyajin, but a Juraian (she still has no idea the data was faked) as well? Also, she finally found out what his other heritage was... a Masu, courtesy of Washuu herself.  
For some reason, her vision of Ranma's childhood cleared for a small amount of time when he was almost at the brink of death. It was probably because of his near-death experience that weakened the hold of his chaos factor on his aura that allowed her to glimpse that part. Sadly, it was the only part of his life she had seen.

Suddenly, a flare of pain erupted from Sailor Pluto's head. She clutched at her temples desperately as she tried to ward of the searing pain she felt. As the moment of nausea has passed, she looked into the Time Stream. Her eyes widened as she watched the timelines twist and screw themselves. A cloud of darkness covered them.

Sailor Pluto searched frantically for the cause. She knew that Ranma was still not back from his excursion to that parallel past that he was unknowingly forced to fix, and there are no other chaos generators that were as powerful as Ranma, so there shouldn't be another disturbance at all.

Just as she was about to start another bout of cursing, the gates cleared for a moment, showing a tall woman in a dark red body suit. She has blue eyes that glowed menacingly in the darkness of the gates. Her lipstick color was dark purple, and some green leaves covered the sides of her cheeks. A large golden orb decorated most of her body,  
particularly a barrette on her forehead that held a lock of light red hair. Her dark clothes accented her neck-long light brown hair and a white cape covered most of her body. Another woman with light blue hair that has triangular tattoos on her forehead flanked her. She was shorted than the first woman, and was dressed in what Sailor Pluto has remembered as Juraian Royal robes. Her pink eyes were friendly, in contrast with her taller companion. Strangely enough, this woman was looking a bit familiar. Then, a symbol from the background flared. It was a symbol of three small spheres in an inverted triangle. They were alternately changing colors from gold, to silver, and to black, then back to gold again.

Sailor Pluto frowned. These individuals could be trouble.

She quickly gestured to her staff and vanished. She must warn the other Senshi about this.

In a particular Shrine in Nekomi Ward, one mortal and three goddesses were currently in the dining room and eating breakfast.

Morisato Keiichi looked longingly at his side, where Belldandy was silently sipping her tea. For some reason since that incident where her symbols became erratic, the normally cheerful and seemingly oblivious goddess slowly changed to the silent and contemplative type of person that was present right now.

Urd looked idly at Belldandy in the corner of her eyes. She was quite worried about her sister, and even called it up to Kami-sama. The only answer the Almighty gave her was that everything was as it should be.  
Although it was quite comforting that these type of changes that Belldandy are undergoing were already accounted for, she was still quite unnerved at how... human Belldandy seemed these days.

Before, only a full-blown demon attack or Keiichi being in danger would snap Belldandy's anger. Lately, Belldandy's mood swings changed dramatically. The other thing she was wondering about was Belldandy's sudden indifference towards Keiichi. Well, Belldandy really didn't treat him like he wasn't there, but the loving attitude was a bit toned down,  
very much so, and it was scaring Urd a little. In the middle of the night, she would catch Belldandy awake up on the roof, gazing at the stars. The goddess of the Present was mumbling something about her mother being a stubborn lady and things about wild horses. Not only that, but the new symbol on Belldandy's forehead really made Urd uncomfortable for some reason.

The goddess of the Future, Skuld looked more openly at Belldandy's visage. She was more vocal about her observations regarding her older sister, but Belldandy just shrugged it off and said nothing. Skuld already heard from Urd when the eldest Norn had called it to Kami-sama.  
Everything was at it should be... it was as if that explained everything. Her own visions of the future were blank, and most of it had nothing to do with Belldandy or her current changes, so Skuld tried ignoring it. The goddess of the Future had searched the Yggdrasil for some information regarding Belldandy's new symbol, but the information was restricted, for Kami-sama's eyes-only.

Initially, Skuld was a bit glad when Belldandy seemed to have lost interest with the mortal Keiichi, but as time went on it started to worry her. She used some of her devices to probe Belldandy, discreetly of course, and at first she found nothing. But after some time, Skuld's devices finally registered some large-scale changes that were masked the first time. Meaning, everything Belldandy was before melted away and changed, rather, reverted back to who she was initially. The Belldandy sitting across them right now is the REAL Belldandy, not the always-smiling sister Urd and she used to stay with. Before she had the chance to explain her findings to Keiichi, who was so genuinely worried that Skuld felt pity on him, Kami-sama had called through the telephone and forbade her to do so. She had been sworn to secrecy, as Kami-sama explained that it should be this way.

Belldandy tried to ignore the piercing silence that seemed to have enveloped the entire scene. Sure, she knew about the drastic and noticeable changes her personality has been going through these past few weeks, but they didn't have to make a big deal out of it. One major change Belldandy noticed though was about how she felt towards Keiichi.  
The love was still there although this time it was more of a... sibling sort of way now. She felt much more relaxed as well, and some flashbacks of memories started to return to her lately. The most important of her lost memories were of her mother. She lost this information when she was assigned to be one of the Norn goddesses, particularly of the Present.  
Her mother was cast into imprisonment, something about her whole existence being too chaotic and unpredictable for Heaven. Belldandy was just a child back then, and was not able to defend her mother against those accusations. For so long, she couldn't imagine what her mother had gone through. But she wasn't fit to be called the goddess of the Present now, because her symbol had changed all of the sudden one day. Her elliptical tattoo morphed into the trio of small black dots that formed an inverted triangle just above her eyebrow. Kami-sama still hasn't told her what those symbols mean as of yet.

As one, the three divinities snapped their heads up, as they felt a surge of power coming from a very powerful transportation spell, that seemed to be from a rusty spell-caster or rather, an out of practice one. Somehow, the flow of energy was very familiar to Belldandy, as she continued to feel out for the location of the transportation's end side.

Belldandy stood up as she gazed on her bewildered sisters and Keiichi,  
who were about to ask her about the phenomenon. She graced them with a small smile as she said, "Urd, Skuld... we must go to Nerima."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Nerima Ward, Ranma's home world...

In the restaurant called Nekohanten, the great matriarch of the Chinese Amazons, Cologne jerked from her cooking as she felt a momentary chill that ran up and down on her spine.

"That was... an omen." Cologne whispered to herself as she shuddered.

Outside the restaurant establishment, a huge cloud of dust started to form. The dwarfish figure of the grandmaster of Anything Goes came running by, complete with his trademark bag of underwear that he managed to snag as he went along.

"SWEETO!" Happosai cackled with glee as he dodged the projectiles that were thrown towards him from the back. Behind him was a large crowd of women hurling insults towards him. It was probably because of the underwear he stole. Like what had happened to Cologne before, Happosai perched unto a shingled roof as he felt a backlash of power sweep over his senses. He shivered when he thought about the possibilities of whoever gave out that much energy.

"Something is going to happen." Happosai muttered to himself as he absently jumped down to the ground. He forgot about the large group of women chasing him, who were now surrounding him as he was still lost in his thoughts. When he finally took stock of everything around him, he sweatdropped at the amount of anger he felt all over him.

"Oh damn." Was all he had to say as the group converged and began their painful ministrations on his aged body. Of course, we won't get into how they tortured him. One word described the whole encounter.

Squishy. You really don't want to know.

The lost boy Ryoga was currently... well, lost. He was trudging along the rough terrain of the countryside just east of Nerima. As usual, he was blaming his current predicament to Ranma.

"This is all your fault! If you didn't disappear and fought like you used to, I wouldn't be lost! Ranma you coward! You should've just let me kill you!" Ryoga shouted to the skies as he rested under the shade of a huge tree at the side of the rough road.

Yes, it was a normal day. But not for long.

Ryoga finally tired himself out. He fell back to the trunk of the tree and pulled some of his supplies in his backpack. He ate his meager food as he planned on how to get back to the Tendo Dojo, mainly, to Akane.

His Akane... he had won against Ranma. Ryoga smiled at the thought as he continued to munch happily on an apple that he had managed to snag in a place called Washington or something.

Ryoga sighed.

Although Akane was his, Ranma's appearance had an effect on her. She was quite distant lately. All she does was acknowledge his presence whenever he finds himself in the dojo, then nothing at all. Couple that with those two brats of Saotome coming back from the future. Things went pretty cold because of these events. These were all Ranma's faults.

Suddenly, the hair on the back of his head rose quickly as he felt something in the air. He quickly jumped to his feet and looked around urgently. He spotted the shadows under the tree moving and twisting,  
which was quite impossible since nothing was moving at the moment. The shadows stopped twisting as it slowly stretched upwards, forming two humanoid shapes. The two shapes took their forms and also gained some color. Ryoga was sure that the two were females.

The first was a tall woman, with light brown hair and eyes flat blue.  
Slitted black pupils tore between the blue depths of her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings. Golden jewels decorated her clothes, two on her chest and one that held the lock of red hair on her forehead. The sides of her cheeks were laced with green leaves that enhanced the color of her eyes. Her body was covered in a dark bodysuit, and her fingers are clawed that were covered in black gloves. A golden circlet that seemed to deny the forces of gravity as they floated on the air hugged her neck and hips. Her large dark red shoulder guards were wrapped in white linen that was connected in the middle of her chest by a dark red oval ruby. A red blouse that billowed against the non-existent wind covered her legs.

Beside the tall woman, a smaller blue-haired young woman started to pat herself down. Her white robes glistened against the light, as her pink eyes looked over her clothes for dirt and such. A red vest that connected bound her chest to her front. Dark green shoulder pads supported her cape. A light blue material at the sides that split on her chest laced the white cape itself. Several golden orbs laced across her chest and to the sides of her cape. Two small dots can be seen on her forehead.

The taller one turned to her smaller companion. "Whew! It's been a long time since I last used my mode of transportation. Are you alright with this, Tsunami? Coming with me and all..."

The smaller woman, who was Tsunami, waved the woman's concerns off with a light wave. "Don't worry, Tokimi-neesan. Kami-sama granted me some extra privileges, although it's temporary and is limited for a good two days or so out-of-Sasami experience. I do enjoy walking by my own,  
without having Sasami to actually walk for me, you know. Though I'm really thankful for her having to accommodate me and allowing me to assimilate with her in the near future..."

"About that..." Tokimi began a bit hesitantly, "Was it really necessary?  
Couldn't you just... you know, rejuvenate her body or something?"

Tsunami shook her head sadly. "The damage done in her mind when she fell was too much even for me to handle. Contrary to beliefs, I can't revive the dead. She was fated to die if I hadn't intervened at that time."

Tokimi looked at her sister oddly. "What will happen to you then?"

The blue-haired goddess of Life smiled. "Sasami and my own personality will merge, creating a new one. That person will have both characteristics of Tsunami and Sasami, and will still be a sister to you, Tokimi-neesan."

Tokimi smiled slightly. "Thank you, Tsunami." She suddenly noticed a boy wearing a spotted yellow bandanna in a yellow muscle shirt and black pants gaping at them. She frowned a bit and said, "Well hello young man."

Tsunami whirled around and saw whom Tokimi was referring to. "Oh dear.  
I was hoping we were be able to change our clothes before we got spotted."

The goddess of Chaos looked down to her dark bodysuit and said, "What's wrong with my clothes?"

Before Tsunami could respond, Ryoga finally squeaked out, "W-What are you! Are you demons or something!"

Tokimi huffed loudly in indignation. "Well! Demons indeed... why I ought to..."

"Oneesan..." Tsunami hissed to her older sister. She turned back to Ryoga who was in a battle stance. "Please, we are not demons or anything. We are... uhmm..."

"Goddesses! We are goddesses alright?" Tokimi was rather blunt at her explanation.

"Yeah, right!" Ryoga snorted. He pointed at Tsunami, "Her, I can believe she's a goddess, but you? No offense, but with the dark suit and claws and all... and those eyes! Have you seen anything more evil?"

A low growl escaped from Tokimi's lips. "Look here, kid. I've just got out of millennia of being locked up in some dark corner of the universe.  
I don't have the patience of scolding you about good manners and right conduct right now. I need to find Ranma, and I..."

"RANMA!" Ryoga bellowed as he clenched his fists. "Where is that good-for-nothing coward! I'm going to kill him!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Tokimi shouted back, but stopped herself when she remembered something. "Wait a minute..." she said as she took out the folder Kami-sama gave them as a guide on what happened during Ranma's stay in Midgard.

"Hmmm... now I see!" Tokimi slammed the folder shut as she powered up.  
"You're the one who kept on attacking Ranma just because of your stupidity!"

"Eeep!" Tsunami backed away as dark waves of energy cackled along Tokimi's clenched fists.

"It's all Ranma's fault!" was Ryoga's rebuttal, as usual.

"Ranma's fault?" Tokimi asked as she started to float, eliciting a startled gasp from Ryoga and a sigh of resignation from Tsunami, "Is it his fault that you have a directional problem?"

Ryoga gulped. "Uhm... no but..."

Tokimi cut him off. "Is it his fault that you didn't arrive at your designated duel place at the right time, not to mention that it was just behind your house by the way, and before you say he should've waited,  
you should have known that he waited FOR THREE DAYS before that cursed human of a foster father knocked him unconscious just to drag him away from that place and take him to China!"

"But..." Ryoga began as he slowly backed away from the floating Tokimi,  
who was approaching him at every stress of her words.

"Is it his fault you followed him to Jusenkyo, and got yourself cursed!" Tokimi growled out.

Ryoga mustered his courage. "It was his fault I fell into the pool! He pushed me!"

Tokimi scoffed. "Oh really? What were you doing there in the first place? If you had stayed here in Japan, you wouldn't be cursed! You're just a big brat who is afraid of taking the responsibility of his decisions and actions! You are a person who just rationalize his own existence in pursuing some useless piece of crap you call revenge! It was a long time ago, why can't you let go!"

"It's all his fault my life is ruined! Because of him I've seen hell!"

"Let me tell you what hell is, BOY!" Tokimi lowered herself as she glared full force on the cowering Ryoga. "I was imprisoned by my fellow gods and goddesses because they were afraid of my powers. Because of their inability to understand it, I was thrown into a dark dimension ALONE! My son was taken away from me even before he was born! Now I learned that he has to go through all these crap just because of some mindless misunderstandings... do you even realize the HELL I've been through, BOY!"

Tsunami cringed when Tokimi had mentioned how everyone in Heaven treated her way back then. She had to agree that her older sister knew more about vengeance than anyone. She visibly paled when Tokimi had said the thing about her taking the unborn Ranma out of Tokimi's womb. It was one of the saddest mistakes Tsunami has ever done, and even though Tokimi had forgiven her about it, she still felt a huge guilt over everything that has happened to the older Choushin Megami.

Ryoga ack'ed loudly as he made warding gestures with his hands. Tokimi was undaunted by his actions as she gathered a dark sphere of energy in her right hand. She extended the hand and pointed the ball towards Ryoga, who sweated at the intensity of the amount of power from the small ball.

The bandanna-clad boy went from afraid to terrified when Tokimi shouted,  
"Hibiki Ryoga, PREPARE TO DIE!" Not really original, but it does its job.

Ryoga jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he can, screaming all the way. He knew he's strong, and he's not a coward. He would face everything that challenged him, but fighting goddesses that dwarf Saffron's power was something he tried to avoid. It galls him to think so, but he employed one of the techniques Ranma usually used, 'Run away and try to think of another way to fight the threat before coming back and trying once again'. Tokimi fired a shot and hit the ground behind Ryoga, who was thrown forward by the backlash of the impact. When the cloud of dust cleared, Ryoga was nowhere to be found. Tokimi growled loudly as she powered down, casting a wary glance at her powered up sister Tsunami.

The blue-haired goddess breathed in relief as she powered down as well.  
"Good thing you purposely aimed that blast away like that. I would've been forced to repel it."

Tokimi sighed as she said, "Right. Anyway, let's go."

Tsunami nodded and followed her older sister as they started to walk in a general direction towards Nerima. After a few moments of walking, she turned to Tokimi and asked, "You were not seriously trying to kill him,  
right?"

"Huh? Oh that... forget about it..." Tokimi replied curtly.

"No really, were you serious?"

"What do you think, Tsunami? He made my son's life a living hell because of all those garbage he's been mouthing off! How do you suppose I should react?"

"Ehhh... I was just asking you know. We can't go off killing people just like that..."

"Whatever. He better stay out of my sight for a few years or so, then I might forget about it. I know it's ironic that I talk things about revenge like that, because I sure know a lot about it. But still... the cause of his anger is quite stupid."

"Right... oh by the way, Tokimi-neesan, we should change our clothes."

"Sure. Whatever you say. Just lay off with the ribbons and laces. I swear, you take so much from Sasami's tastes in clothes..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Tendo-Ke...

Tendo Soun was calmly sipping tea as he read his newspaper, which had something about a Professor Rara spouting things about parallel worlds and such. Soun snorted in disgust as he thought ((Parallel Worlds,  
indeed!)).

It was in the middle of the morning, and also a Saturday. His friend,  
Saotome Genma was currently engrossed in the food his daughter Kasumi had made for them for breakfast. He always thought of Genma as a barbaric man who always thought with his stomach, but nevertheless he was still his friend.

Kasumi was eating rather demurely once again, her smile still evident.  
But lately, that same smile she used to dazzle everyone was a bit dimmer than usual. The family just shrugged it off as a trick in their eyes or something, but she was sometimes caught dazed in the kitchen as she waited her food to cook around her, sighing forlornly over something.  
They had never seen her like this, not even when that nice doctor Tofu left before, so they can't deduce her masked sadness with that. Her smile failed to reach her eyes these days.

Kasumi sighed as she looked around her, taking note once again of everyone around her. Although they thought she was always ignorant about most things, she just didn't want to get caught up in the excitement.

Nabiki was as pushy as ever, as her Ice Queen persona radiates everywhere once anyone is near her. Especially now, since Ranma had disappeared her so-called income had gone a bit under the water lately.  
The poor Kuno kid must be dry at the pockets right now.

Akane's anger returned with a vengeance, since she and the others that traveled to China with those two Saotome kids back then returned.  
Sometimes she was lonely, but then it quickly changes into that unbridled fury they had long recognized and has learned to stay away from. Their budget took a slight plunge because of this, for their stock of cinder blocks quickly disappeared once she enters the dojo during one of those moods. Kasumi shuddered to herself when she remembered the other activity that might take Akane out of her foul mood... which was cooking for the family. Tuesdays were really bad for them, because it was Akane's night to cook (mainly due to Akane's 'insistence').

Saotome Nodoka also sat with them at the table today. She arrived earlier to check up on her husband, and it seemed that she was regretting it. Seeing her husband pig himself out on the food from the Tendo family really irked her. She silently elbowed her husband in the ribs and felt satisfied as she heard Genma choking on some rice. Since Ranma had disappeared, her good mood had been dampened a bit like Kasumi's, but her usual worried attitude was not present. She says that she trusts her son to be safe. Kasumi firmly believed in that one as well.

The amazons still retained their place in the Nekohanten, with hopes that Ranma would someday come back to them. Shampoo was still bubbly and irritating as ever, with Mousse bowing and scraping at her feet. Once or twice a week she would visit their home to ask about her 'Airen', much to the family's dismay. Shampoo always did leave a mark on their house.  
Weird, though, that it was during these times that Akane showed her usual flair and gets angry at Shampoo's little visits.

Ukyo's restaurant remained as a great rival for the Nekohanten. Her okonomiyaki were still hot in the town. Her devotion to Ranma was quite toned down lately, since she often just asks if Ranma was okay, not even bothering in mentioning that she was still a legitimate fiancee. Konatsu was another Mousse, with much more subtle adoration. Ukyo's visits were accompanied with a box of that delicious food of hers, and it was specifically timed during Tuesday evenings when Akane decides to cook for dinner. Kami bless her kind soul, Kasumi would always pray.

Kodachi was still a pest, where twice last week she tried to ambush Akane while she went to school. The female Kuno apparently blamed Akane for Ranma's disappearance. Tatewaki was the same, spouting every morning how he had vanquished the evil sorcerer Saotome. The idiot tried to revive the old custom of 'beat up Akane and get her as a date' thing,  
but was promptly ignored. Good thing the male half of the students,  
minus Kuno, was quite adamant in staying neutral in everything. Besides,  
no one is stupid enough to follow Kuno, after all the craziness he did in the past year. The last time Kasumi had heard of Tatewaki, he was punted towards the atmosphere, much further than normal.

Oh... back to the table. Yes, Soun was seating as usual at the head of the table, as she, Nabiki and Akane sat on one side. Nodoka took the position beside her husband Genma, who was stuffing food like there is no tomorrow.

Kasumi sipped her tea with a soft sigh. She missed Ranma real bad. But still... it's not right to dwell on it.

Ah yes, a normal Saturday morning.

Yeah, right.

A loud knock broke the monotonous actions of the family every morning.  
They all perked their heads up in anticipation as to who will answer the knock. Kasumi sighed internally as she stood up. No matter what, it was usually up to her to keep the Wa of the house.

Kasumi quickly made her way to the gates and pushed them open. Sure enough, outside the compound were two women, each varying in height, and were looking at her expectantly. The taller one wore lightly colored sunglasses. She has light brown hair that reached up to her upper neck,  
with light red wisps of hair in front of her face. She absently brushed back the red strands. Her dark slacks complemented her white plaid blouse. A rather thick belt covered around her waist that has a big golden buckle in the middle. The smaller one wore a simple white sundress, which overlapped a light yellow long sleeved shirt.

The eldest Tendo bowed low as she said, "Welcome to the Tendo Dojo. My name is Tendo Kasumi."

The smaller one stepped forward and bowed. "Hello there. My name is Tsunami, and this is my older sister, Tokimi." The taller woman bowed slightly as well. The woman named Tsunami continued, "We are here to see Masaki Nodoka, rather, Saotome Nodoka please."

Kasumi frowned slightly at the names. They have been mentioned once or twice during one of their conversations. If she remembered it right,  
Tokimi was the name of Ranma's real mother, right? She mentally shook her head as she smiled brightly to the guests. "Oh, where are my manners. Please come in! Auntie Nodoka is here right now, visiting."

The two women nodded as they followed the brown-haired girl inside the house, towards where the rest were. When they reached the dining room,  
the two newcomers noticed varied reactions. Akane, Nabiki and Soun were puzzled as to who would visit the dojo this early, without the need for a challenge for their sign. Genma took no notice as he tried to stuff as much of the food as he can in his mouth while the rest are distracted somewhere.

Nodoka however gasped lightly. She recognized the shorter blue-haired woman once when she appeared before her. It was the time when her father, Masaki Katsuhito, has introduced her to their family art and heritage. Tsunami, the goddess of her people called Jurai, looked exactly like the blue-haired woman in front of her. The goddess appeared again to Nodoka when she took Ranma into her womb. It has been some years ago since then.

Tsunami smiled at Nodoka. "Greetings, Nodoka of Jurai. I am Tsunami."

"Tsunami-sama!" Nodoka exclaimed as she turned her body towards the two and bowed low, her forehead nearly reaching the floor. Everyone except Genma boggled at the sight of a bowing Nodoka. They looked at the two with awe and respect, with a little bit of fear and distrust as well.

Tsunami quickly went to her and grasped at her shoulders, saying, "No need for that, Nodoka." When Nodoka straightened herself up once again,  
Tsunami continued, "We were just visiting. My sister wanted to meet you."

Nodoka gazed at the taller woman beside her goddess. Her eyes widened in recognition as she whispered loudly, "Tokimi-sama?"

At the mention of the name, everyone turned to the taller woman, who nodded slightly. Genma choked on his food as he hesitantly turned to the irate goddess of Chaos, who crossed her arms across her chest once she saw she got Genma's attention.

"T-T-Tokimi?" Genma stuttered as he coughed lightly.

"Oh yes, Saotome Genma." Tokimi smirked evilly. "Now, let's talk about what you did to my son, Ranma."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The overall status of energy balance all over Nerima suddenly shifted as everything was slowly setting itself in place.

In the Nekohanten, Shampoo was busy tying her ramen deliveries on her famous bicycle of doom. Her thoughts were set on the Tendo Dojo, as she prepared herself for another visit to her rival's place. It would not be a good thing if Ranma reappeared and she was not present to begin with.  
In the shadows, Mousse was brandishing his swords and placed them inside his robes, as a precaution if ever Saotome does come back. In the kitchen, Cologne has a sinking feeling of where her great-granddaughter was off to. She loved the young child dearly, but Shampoo's impatience will be her downfall. She quickly removed all the pots from the stove and braced herself to follow the child. Another day of no profits again,  
but something in the air told her that she needs to be with her great-granddaughter, for the young Amazon will need her help.

The rival of the restaurant Nekohanten, the Ucchan's, had somehow managed to plan its early closing today as well. It was quite a coincidence that both top-notched restaurants in Nerima are currently 'Closed, Family Emergency'. The usual customers just shrugged and planned on just going to the movable yattai in the area. These types of closing are really common for them, especially when Saotome Ranma was still present in the Ward. Back to the Ucchan's, Ukyo finished her last batch of okonomiyaki delivery and stuffed them in two large delivery boxes. She felt that she has to visit the Tendo Dojo right now, for some reason. Ukyo and Akane went along with each other fairly well, compared to, say, Kodachi or Shampoo. No offense, but those who always vowed to kill their obstacles were not really friendly-types. Since her Ranchan had disappeared, Ukyo devoted her time in her work and school. She believed that Ranma would come back to her, once he realized how incompatible he was with Akane or any of the other fiancees. She was the one for him. Never mind the outburst Ranma had before he disappeared,  
Ranma didn't mean it at all. At least that's what's in Ukyo's mind as she reassessed what happened.

While Ukyo was in her apartment atop her restaurant brooding about her upcoming visit to the dojo, Kodachi was also contemplating in her room back in the Kuno Manor. Her brother Tatewaki was still missing since yesterday, after having been punting for the nth time towards Antarctica by the furious Tendo Akane. Not that Kodachi could blame that vile tramp and rival for her Ranma-sama's affections when she trashed Tatewaki, her brother was really just a pain. She barely pays any attention to the swordsman's raving when he was actually present in their home. Sasuke,  
their clan's retainer, was also nowhere to be seen, probably off to find the missing Kuno.

Despite people's perceptions of her behavior, Kodachi knew that Ranma didn't have many feelings towards her. It might be called a hero-worship, right up to the point of obsession, of what she felt towards him. Since Ranma saved her from that near-fatal fall the first time she met him, Kodachi felt that he was the only one for her.

Of course, her methods were too... desperate and homicidal to begin with, but she was quite deprived of attention that she felt this was her only chance. Yes, it was her desperation for companionship that drove her into this corner, companionship and love that she never found amongst her own blood, ever since her mother had died. Kodachi felt herself slip into the throes of lunacy at times, but this was all she could do to get herself some kind of emotion from others. Be it hate,  
loathing, anything... anything except nothing. The Black Rose stood up from the lush covers of her bed and donned her black leotard. She picked her gymnastic ribbon from its perch on the armrest of the huge comfy chair in her room and made her way outside... towards the Tendo Dojo.

Chaos is brewing in the little town called Nerima.

Heh.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the aforementioned Tendo Dojo...

Tsunami and Tokimi's grand entrance brought a lot of mixed emotions from the group.

Nodoka had respect and fondness for them. Tsunami is her patron goddess,  
and she was as powerful as what was described in Nodoka's father's stories. Tokimi however was a big turnabout for Nodoka, because her father mentioned once or twice before how evil Tokimi should be. Now that the Chaos goddess was here, Nodoka felt none of the evil that those stories implied.

Akane was in awe, especially towards the taller woman who was Ranma's real mother. She wasn't really that good at detecting auras (she swore she'd perfect it tomorrow and become better than everyone at it) but she could really feel the waves of power coming from Tokimi. Meanwhile,  
Tsunami's aura was on par with Kasumi's own peaceful one, but the power underlining it was still evident.

Nabiki had a calculating look before the mess started, as she thought of different ways to exploit on the information about Ranma's parentage,  
but one look at Tokimi's eyes when the goddess of Chaos had tossed the tinted glasses that covered her eyes away spooked her real bad. The fact that they glowed wasn't really that much, the sight was just plain scary.

Kasumi felt safe with Tsunami, but a little bit of fear when it comes with Tokimi.

Soun was just plain scared.

Genma was currently choking for air, as Tokimi gripped his neck and leveled him against the wall. He didn't get to say much after the irritated goddess declared something about what he did to Ranma way back then. He scratched and clawed at the hands that held him, but his strikes seemed to just slide off the fabric that clothed Tokimi.

It took several moments before it finally registered to everyone that Tokimi had moved faster than their thoughts and already had Genma against the wall. Tsunami quickly made her way to her sister and held her arm, which was about to strike at the helpless Genma.

"Tokimi-neesan! Don't be rude... we are guests in their house!" Tsunami cried out as she tried to pry lose Tokimi's grip.

Tokimi actually took time to pause what she was doing and thought about it. "Well... lemme see." Turning to Soun without letting Genma go, she asked, "Where is your dojo?"

Soun was still a bit shocked at the display, and replied automatically.  
He woodenly pointed towards the direction of the dojo.

Tokimi nodded to him. "Thank you." She let Genma's neck loose, which caused the fat martial artist to fall down the floor panting. But he was hauled back to the air by a hand that gripped the front of his gi.  
Tokimi grabbed Genma by his clothes and dragged the weakened Saotome towards the dojo.

The rest just turned back to their tea, courtesy of Kasumi, and blatantly ignored the rather high pitched screams of pain followed by loud explosions from the dojo. Nodoka just shook her head in disgust as she muttered about her husband sounding like a female when he begs for mercy. The shame of it all! Was this the man she entrusted her son,  
well, adopted son in the sense, who should make a man out of him? Nodoka now realized how foolish it was for her to let Genma take Ranma out on that training trip. A lot has gone wrong just because of that wrong decision. It was her hope that the seppuku pledge Genma had signed would keep him in line, but even that didn't stop him from pushing Ranma into those insane things she had heard from the trip.

They were disturbed by another set of knocking from the dojo gates.  
Tsunami stiffened as she felt various presences that were very familiar to her. Nodoka saw Tsunami sit straight and asked, "Tsunami-sama? Is there going to be trouble?"

Tsunami turned her head to the side and looked at Nodoka. "Oh, not at all. I just felt some divinities nearby, so it is safe to assume that the newcomers might be gods or goddesses."

"Tsunami!" A sultry voice called their attention. They turned to the entrance and saw three of the most beautiful women they've seen in all their lives... that and they're also quite familiar. The voice came from a tall dark-skinned shapely woman, who has platinum colored hair that fluttered freely down her back. On her forehead was a dark blue inverted triangular tattoo, as the sides of her face had the same triangles just below the eyes. She wore tight fitting clothes that hugged her figure perfectly, emphasizing her assets quite well. The second was a short young girl, barely twelve to thirteen, who had long deep blue hair that was almost black. She was dressed in a white shirt laced with red, with matching shorts with the same color scheme. A large prominent dark blue oval marking on her forehead can be seen, coupled with the triangles just below her eyes. A mallet with a long handle was strapped on her back. The third one had long brown hair, with a matching emotionless expression on her face. Her dark blue dress seemed to match the most prominent of her features, which was her blue-gray eyes... the same shade of blue that Ranma has on his eyes as well. On her forehead were three black dots in an inverted triangle, which gleamed every now and then. At first glance, one would mistake her for Kasumi, who was also standing beside the same young girl.

Akane seemed livid as she blurted out, "You're the same ones that appeared when those two children appeared!"

The brown haired young girl turned to her and nodded a bit. "That's right."

The goddess of Life and Jurai stood up and smiled to the three. "Urd,  
Skuld, and Belldandy..."

Nabiki sighed loudly. "Well! We've been having all sorts of goddesses visiting us today... first Tsunami and Tokimi, then you..."

"Tokimi!" Everyone gaped at Belldandy, who was looking at them expectantly. "Where is she?"

Tsunami nodded at her. "Well, she's currently busy dispensing her brand of justice..." She paused as a high pitched wail of someone begging for mercy erupted from the dojo. "She's not quite finished yet, and would be very upset if you disturb her..."

Seeing the horrified looks on Urd and Skuld's faces, while indifference from Belldandy, she continued, "Don't worry, she won't kill the man."

Another scream of pain was heard. "What did he do!" Urd gasped out in horror. She was tempted to barge in and stop the goddess of Chaos from her ministrations against the mortal. Heaven wouldn't have allowed it anyway, but she just stood back as she complied on Tsunami's hidden request.

Skuld has her hands on the handle of her debugging mallet, poised and ready if they decide to move against Tokimi. She has heard stories of her ruthlessness and that she was evil. She stared at Tsunami defiantly as she stated, "It's not right. We shouldn't be doing this to mortals."

Tsunami sighed loudly. "I'm afraid even Father has allowed it and turned a blind eye on this. Tokimi's anger towards this certain mortal is very deep. For one, this man is the adoptive father of her son, Ranma."

"Ranma?" Belldandy flopped down to the mats, staring wide-eyed at Tsunami. "R-Ranma is my... brother?"

"BROTHER!" Everyone except Tsunami shouted in surprise at Belldandy.

Tsunami shrugged. "Half-brother, actually..."

"Belldandy?" The said goddess turned to Urd, who was eyeing her curiously, "What do you mean, 'brother'?"

Belldandy smiled slightly, as she adopted a far-away look on her face.  
"My full memories have returned... it seems Kami-sama released the seal on them."

"Aaaand!" Skuld asked impatiently.

Belldandy smoothed the imaginary wrinkles on her garments and straightened her back. She gazed at them serenely as she said, "I am born out of Tokimi's own. I have no father, because I was born the same way as Venus did. Before my mother was imprisoned, she made sure that Kami-sama would take care of me. Despite my very... colorful protests..." She blushed a bit as she said this, "My memories of my childhood were sealed to prevent complications in the future. Kami-sama stationed me as the Goddess of the Present, and my whole personality took a bit of a 180 from its original one. You see... if you think Urd's bad, I'm worse... I just know how to control my rampant emotions, unlike someone I know..." She said in a soft voice as she looked at the goddess of the Past in the corner of her eyes. Urd glared at Belldandy in retaliation.

Taking advantage of the silence, Tsunami continued the story, "Yes, and she did her job real well, too. Without her memories, her powers were limited severely, as Kami-sama ordered a custom-made limiter for her abilities. Anyway, Tokimi grew angry in her imprisonment, and took it out on Midgard. Once in a while she would send havoc into the lives of the mortals, cementing the misguided rumors of her being an evil goddess. Nevertheless, she fell in love and conceived Ranma, which by the way was one of my greatest mistakes."

"Auntie... you didn't!" Belldandy narrowed her eyes at Tsunami, who just sighed sadly. Urd and Skuld gaped at the scowling Belldandy, who for them was a bit out of character too much.

"I did a terrible mistake, which led to Ranma being separated from Tokimi. The rest is history..." Tokimi finished lamely.

Belldandy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "So, basically Saotome Ranma is my half brother. In Heaven, he was dubbed as 'Chaos Incarnate', most of it because of his very life. For some reason, eventhough he's in the middle of pure chaotic fury, he survives. Now I know why. Being mom's offspring really brings out our chaos potential."

A moment of silence fell over the group as they pondered on the ramifications of everything that has been revealed. Everything was going too fast for their tastes. A sound of opening sliding doors broke them from their contemplation as Tokimi went out of the dojo, with a smug look on her face. When the goddess of Chaos' eyes fell unto Belldandy,  
her motions froze.

"B-Belldandy?" Tokimi asked in a soft voice, struggling in finding the words to convey her feelings. It has been too long since she last saw a glimpse of her first daughter.

The brown-haired young woman stood up and slowly made her way to Tokimi's position, who was still shocked in place. Belldandy's face slowly melted into a small smile as she brought her arms around Tokimi.  
"Okaasan... I missed you so much..." Belldandy whispered in the taller woman's ear.

Tokimi finally willed herself to move, as she lifted her arms to cover Belldandy's smaller body. She sagged and began to weep. "Oh Belldandy!  
It's been so long... I'm so sorry I wasn't with you in the past! I... I was..."

"It's alright, mom." Belldandy soothed her mother as she clung to Tokimi. "I remember what happened. It was all a huge misunderstanding,  
and Kami-sama can't do anything about it. I should be the one who must apologize to you, for not doing anything about it!"

"My daughter... my Belldandy..." Tokimi continued to sob as she held her daughter in her arms.

As their cries subsided, Belldandy has her mother in arm's length. "So,  
'mommy'... what's this about Ranma being my half-brother?" Belldandy grinned slyly at her mother.

To everyone's amusement, the usually composed face of Tokimi lit up in deep red.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

We take a brief interlude to peek at Ranma's position, back in the Past Parallel World...

Our pigtailed hybrid was grumbling as he sat on the rocks that overlooked the cliff on Jusenkyo. Behind him, sitting on a rock was Ryoko chuckling a bit with Ryo-Ohki and Rin-Ohki on her lap, while farther back at a clearing Inuyasha was practicing his sword forms. On the youkai's side, a tall young woman with silvery hair was looking at his forms and mimicking them. Oh, there was a pair of feathered wings jutting out of the young woman's back, which accented her exotic looks.

"C'mon, Ranma... it's really not that bad when you think about it"  
Ryoko struggled to control her laughter as she gazed at the young man in front of her. It has been two years since the incident, but Ranma was still sore about the subject. She absently scratched the two bundles of fur on her lap, who squirmed lightly at the noise.

Ranma scowled as he whirled around to face Ryoko. "Oh really? Tell that to these things!" He turned his back to the cyan-haired girl as two massive wings erupted from his back. For measure, he took a couple of test flaps, kicking up dust and dirt everywhere as his red tail fluttered against the wing-induced wind. "It's bad enough that I have this strange stones on my forehead, I also have to get these wings too?"

Ryoko finally lost it, and laughed loudly. "R-Really! It's not bad! It makes you look... cool!"

The now winged pigtailed warrior snorted loudly as he crossed his arms across his chest, glaring at nothing over the horizon. "It hurts when I don't let it out at least twice a week. I really don't need wings to fly anyway, so what's the purpose in this!"

"Well..." Ryoko began hesitantly, "I think they look great. Besides, at least you have something to fall back on if ever your power runs out"  
She knew it was a lame excuse, but she just has to say it anyway. She was running out of placating reasons for the irate pigtailed hybrid.

Ranma in turn just ignored her.

"He's still angry about that, huh?" Ryoko faced the other winged person in the group, as she strode up to them slowly. Inuyasha just ignored them as he continued to practice his swordplay. His clothes were also different, for they were weighed heavily for him to build his strength up some more.

Ryoko sighed, then chuckled a bit more. "Yeah Kiima... I understand that he really doesn't need it, but how can we know his body would assimilate the Wings of the Light Hawk?"

Kiima shrugged. "I still don't understand the thing about the Light Hawk thingie, but it doesn't look too bad on him. Although those jewels on his forehead are pretty exotic on him."

Ryoko made a face. "He says it weighs him down on occasion, and that he really doesn't need more attention drawn to him. And the stones don't bother him that much anymore."

The winged woman smiled softly. "True..."

The former space pirate snickered some more and sighed as she floated above the rock she was sitting on in a lotus position a while ago. Three small gemstones on Ranma's forehead, a trio of silver spheres aligned in an inverted triangular position, appeared all of the sudden while they were on the trek in Japan. Ranma was quite miffed at them and tried to wash them off, even rubbed them raw, but he found out that they were actually gemstones. He just sighed and just let it be after a while.

She also remembered the incident that gave Ranma those two glorious wings made out of pure energy.

The main event happened two years ago, after several years of travel around China when they exterminated the stray Manticores that roamed everywhere. The gigantic monsters were already adapting, assimilating everything they think would give them the edge they need for battle.  
Once they encountered a Manticore with a cannon mounted on its back.  
Instead of a ball of iron, its bullet was huge amounts of energy. The abilities of the Manticores were still shady at best, but they still try to defeat the monsters with everything they had.

It was also during the moments of peace in between that Ranma started sparring with Inuyasha. Among the three of them, Inuyasha was probably the weakest, and the hanyou was a bit angry about it. They didn't know what started it, but next thing they knew Inuyasha and Ranma were already sparring. The pigtailed young man suggested that Inuyasha should wear weights all over his body, which was taken into consideration.  
Right now, the hanyou can wield the huge weapon Tetsusaiga with little to no effort at all. Now, the only thing they need to improve on was on the various sword skills Inuyasha can pull out of the huge sword.  
Various ki techniques came into mind...

They became quite a bit of a legend on the trail between Japan and China. They were dubbed as the Three Demons of Japan, since they all speak Japanese. The three of them also met up with those Chinese Amazons, which for some reason Ranma was quite nervous about all the while they were in the village proper. Seems like his fears were justified, for most of the villagers, all female, tried to fight Ranma.  
It was later that Ryoko had learned about the Amazon Law pertaining outsiders, and she was pissed about it. She almost blasted the whole village away, but Ranma just stopped her and announced that he was unavailable. Of course this didn't suit the Amazons, especially the elders. They said that he was just a weak male, and that he has no say about the law. Ryoko almost laughed at that, but was fairly placated when Ranma challenged the elders for it. Yes, Ranma made a spectacle of defeating the Amazon elders all at the same time, and thus made a clear statement that he was not to be tampered with. Inuyasha was mostly left alone, since the sight of his massive weapon really put a damper on the Amazons' enthusiasm. Also, they can see the demonic blood present in the hanyou. They can't have demonic blood in their village after all.  
Rin-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki, to their dismay, were targets for some of the hunters from the village. At first, they were thought to be food,  
rabbits as they called them. They always stayed close behind Ranma to hide from the sudden attacks that were unfortunately directed to them.  
Ranma finally told the Amazons that the two cabbits were not to be touched, much to the fur balls' relief.

Some twenty Manticores were present in that location. Most of the things converged on Ranma, Ryoko and Inuyasha when they felt the trio was the biggest threat to them. Good thing they were a bit weaker, although they still had a hard time since they attacked in-groups. They were smarter than the earlier ones in Japan. The cabbits acted as a back up,  
generating shields to those who were too wounded to fight, and were left vulnerable in the battlefield.

A lot more of the monsters accumulated in the area of the one called Musk, one of the big three ancient kingdoms in China. A humanoid dragon named Paprika ruled this kingdom. At first, they rejected the trio's help, even scoffed at them when they heard about the troubles a Manticore can cause. But when several suddenly appeared and killed most of the sentry in the front gates, they immediately scrambled for their weapons and fought side by side with them. Of all the places the three 'demons' have visited, the Musk Territory was probably the most accommodating place they have encountered. Most of the people in the Musk were demi-human, so Ranma's weird eyes and red tail, Ryoko's exotic looks and slitted eyes, as well as Inuyasha's doggy ears were at home with the Musk. Whoever thought the gruff Musk had a soft side, because when they saw the two cabbits, they immediately gushed over them, even feeding them much to their delight. The only problem was the Musks'  
weird reaction to females, namely Ryoko and Onna-Ranma. One of the more controlled Musk explained that they scarcely have any relations with females whatsoever. Also, Ranma had warned Emperor Paprika about an accident in the near future concerning his son, Herb, about a spring of drowned girl and... a monkey? Anyway, the emperor, upon hearing about the spring, took his advice seriously and had it recorded. Emperor Paprika was really grateful for the warning, and allowed Ranma, Ryoko and Inuyasha to train with them. It was more grueling than the amazons,  
and their breeding program was more animalistic than most. Where the Amazons chose to mate with superior genes with fellow humans, the Musk used the Spring of Drowned Girl to turn a particular strong animal they find and mate with it. They even have that magical ladle that caused the curses to remain locked. For some reason, Ranma eyed that item warily.

They spent a good three to five years in that domain, soaking up as much information and fighting skills as possible. Ryoko was particularly grateful with the ki control the Musk showed her. It was for her to control the powerful energy from her gems when she uses them, so that she will not lose herself. Surprisingly, Ranma was still as resourceful as before, even though his powers were seriously hampered by the limiter bracers that Washuu had given him before they went on to their journey.  
Those limiters seriously undermined his powers, and he spent more time powering up than when he has no limiters. His strength was significantly higher than Ryoko, but it was growing a lot slower than it used to. The only fast thing that grew was Ranma's ki reserves, which were already abnormally high to begin with. His other abilities were not limited though, like flying, teleporting, fast healing and phasing. Inuyasha's strength grew tenfold after his own training was done. It helped that his sparring partners fought him in-groups, and were close to his skill.  
He improved greatly, and was also provided with a magical enchantment concerning his fire-rat hide hakama. The magic made Inuyasha's clothes significantly heavier than they looked, in turn helping with the hanyou's strength and speed training. Inuyasha hasn't grasped the idea of ki yet, because of his brash attitude and impatience, but they noticed that he was already using it to boost his speed and power. The height of his jumps was astounding now, and he's able to hang unto the air for a limited amount of time. Indefinite flying required a higher skill of ki manipulation, which the hanyou wasn't as of yet.

They went on after making sure that the Manticores in the area were eradicated. The device Washuu gave them made it easier for them to spot the monsters, even those that were underground. The next stop and probably the biggest deposit of Manticores were located in a nearby mountain just past the area, which Ranma dreaded for so long, which was Jusenkyo.

At first, the welcoming party from the mountain people was a little bit on the violent side. Ranma explained that they had little to no contact with outsiders, much like the Musks and the Amazons, and that they were at war with the aforementioned groups. The three kingdoms have been battling each other for supremacy over Chinese soil for hundreds of years. Ryoko found the mountain inhabitants fascinating, because for one they have wings on their back. They looked like an army of angels as they swooped down from their mountain home to intercept them. The cyan-haired woman was not bothered by the fact that the newcomers can fly, but the hanyou clearly saw his disadvantage in this situation.  
Inuyasha and Ryoko geared for battle, but Ranma stopped them with an outstretched hand. Allowing him to negotiate (as if Ranma had negotiating skills) the two decided to settle down and allow Ranma to do his work. The pigtailed young man looked up and demanded, yes he demanded, to gain audience with their king, Saffron. The sentry grew outraged at the level of demand heard from Ranma's voice, and prepared to fire their weapons (arrows, I might add).

Suddenly, a female voice stopped the incoming battle and floated above the three of them, looking down on them as if they were lower life forms. Her eyes looked briefly at Rin-Ohki on Ranma's shoulder and Ryo-Ohki on Ryoko's head though. Her silver hair fluttered against the wind as she hung on the air. She was dressed in a blue silk one-piece bathing suit-like garment that hugged her figure firmly. On her hands were large leather gauntlets. On her hip was a saber that was poised for a quick-draw. Ranma just snorted and floated to meet the female officer (obvious from her different clothes), much to the surprise of the female and her companions. She barked out a command of some sort in a different language, and Ranma replied in kind. Finally, after a long while of debate, the woman introduced herself as Lady Kiima, high commander of the Phoenix Royal Guards. She switched to Japanese as per request of Ranma in fairness for Ryoko and Inuyasha.

When they arrived at the Phoenix Mountain, they were quickly accosted by more of the people there, mainly Inuyasha. After Kiima placated her people, she explained to Ranma that they saw the hanyou as a Musk, one of their main enemies. They couldn't even begin to understand what a meowing rabbit would bring to their mountain. After making sure they understood that Inuyasha was an inu-youkai (which caused a different type of stir... because a demon was a demon after all, and for them they figured that Inuyasha was evil... Ranma explained that the hanyou was not evil), not Musk, Ranma managed to settle everything down, with some little tension here and there. He also explained that the cabbits were rare animals, much to the two aforementioned's irritation. Kiima then led Ranma to Saffron's chambers, but did not allow Ryoko and Inuyasha inside. They prepared to protest, but Ranma just shook his head and told them to wait for him out there. He even handed Rin-Ohki to Ryoko.  
Grudgingly, the two who were left accepted.

Ryoko, with the cabbits in her arms, did not know what Ranma and that Phoenix King Saffron talked about, but when the two walked out of the throne room smiling, she knew that everything went okay. She released the breath she held as she waited for the talk to finish and examined the winged people's king. Saffron was taller than Ranma, with flaming red hair and huge white wings. His royal armor was dark red in color,  
and he walked with an imperious sense in it. He was powerful, and Ryoko felt that. Ranma explained in the past to Ryoko and Inuyasha that Saffron is immortal, a fast healer, and a god to his people. Saffron granted the three of them sanctuary inside the mountain refuge, much to their relief. He also ordered Kiima to prepare their warriors for tighter sentry duties, and told them about the threat of the Manticores.  
The winged people immediately snapped to their duties and followed their king without any hesitation.

It wasn't long before the Manticores finally emerged and attacked. Most of the Phoenix people outside guarding the gates were killed or critically wounded. So far, the Manticores were in a vast numbers,  
confirming Ranma's suspicion that they were after the most powerful people on the planet. Saffron, being an immortal and a master of fire,  
attracted the monsters' attention and in turn attacked his domain in a large group. The battle raged for almost a month non-stop. Ranma, Ryoko and Inuyasha almost had no sleep within that time, constantly fighting and preparing for any ambush that the Manticores might've planned for them.

Soon, the Phoenix army was reduced from more than two thousand troops to a mere three hundred or so. The Phoenix people were good fighters in the air and are particularly good in using incinerating magic, but when their wings get injured they lose their edge. They were not trained very well in fighting on the ground with their feet. The monsters noticed this and started to attack their wings specifically. Because of their unintended clumsiness on the ground, the Phoenix people were mowed down by the Manticores mercilessly.

Ranma, Ryoko, Inuyasha, Kiima, Saffron, and the other Phoenix that were left of the battle were torn and bloody at the middle cavern of the mountain, where the two huge faucets of the Dragon and the Phoenix were located. About thirty-five more Manticores were left, and were successful in cornering them inside the huge room. Kiima was cradling Rin-Ohki, as the cabbit looked really exhausted, while Ryo-Ohki stood warily beside Ryoko. The cabbits were rather hard-pressed in summoning shields against the stray attacks that managed to punch through their defense. The monsters poured out of the only exit from the incubation room, which effectively trapped all of them inside. Seeing their prey,  
the Manticores powered up and huddled together, combining their energies into one huge bonfire of ki, which made Ranma's skin crawl. Before Ranma could react, Saffron already flew straight in front of their cowered group and stood defiantly. Ranma tried to tell Saffron to let him handle it, but his body didn't cooperate. A few weeks of non-stop fighting really taxed on his energy reserves. Not only that, but Ranma can't seem to remove his limiter bracers. The monsters released the ball towards Saffron, who blocked it with his own life energy. At first they thought Saffron would win, but the Phoenix King finally stumbled. Although in return, Saffron managed to dampen most of the accumulated energy's power and dispersed it into the sides. The halved energy ball detonated on the walls uselessly, but Saffron slowly withered away. Ranma's dark glasses fell to the ground as he saw what had happened to Saffron. The pigtailed hybrid felt closer to this version of Saffron, because he was more mature and understanding, not to mention friendlier. His face lost its expression as his tail lashed around uncontrollably behind him. Kiima cried out and ran towards her King's former place, and picked up a bigger than normal white egg that glowed every now and then.

Ranma staggered blindly to the front, not minding the screams of Ryoko and Kiima to get back. His face suddenly screwed into a snarl as he screamed in outrage. Ryoko knew that Ranma has already exhausted his ki over the weeks they've been battling non-stop, so she knew that he would be pitting his own soul in whatever he was doing. She watched him glow brighter and brighter, and the trio of silver gems on Ranma's forehead lit up fiercely. His blue-gray eyes have their golden glint of the pupils illuminated ominously. His hair slowly turned from raven black to dark red. Ryoko's eyes grew wide as she felt an energy that she hadn't encountered in the last two centuries or so...

Rin-Ohki's hisses grew in intensity as she watched her master gather more and more energy.

They all watched as eight slivers of white feathers slowly formed a barrier in front of Ranma. Several broke out of its circle and formed a huge energy ball, while the one left formed a light blue translucent shield that covered most of those behind Ranma. Everyone watched as the white ball of ethereal light was launched from the pigtailed newcomer's position and sped towards the huddled Manticores. The monsters struggled to get away, but were too late when the ball exploded violently. The onlookers were further impressed when the explosion limited itself in the blast zone, even managed to avoid the destruction of the cavern they were in. But the floor was not spared, because a huge trench crater that began from Ranma's outstretched palm outwards to the now enlarged entrance to the cavern was etched. Ryoko was about to run towards Ranma and give him a hug in relief when she stopped and gaped at the sight.  
Two glorious wings that glowed in soft silvery light sprouted from his back, ripping his shirt in the process. Ranma's eyes drooped as he staggered from his position. When the lighted jewels on his forehead resumed its dormancy, he fell down with a grunt. Ryoko snapped out of her surprise and teleported directly towards Ranma and caught him before he hurt himself.

It was six days after that fateful event did Ranma wake up. When he saw the wings, which still hasn't disappeared, and never did, he screamed.  
loudly.

Ryoko shook her head out of the reminiscing mode she set herself into.  
She gazed longingly at Ranma as she watched the wind blow against his wings. The protrusions themselves were pure energy, and she can feel them real well. She sighed as she turned her head towards Inuyasha, who by now was panting on the ground. Kiima lay on the ground beside her,  
watching the blue sky.

Ryoko sweatdropped when she noticed a resemblance between a panting dog and Inuyasha right now. She gazed down to her lap, where Rin-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki lay sleeping idly, ignoring practically everything around them.

Feh, all in all, life for Ryoko was good.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In another dimension... where magic is more abundant than technology...

"Filia, are you in right now?" A blue, almost blue-purple-haired woman called out to the former dragon priestess in front of her. She went into the shop where Filia works nowadays. The former priestess at the Temple of the Golden Dragons looked up from her catalogues, which she usually checks every other week. Now is such a time for her to take note of the potions she needed to have stock on, and those that were not really useful and that needed to be replaced.

"Luna? It's been a long time since we last saw each other! By the way,  
how's your sister, Lina?" Filia cocked her head to one side as she talked to Luna.

Luna smiled softly as she sat down the chair that was placed in front of the counter. It was late, and Filia's shop has been closed for an hour now. "Lina's fine..." She replied to the transformed dragon, "She's still a bit of a trouble-maker, but nothing I can't handle."

Filia snorted unlady-like as she stacked her papers in a neat file.  
"Yes, but you know how troublesome Lina is when she gets out in the world. It's a wonder she's still alive."

Luna giggled. "My sister, the great 'Bandit Killer', and 'Dragon Spooker'."

"Fits her perfectly, if you ask me. Wait for a moment, I'll go get some tea. L-Sama knows I need some..." Filia went to the back room to fix some tea.

The famed sorceress Luna Inverse combed stray strands of hair from her face as she took a look around the shop. Filia came back later with two cups and a pot of aromatic tea on a tray. She set it down on the counter and gestured to her guest. Luna smiled as she took one cup and filled it up with tea, and settled down to her seat once more as Filia did the same with her own cup.

"So..." Filia began after a sip of the tea, "What brings you here?"

"Well..." Luna fidgeted in her seat. Filia on the other hand noticed the new addition in the sorceress' wardrobe.

"Uhm, Luna? What's with the bandanna?" Filia asked curiously. Not that it looked bad on her, a dark blue bandanna goes well with Luna's hair,  
but it was probably the first time she saw the sorceress wear something out of the ordinary for her.

"Filia." Luna intoned seriously. "A few days ago, I felt a strong pull in the mana lines. My body felt it, and it was so powerful. Something happened to me afterwards." Luna slowly removed the blue bandanna that covered her forehead, revealing three small golden orbs that were arranged in an inverted triangle. Filia gasped loudly when she saw the symbol, and scrambled backwards from her seat.

"T-that s-symbol! It's... it's forbidden!" Filia stammered as her gaze was transfixed at the gems that decorated Luna's forehead. "You shouldn't have THAT!"

"What? What is it!" Luna asked frantically. It wasn't an everyday occurrence to see the former priestess panic like this.

Filia fought to control her nerves as she stood up. She breathed out slowly and regarded Luna in a calmer tone. "That... that symbol... I don't know what it's called exactly, but it is a forbidden symbol." She raised her hand and grazed it quickly over the golden gems on Luna's forehead, quickly retreating the same hand to her chest. "You do know how the universe was created, right?"

Luna nodded uncertainly. She followed Filia as the transformed dragon went inside the backroom, to the stacks of books that Filia has accumulated and tabulated while she was in the Mystic Library. Filia pulled out an old black book, with a title in a strange language Luna hasn't seen yet. She looked at the former priestess, as the latter's tail lashed back and forth behind her.

"This book is called the 'The Book of Darkness, Alpha and Omega'. This book is not the original one, rather a rare copy of the original. The first release has been lost somewhere since people began to understand their existence. In all its purposes, this book is incomplete.  
Nevertheless, that symbol you have on your forehead is right here"  
Filia pointed out to Luna the first page of the book. A tri-circle symbol was on the top left, which was light in color. Another tri-circle was on the opposite side on the top right, colored black. The last was located at the near middle bottom, colored dark but significantly lighter than the black one. To her amazement, Luna noticed that even the symbols formed an inverted triangular pattern.

After moments of letting her guest look at the picture, Filia finally closed the book and re-placed it on the shelf it was from. She faced Luna with a face in a mask of determination and a little bit of fear.

"I can only show you the symbol, because I can't understand the language myself. When my fellow dragons before tried to translate the words by magic, something stronger than our own magic canceled it out. The only thing we have to go on is the symbol." Filia sighed as she massaged her temples.

Luna nodded slightly. "What's the symbol for?"

Filia shrugged helplessly. "Who knows? All I know are some rumors, and they are less than appealing. It is said that those who possess the symbols are the catalysts for Ragnarok, or in other words, the Twilight of the Gods."

"Hello! My, my, what do we have here?" A cheerful voice sounded off behind them. Luna made no indication of hearing it, because she was too disturbed by what she heard from Filia. Even if it was only a rumor, it came from Filia, so it might mean it's true.

Filia on the other hand growled and glared at the newcomer. "YOU!  
XELLOS! What do you thing you're doing here!" she growled out at her mortal enemy.

Xellos on the other hand pouted and shook his head, his purple hair flinging here and there with the movement. "My, aren't we moody today"  
He turned giddy when he finally noticed Luna. "My word, the famous Luna Inverse! How is your sister by the way?"

Luna seemed to have snapped from her daze when she heard her name being spoken. She slowly turned to Xellos and sighed in resignation. "You tell me, since you've been hounding her."

"Ah, are you moody as well? Alas! I would've... what!" Xellos' eyes uncharacteristically opened as he finally registered Luna's face and her new marks on the forehead. He pointed a shaky finger at her and said in a soft voice, "Y-You! How did you get those marks!"

Luna absently brushed her forehead with her hand, noting how smooth those bumps the gems made on her. "You know of them?"

Xellos sputtered indignantly, still trying to form a coherent sentence.  
He suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Filia wanted to laugh out loud! For once, Xellos hasn't said his trademark phrase. But it's not to be, she can't even laugh at this dire circumstance. The appearance of the marks bodes ill to them, and they appeared on Luna of all people! If on Lina she could understand, but on Luna?

The ex-priestess put her hand on Luna's shoulder and said, "Luna,  
prepare yourself. Your life is going to be harder in the future."

Luna nodded absently. She was still staring at the spot where the mazoku disappeared suddenly.

The sky grumbled loudly in agreement.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back to the Home World, Tendo-Ke...

"Wow... you must've been real lonely mom..." Belldandy said sadly to Tokimi.

The tall woman shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I've managed so far, and the important thing is that everything is going to be alright."

Tokimi has explained her edited story to everyone that was present.  
Tsunami has adopted a sad expression because she remembered how she betrayed her sister once again.

Belldandy was quite happy to know that she has a half-brother, but was quite skeptical and surprised at the identity. Urd was quite confused,  
because she didn't remember fixing up a Saiyajin with Tokimi before (she's right, it was Benten's idea actually). Skuld was shocked to hear Tokimi's side of the story, as well as Tsunami's admittance of shame about what she did. Skuld asked Tsunami why she thought she did bad, and the goddess of Jurai answered that it was not in her power to place judgement on Tokimi, given that nobody really thought of how the goddess of Chaos felt about everything.

Nodoka was quite sympathetic, but also understood Tsunami's point of view. Although she knew that assuming things was dangerous as hell.  
Kasumi was initially quite upset at Tsunami (she's a traditional woman.  
The eldest Tendo thought that no child should be taken away from its parent just like that. A mere assumption was really not a good reason for it. Nabiki was quite nervous, because she now knew that Ranma's heritage was quite in the divine level. She has done a lot of awful things on Ranma, and she just knew she would go to the Very Bad Place.  
Nabiki initially thought that this information would make a good profit,  
but even without the martial arts skill needed to feel aura, she could actually feel the waves of power emanating from those around her. At first, Akane was quite happy that Ranma wasn't really spawned by Genma,  
but that quickly turned to sadness. This meant that if Ranma wasn't a Saotome, then he really has no point in staying with her. That, and the chance of Ranma even remotely falling in love with her again after what she had done to him was already non-existent in the first place. She really blew it, big time. Soun was crying as always, his tears spraying at his sides (good thing no one was sitting there). He wanted to retort about the union between the two martial arts schools, but the proof of Ranma not being a Saotome was explained to him. He really wanted to push it, but these are goddesses here! What can he do anyway? He sighed as he wailed some more, despite the fact that he's been doing it for a while now. Where was Genma when you need him?

A wall behind Tsunami suddenly crumbled, making the goddess yelp in surprise. The goddess of Jurai scooted near Tokimi as the others watched the scene warily. When the dust settled, a bubbly and bouncy purple-haired Amazon leapt forward, with bonborri on one hand and a take-out ramen box on the other.

"Nihao! Shampoo come see if Ranma come home!" The Amazon said with her broken Japanese.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! Has my Ranma-sama returned from his wanderings,  
peasants!" A shower of black roses filled the room.

"Oh my, what a mess..." Kasumi muttered softly.

Skuld and Belldandy turned to Urd, who just looked back innocently.

"What did I do!" Urd asked urgently. "I don't laugh like that"  
Disbelieving stares caused her to sweatdrop heavily.

Akane smacked her forehead with her palm. "Kodachi... Shampoo..." She said tiredly.

"He's not yet here." Nabiki deadpanned. She eyed the destroyed wall as she mentally calculated the cost for the repairs.

Kodachi glanced at the beautiful goddesses, and classified them as rivals.

Shampoo noticed the newcomers, and made the same conclusion.

"AIYAH! Rivals for Shampoo! I KILL!" Before the Nerimians could warn Shampoo, the girl already set the take-out box down and revealed another bonborri (... where in tarnation does she get those things anyway!) as she leapt towards her nearest target... which was Belldandy.

Kodachi took advantage of everyone's distraction as she twirled her ribbon and slashed it towards Tsunami.

BLAM! WHACK!

A smoking Kodachi crumpled on the ground unconscious as she was blasted there real hard courtesy of an energy ball from Tokimi. After feeling the strong dark energy, Tsunami shuddered as she watched the goddess of Chaos nervously. Her sister can be so violent at times, but today she was grateful. She didn't think she would become a target for attacks.

Shampoo staggered backward, holding on her head as she struggled to regain her equilibrium. Skuld lifted her hammer high up in the air as she prepared to slam it unto Shampoo once again, but was stopped when Urd held it down.

"That's enough, squirt!" Urd demanded as she held on the hammer tightly.

Skuld looked angrily at the wobbly Shampoo. "She tried to hurt Belldandy-neesan!"

"Skuld." Belldandy's voice immediately calmed the tension down. "Don't worry about it. I can handle it."

"Fine." Skuld said dejectedly, but immediately flared once again as she hissed, "But she better be careful, or I'll debug her permanently!"

A small dwarfish woman on a stick appeared from the hole and examined the surroundings. She almost fell down when she recognized the aura of the newcomers in the house. She looked at Shampoo sadly and said, "I see that I was too late..."

"That's right, Cologne..." Nabiki stood up and walked towards Shampoo,  
who shook her head to clear the stars in her vision. "Shampoo, you idiot... you just made a HUGE mistake."

Shampoo stared at Nabiki. "What mercenary girl talking about?"

Nabiki sighed. "Meet Urd-sama, Skuld-sama, and Tsunami-sama. They're goddesses... that's right, as in divine goddesses." She gestured to each as she mentioned their names.

"As for Tokimi-sama, she's Ranma's real mother... a goddess also"  
Nabiki gestured to the tall woman, who was sitting closely to her former target.

Nabiki chuckled lightly. "The one you were about to attack was Belldandy-sama... Tokimi's daughter and... Ranma's half-sister. Yes, a goddess as well..."

Shampoo paled when she realized what she had just done. She was about to spout some apologies when Belldandy shook her head.

"No need to trouble yourself with it. But this I must tell you... Ranma is his own person. Nobody can own him, not even your laws." Belldandy said seriously while looking directly at Cologne. The old woman just nodded sadly as Shampoo finally recovered her second wind.

"No!" Shampoo screamed as she tried standing up, but failed miserably.  
"Ranma Shampoo's husband! Amazon Law say so!"

"Child..." Tokimi said as she massaged her temples lightly. "Ranma is beyond your petty laws. Even if he didn't know it, Ranma's part kami.  
Mortal laws like those don't hold him down. Besides, who are you to declare who he must love?" She glared meaningfully at Shampoo, who bit down a retort.

"What's with her?" Skuld pointed at the unconscious Kodachi.

Nabiki snorted. "Ranma saved her from falling hard once before. She believed that Ranma loved her and deluded herself to be one of the fiancees. We just ignore her most of the time."

Something clicked in Skuld's mind as she stiffened suddenly. She turned sharply towards Urd, who was whistling nervously. "You! This was all your fault you old hag!"

Urd stood up and smacked Skuld upside her head. "Who're you calling old hag! I'm sorry okay? I didn't know this was gonna happen! There were so many women who can easily find themselves falling in love with the guy... he's the Fort Knox for the goddesses of Love! Even Venus was interested in Ranma..."

Before anyone could respond to that, a small timid knock caught their attention. As one, they all turned to the open door.

"Uhhmmm.. hi? Is this a bad time?" A brown haired girl wearing a dark blue top with black leggings stood at the doorframe. A bandoleer laced with small spatulas wrapped over her shoulder down to her waist, and a much larger spatula was strapped on her back. She was looking quite nervous as she glanced around. She eyed the still-smoking form of Kodachi, and gulped.

"Oh no Ukyo, it's all right. Please come in!" Kasumi said cheerfully as she pulled two more cups from... somewhere... and placed them on the table. She frowned a bit and pulled a third cup. No telling when Kodachi would wake up... she could probably use a good cup of tea by then.

"Great! Another fiancee!" Skuld said in irritation as she sat down heavily on her seat. "This is turning out to be a GREAT day! What's next? Happosai?" She asked sarcastically.

Suddenly, a raspy squeal of "SWEETO!" echoed all over the house followed by groans of various house members. They all glared at Skuld, who had the initiative to blush. Everyone froze when the cup in Tokimi's hand broke.

In a shaky voice Tokimi asked, "What is this... thing?" she pointed down to her bosom, where a wrinkled old man clung.

"Happosai..." The Nerimians said simultaneously.

"Hotcha! You're pretty big, lady! May I ask why are you hiding these babies in this hot dress?" Happosai asked as he looked up to Tokimi.  
However, he froze once he met eye to eye with Tokimi's gleaming blue orbs. His body was paralyzed as he tried to absorb the female ki from the goddess of Chaos. He felt the darkness that was the source of Tokimi's power. Faster than the eyes of the Grandmaster of Anything Goes, Tokimi's clawed hands clamped tightly on Happosai's neck and slammed him on the floor. Her eyes glowed as her hands lit up in dark energies. Happosai screamed as his body was barraged with enormous power that he now recognized only as a higher divine power.

"Perverted little demon..." Tokimi growled out as she held the smoking Happosai in her grasp. She was about to blast him once again when her daughter spoke behind her.

"Mother..." Belldandy began, but was cut off by Tokimi.

"Please, Bell-chan. This pervert terrorized millions of women all over the world, all because he misused his ki absorption technique. He got addicted with it, and used it as an excuse to cop a feel. I won't stand for it, because I'm a woman too. Besides, Ranma suffered because of this... freak." The goddess of Chaos growled out, still trying to choke Happosai.

"Actually..." Belldandy grinned evilly, eliciting shivers from the audience, "I just wanted to say that it would be better to curse him, to make him suffer for everything that he did to all the women he felt up and also to Ranma."

Urd and Skuld could just gape at the new Belldandy as the three small black gems on her forehead glowed menacingly, enhancing her evil smirk.  
Belldandy pointed her index finger over Happosai's forehead and removed her earring. Her aura glowed bright blue first, then was suddenly changed into a darker tone as she continued pouring energy into her finger. Happosai's body glowed in sync with Belldandy's own, and slowly shifted. Everyone watched as Happosai screamed and kicked while his body flexed in different places. His hair suddenly grew once again. His body also morphed into a curvier form, as his hair grew up to his hip. His face slowly rejuvenated as the wrinkles ironed themselves out. His black gi stretched a bit to accommodate the new size of his body.

Belldandy giggled as she pulled back her finger, the dark glow around her body receding as she gazed on her handiwork. Tokimi let Happosai go as she shook her head in amusement.

"That was... really bad." Tokimi finished lamely as she struggled not to laugh.

Nodoka spoke softly, "But I can't help but feel it's really appropriate."

"T-The M-Master...!" Soun gasped horrified as he looked harder to his former master. Actually, he was torn between jumping around in joy and being scared stiff at the casual display of power.

"Oh my." Kasumi and Cologne looked at each other. The former was quite happy at the magic show that their guest provided, while the latter was just plain stunned... and also a bit satisfied.

Shampoo and Ukyo paled, that could've been them if they made a slight mistake.

Happosai on the other hand was perplexed at the looks he was given.  
"What?" he asked, but stopped when he noticed his voice was an octave higher than his normal one. He slowly patted along his body, not noticing anything at first, that is until he came upon his crotch. His eyes widened as he screamed in effeminate manner. 'He' turned and ran out of the door of the Tendo home, screaming along the way.

Urd sputtered for a moment, then laughed out loudly. "H-Happosai.  
turned into a... LITTLE G-GIRL! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone looked at Belldandy warily, who just shrugged. "Hey, I just felt it's fitting for him." Belldandy said casually.

The sound of a phone ringing brought silence to the group. Kasumi excused herself and answered the phone.

"Moshi-moshi, this is the Tendo residence... no, I'm not Belldandy, but I can get her if you want... oh. Alright..." Kasumi looked up from the phone. "Urd-san? A phone call for you!"

"Eh?" Urd stood up and slowly made her way to the eldest Tendo daughter.  
Kasumi smiled as she handed the phone off to her and went to the kitchen to fix up some more snacks. Urd turned to the phone.

"Uhmm... hello?" Urd asked hesitantly.

("IT IS I, KAMI-SAMA, MY DAUGHTER.") The soothing voice of the Almighty wafted into Urd's ear.

"F-Father!" Urd replied urgently as she stood ramrod straight.

Back on the table Tokimi, Tsunami and Nodoka were exchanging stories about Ranma and his childhood. Tokimi wanted to know what his son had been through since she wasn't there to see his childhood. Skuld and Akane were discussing something about mallet types and some of the materials used to make them. Belldandy and Nabiki were talking about fashion sense, for some reason. Kodachi so far was still unconscious on a futon, generously provided by Kasumi. Shampoo and Cologne were conversing on one corner, rather, Cologne was berating Shampoo regarding manners as well as recognizing aura and such. A low groan came from the entryway towards the dojo.

"Oh... it's you." Tokimi sniffed as she glared angrily at the still-smoking form of Genma, who by some miracle has succeeded in crawling out of the hole he's been drilled into the dojo and also managed to make his way to the dining room. A black sphere of energy slammed unto Genma, throwing him back several feet towards the koi pond this time. The group regarded Tokimi, who just shrugged innocently and pointed to her daughter. Everyone turned to Belldandy, who clapped her smoking hands together primly.

"That felt much better." Belldandy smiled happily.

The rest except Tokimi facefaulted.

Tokimi's eyes glittered. "For someone who just recovered her memories and some of her powers, you seem to be doing pretty good. First, a transmogrifying spell, then a potent energy ball. Amazing..."

Belldandy giggled. "I have lots of frustrations to let out, mom."

"Oneesan! That was mean!" Skuld gasped in horror as she stared up to Belldandy.

The brown haired goddess shrugged. "You know his files... he did some pretty nasty things to Ranma. I'm entitled to release my frustrations on that man."

"That's true." Nodoka nodded sagely.

"Saotomeee! My poor panda-fied friend is floating on the koi pond,  
unconscious! Waaaaaaah!" Three guesses who that was.

"Ah, pipe down father. He had that one coming to him a long time ago"  
Nabiki chided his father, who just wailed harder.

"Yeah!" Akane rallied behind Nabiki. "Mister Saotome really screwed up bigtime on Ranma! All those stupid techniques he's been throwing at Ranma... all those responsibilities he ran away from and pinned them on his son! He was always blaming on Ranma for his own faults!"

Everyone turned to her like she grew a third head.

"What!" Akane asked, irritated.

"You're one to talk, mallet-happy Akane!" Ukyo scoffed as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"That right. Pervert girl always hit airen, even if fault not Ranma"  
Shampoo nodded solemnly.

"I seem to remember..." Belldandy began seriously, "That you also blamed lots of things on Ranma that wasn't his fault. You malleted him for it,  
remember?"

"How true..." Cologne agreed as she snickered softly to herself.

Akane blanched. "B-But..."

"Hmmm... also, you chose to side one Hibiki Ryoga over Ranma's side of the story, right?" Belldandy continued.

"Speaking of that... pig..." Tokimi almost growled, "Tsunami and I met him a while ago. He said some words that I really didn't like." Akane looked at Tokimi worriedly, which wasn't lost on the goddess of Chaos.

Tokimi chuckled softly. "Don't worry about your boyfriend, Tendo Akane,  
I haven't harmed him... just scared him off after giving him a piece of my mind."

"He's not my---" Akane began her protest, but it died down when she saw Belldandy's intense stare.

"Don't bother denying it." Belldandy sighed softly. "We saw your file.  
besides we could hardly blame you if you can't wait for Ranma to come back from his side trip. What's done, is done." The three miniature gems on her forehead glowed brightly as she glowered.

Tokimi and Tsunami finally noticed the strange sigil on Belldandy's forehead and gasped.

"Belldandy!" Tokimi quickly rushed to her daughter as she brushed the strands of brown hair that fell on Belldandy's forehead, covering most of the gems from everyone's eyes. "When did you get the symbol on your forehead?" Tokimi asked frantically.

Belldandy brought her index finger up to her chin thoughtfully. "I think it was weeks ago... why? What is it mom?"

"There are several levels of 'caste symbols' for the kami and demons within the multiverses." They all turned to the one who spoke, who was Tsunami. She continued, "Some divine or demonic symbols were etched into the skin, by way of special ink markers. These ones are the same symbols Kami-sama and Hild-sama used on their high-leveled operatives. The symbols themselves differ by way of level as well. Lower classes have their symbols burned into their skin by the higher caste, usually by the operatives of each 'side'."

Tsunami lifted her own hand and brushed it along Belldandy's forehead.  
"These special dots have the signature of a symbol the Choushin Kami used... or the Central Gods. We are the Choushin Kami, Belldandy"  
Tsunami gestured to her own dots, as well as Tokimi's, that was hidden beneath the huge golden barrette on her forehead. "But your symbol is more spectacular than ours, because it is rumored that those symbols made out of gems instead of the special divine/demonic ink constitute a special higher caste. That is what I know. The rest, I'm not familiar with anymore." Tsunami slumped as she thought deeper about it, but nothing else came to mind.

A loud sound of someone clearing her throat made its point clear as everyone turned to a sight of Urd just coming out of the area where the phone was. Her steps where somewhat unsure of themselves as she settled once again beside Skuld.

Before anyone could ask, Urd looked up and regarded Belldandy, "Bell,  
Father called and was asking you to come up in Asgard to meet with Him."

Belldandy grimaced a little, unnoticeable to those who didn't pay attention, but the rest of the goddesses noticed that pained look in her face. Belldandy saw the concerned look on Tokimi's face and waved casually at her, "Don't worry about it, mom, it's probably just a courtesy call. I might also have an explanation regarding this symbol"  
She finished by pointing at her forehead.

Seeing everyone except Urd nod in understanding, Belldandy graced them with a sunny smile once again and asked for a mirror, which was pointed to her by Nabiki, without a price of course. When she finally disappeared in the bathroom in a flash of light, a somber atmosphere settled on the table once again.

Urd couldn't face the rest of them, because what she has just told them was basically a fabrication... a lie which Kami-sama had allowed her to make. She didn't feel comfortable about it at all, especially with Tokimi trusting her like that.

((Why, Father? Why did you declare Belldandy as one of the 'Heretics'? An upcoming co-leader of a rebellion against Creation? What's happening up there!)) Urd thought to herself as she sat there, brooding.

A sudden cry of "P-chan!" made Urd, Skuld, Shampoo, Ukyo and Nabiki facefault though. Urd shakily brought her head back up and glared hatefully at the pig that was snuggled deeply in Akane's arms. She muttered, "She still doesn't know about that pig!"

Cologne just shook her head in annoyance. ((Akane still hasn't figured anything out yet?))

Tokimi was much more vocal though. "I'm gonna roast that pig, slowly and painfully!" She bellowed as she lunged at P-chan, who was suddenly frozen when he heard the scary voice that almost torched him earlier.

It took Tsunami, Urd and Skuld to hold down Tokimi as the goddess of Chaos spat out certain curses (she's currently allowed today, besides,  
Kami-sama's busy doing something... wait for it to be understood later).

"Why are you so angry at P-chan!" Akane demanded as she shied away from Tokimi's clawed hands.

"Why! You wanna know WHY!" Tokimi could've burned P-chan with those smoldering looks of hers. "Because that pig's Ry---MMMMPPPPHHHHH!"

Akane and the rest sweatdropped as they watched Urd and Skuld simultaneously clamp down on Tokimi's mouth, each with one hand.

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Up in Heaven, Asgard, whatever...

In Belldandy's room, a large mirror glowed for a moment, as a shapely young woman with brown hair stepped out of it. As she set foot on the floor, a large circular symbol flared below her. Belldandy's eyes widened when she recognized the Divine Ward that held even the First Class Unlimited goddesses into captivity. With a loud cry, she fell down on her knees as the pain raced all over her body. Her new symbol flared a dark glow to placate some of the pain, but she still felt some of it as she lay helpless on the floor.

The door of her room opened wide and accommodated four Valkyries in full battle armor. All of them have holy spears on one hand, while the other held copies of the royal shield Aegis. They all glared at Belldandy, who was just confused as to why these things happened to her. She hasn't done anything yet to warrant her this kind of treatment from Heaven's special guards.

One of them stepped up and declared, "To Belldandy, First Class Goddess,  
Category One, Unlimited... Kami-sama has declared you a danger to Creation. You are hereby sentenced to... what!"

The other Valkyries watched helplessly as the circle ward flared up and swallowed Belldandy, leaving nothing as evidence of her capture.

In Kami-sama's Office...

The Lord of Creation finally finished typing in His computer. It was a good thing He was paying attention to the Valkyries' movements. He almost didn't make it, and Belldandy was almost consigned to termination. He originally declared Saotome Ranma as the Heretic, but then changed the limitations of His orders when He noticed that the others awoke the same time as Ranma did. Too bad, He felt terrible in doing this to Belldandy, for the goddess was really a good girl, despite her almost total memory loss. This was the only thing He could do for her. He quickly interceded with the sentence before it was carried out and sent her soul back into the Yggdrasil. He let her soul be reborn into another world. He smiled widely as He watched Belldandy's soul travel across another dimension. This time, she was supposed to retain her memories in her rebirth.

((Soon, Ranma will meet her there as well...)) Kami-sama thought to Himself, as He sat back to His seat once again.

((Ifalna... a good foster mother for Belldandy...))

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In the Gates of Time, Home World...

Sailor Pluto gaped at the distorted time lines in front of her. She just came from the emergency meeting she called with the Sailor Senshi. She found out about Rei's dream, and she found that it matched her own visions in the Time Gates. She instructed them to be prepared for anything, especially the two powerful beings that appeared in the scene.  
She quickly returned to the Time Gates, only to find... chaos.

Suddenly, everything in the Gates lit up like a christmas tree, then the time lines became too branched for her to distinguish any of it. She tried looking to the future, but found out that for some reason, it sealed itself up to her.

Everything was going out of control, and she can't do anything about it.  
For the second time in her natural life, Sailor Pluto felt helplessness.  
Her mind has been too numbed from the excrutiating pain she felt as the Gate distorted in front of her very own eyes.

She could only watched as the past, present and future collide with each other, rubbing against each other, and slowly dissolve into unrecognizable blurs.

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To Be Continued...

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Author Rants:

Hmmm... whoever said Ranma and Akane will get together in this fic?

Actually, someone paid real attention to the things I gave out. Dual!  
Parallel Trouble Adventure is gonna cross with this story. That's why the timeline Ranma's on is called 'Parallel World'.

People here are different, even the Akane in this world is different. If you harbor any ill feelings with the 'home' Akane, geez you are really vengeful, ain'tcha? Give it a rest, coz you're not gonna be any different from Ryoga.

BUT...

The reason why Ranma still can't have relations with Ryoko as of yet is that he's still worried of the paradox he might cause. He knows the consequences of his actions, and that it is dangerous right now especially since it IS a parallel world. That world is actually a Dual!  
Parallel Trouble Adventure world, although it was in the past.

It will all be cleared up once everything reaches up to the 'present'  
point of the Parallel World, up to the time where the two worlds must combine to stabilize reality once again.

As to why the location where Ranma was has a time frame that goes faster than the present... he's in a parallel past. The time span in that world is relatively the same with the original one. Although the truth of the matter is that what we see in the parallel world now is a flashback.  
going to the present parallel world. I sped it up to match the other world when they converge.

Hmmm... that's probably the best I can describe it. Think about it this way, someone ageless go back several years in the past. Then we see him again in the present prior to the time he/she disappeared. For us, only a couple of hours, or a couple of seconds have passed before he/she reappeared again. But for the person, he/she experienced at least several years worth of experience before we meet up with him/her in the present.

That's basically the same, but in Ranma's case, he got sucked into a parallel past... so even if Ranma did meet up in the present already,  
the reason why the home world haven't seen him as of yet is because he might've stayed in the parallel world a bit longer.

I want to describe what the heck Ranma went through, as well as the timeframes he screwed up unknowingly in the parallel past.

Why? Because it's fun!

Belldandy's OOC? Of course... she just regained her lost memories. Her original personality overrode the newer one. She would still retain some of her meekness and kindness, but also regains her naughty side as well.  
She's the daughter of Tokimi you know.

I was real mean to Genma? Heck no... I let him live, didn't I? Even Ryoga's alive, but not for long!

Yes, Happosai turned into a small little girl. Snicker

Next up: With things heating up back in his homeworld, Ranma suffers another tragedy in his journey. A small accident caused him a wee bit of trouble... okay, BIG trouble. Big enough to cause a spatial distortion which flung Ranma somewhere. He has to find a way home, as he learns more about what WILL happen if he doesn't. This caused Ryoko to go hibernating while Washuu tried to find Ranma...

See Ranma in a space ship full of women who thinks men are their enemy!

And what's this? What's your name? Sakuraba Milfueille, age 17!

Oh yeah, "I'm NOT a Mister Alien!"

Snicker

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	11. Chapter 7a

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: The path of Chaos is filled with multiverses! The Vandread Universe is set at the Vandread: Second Stage, and made into an alternate universe somewhere in its first episode.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 7A - THE NEXT FRONTIER: RANMA IN SPACE!

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

All Ranma saw was a blue swirling... thingie, as he called it. On his shoulder, Rin-Ohki clutched on like her life depended on it. Ranma sighed as he let himself get sucked into the whirlwind of energy vortex.

One thing he learned in all of these was never to play tag with Ryoko in Washuu's laboratory. The red-haired scientist was tinkering with her own devices called a Wave Balance Maintainer or something. Ranma was never in sync with scientific terminology anyway. He knew enough to get by.  
Washuu was trying to build a transponder that will slowly fix the tear between two parallel worlds. Mainly the one he's from, or what's called the Main World, and the world he is in, or rather 'was in', at least to stabilize it enough to give him time to fix both of the worlds he learned to love.

Washuu reminded him that in order to stabilize both worlds, he must find the dividing point. There were two types of world divisions, alternate universes and parallel universes. The alternate universes divide itself from the original timeline and become independent from it. Certain decisions and key points of history determine the differences. These have no problems within it, and are capable of surviving without any accidents. The parallel universes were almost the same with the alternate universes, only they remain linked to their original timeline and failed to disconnect it. As time passes, the synchronization between the parallel and original universe will overlap each other, creating a chain reaction similar to a spatial disintegration. The links that maintain these parallel universes are usually a mystery. They are somewhat 'man-made' and not natural. That was why parallel worlds were supposed to be unstable to begin with.

There was a problem though, when Washuu told him about fixing the split worlds, it would mean that the parallel world will cease to exist as it joins back to the original one... back to the same old world Ranma came from.

It is going to be hard for him. Anyway, back to the problem at hand.

After more than twenty years of stay in China, Ranma, Rin-Ohki, Ryoko,  
Ryo-Ohki and Inuyasha decided to return to Japan. They arrived just as Spring was spread all over the island, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. A big welcoming party awaited them in the Shrine, which by now was called the Masaki Shrine after the original owners donated the land to the priests. Yosho sported a black mustache, accenting his age (as if). Koneko was already fully-grown, actually in her thirties already,  
her childhood innocence was lost. The girl Ranma and Yosho saved from those monsters all those years ago decided to live her life helping to take care of the shrine with the priests. The old miko Kaede passed away six years past, her ashes were preserved among the graves on the clearing down the steps to the Shrine. The Shikon no Tama was left in the care of Yosho, who hid the gem together with the Tenchi-ken. Sango and Miroku already opted to leave after Kaede's peaceful passing to the other world, but not before getting married and having two children of their own. They both aged rather well according to Yosho, but already sported some graying in their hair. A letter from the couple said that they were doing well in Kyoto, with their own shrine and all. Washuu was still there, annoying as hell as always.

There was a new addition to the group, a certain woman named Kagero.  
From what Yosho has been able to pry from her, she was from a powerful clan of ninjas called the Hokage, which were decimated by the Imperial Force of Japan prior years back. Kagero refused to speak more than that,  
but she was welcomed wholeheartedly by Yosho.

As to how Ranma ended up in here...

Ryoko tackled Ranma into the device Washuu toiled hard for a few months after her release from that space pod. The redhead was actually doing a test-run on the contraption, and was too late when she noticed Ranma flying uncontrollably into the core of her project. Ranma and machine got into contact and presto, a weird blue portal sucked Ranma in.  
Rin-Ohki quickly followed her partner into the outer edge of the rift,  
but was sucked in as well. Ryoko was too shocked to make a move.

Now, here they were. Lost in the middle of a dimensional rift of some sort, waiting for the end of the tunnel to appear. Lo and behold, a breach opened up and spit them out in a dark place... for some reason the stars were brighter here... wait. SPACE!

Ranma whirled himself around, dislodging Rin-Ohki who was protesting in their mind link. Both the master and the cabbit floated jerkily in the darkness of space while they struggled. After a short moment, Rin-Ohki was the first to calm down, having some information regarding how to navigate her own mass against the weightlessness in space. She looked over her still struggling male master and snorted mentally. With a mental image if how stupid Ranma looked while he contorted in the middle of space, Rin-Ohki instructed the pigtailed young man into manipulating his own body in space. She also informed him that stopping his breath won't matter at all, since his body has no actual need of air at all.  
Ranma slowly stopped flailing and concentrated on the information being laid out to him by his partner. He eased his whole weight and willed it to move to one direction. He smiled as he watched the stars move, which meant that he was moving as well. Rin-Ohki clutched unto Ranma's shoulder again, as he practiced his movements in space. After a few moments, Ranma was able to achieve a good enough speed to rival space ships from Earth.

((Speaking of Earth, where am I anyway?)) Ranma thought to himself. On his shoulder, Rin-Ohki shrugged.

Ranma stopped his movement and took a good look around him. The stars were more abundant and brighter out here. He didn't recognize any of the planets near him, at least not from the pictures he saw during Science Class back in Furinkan. Rin-Ohki automatically catalogued and compared the star systems visible around them to her own universal map, courtesy of Washuu. She informed her master that they were at least in the outermost side of the Milky Way, on the opposite outer arm of the galaxy from the Solar System. When Ranma asked her how far that was, she just answered, 'a really really long way'.

The red-tailed neo-alien asked the cabbit why the heck she hasn't transformed into a gigantic space ship like her cousin Ryo-Ohki does,  
but she just answered that she lost a lot of energy with her energy shield that she brought up when she got sucked forcefully into the wormhole. While Ranma was sucked initially without any trouble, Rin-Ohki was sucked in a later time where the hole was rapidly closing. The flow of energy was too strong, and if the cabbit wasn't able to erect her shield she might've been torn apart by strong currents of spatial distortions caused by the closing rift.

Ranma sighed as he mentally accepted Rin-Ohki's explanation. He also felt relieved that she went through the trouble of going with him, even without any knowledge of what they would find on the other side.  
Loneliness was one thing Ranma can live without. He sighed as he thought of the different things that happened to him these past few years. For a while, Ryoko had become too passionate for him to stop her advances. He even got to the point of using Akane's existence to momentarily stop Ryoko from taking his heart. He just can't live if he knew that there was no chance of him taking the cyan-haired woman with him back to his world, once it becomes one with the parallel world he was in. He can't build up Ryoko's hopes up too high as of yet, not until he's sure he can have a relationship with her.

Oh, and the wings... man everything was screwed up.

An accident in China, where he accidentally unleashed a bit of the Wings of the Light Hawk that Tenchi had mentioned once to him before. At first it was a rush of power, then afterwards for some reason, his body started to absorb the Wings a bit differently. Even Ranma felt the flow of energy altered as he tried to stop the flow of the Wings into his body. When it was all over, everyone was shocked, while Ryoko was snickering like hell, when his back sprouted two enormous wings of pure energy, which glowed and cackled once in a while as he flapped it gently against the wind. Not that he really needed it or anything, he could fly well without them, but it's there now, and there's nothing he can do about it, even if it was for show. Washuu judged it as one of the quirks of his Masu heritage, which assimilated the Wings accidentally because of the whirling aura of Chaos that seemed to revolve around Ranma's existence. He could reabsorb them into his back if he wished, but he learned to let them out once in a while, since it hurt his back if he didn't.

As they both floated along, contemplating on what they should do, a bright flash of light disturbed their train of thought. Ranma turned his head towards his left and saw other small flashes of light, which Rin-Ohki communicated to him as small implosions, grazed his point of view. With a mental agreement with Rin-Ohki, Ranma flew towards the disturbance, intent on finding out what it was and also if there was someone out there who could help him go home anyway. Turning to the cabbit, he mentally told her to prepare for an energy transfer directly from him. Ranma needed her to transform now.

A white space vessel was defending itself with desperation as multitudes of attacking red-tinted drones were systematically attacking its outer hull. Around it, its smaller space crafts in different colors called Dreads were frantically hunting down each and everyone of the drones that seemed to gather around their own white base. A lone humanoid shaped robot called Vanguard was hacking away at its enemies ahead of the white space vessel.

In the cockpit of the Vanguard, a small-bodied young boy sweated as he quickly eased his robot over the area where they last detected the distress beacon they detected in space. The enemy ships seemed to have converged themselves to that direction, with the intent of taking the beacon for their own. He finally spotted a small capsule, roughly the size of the total height of his Vanguard in size being carried by four of the red-type enemies. Several others circled around the group protectively.

"Hey! You're not gonna get away with that! It's ours!" The boy shouted over the com as he sped towards the beacon. The enemies seemed to have heard his declaration as six broke out of the formation and turned to engage the lone Vanguard. The enemies fired volley upon volley of shots on the helpless robot. Suddenly, a bright light covered the area and the robot disappeared, turning into a gigantic mechanical crab. It activated its green shield and its orbital lasers locked unto the multiple enemies and fired. The red drones protecting the beacon were also destroyed,  
leaving the cargo into the hands of the larger red mechanical spacecraft. Inside the cockpit, the boy and a blonde-haired scantily clad young woman clutched unto each other.

"Ne, Hibiki... you owe me one..." The voluptuous woman purred as she slid her body on the boy's.

The boy named Hibiki pushed the woman away. "Feh, you're late."

"By the way, I was wondering if you would want to give me a baby..."

"WHAT!" Hibiki screamed as he pushed himself further away from the blonde. "Now is NOT the time to talk about this!"

Just as they were about to bicker, the screen in front of them flared to life, exposing an image of a dark moss color haired girl who was glaring at them. "Hibiki, Jura, you have to return to the Nirvana with the cargo NOW! The enemy are setting themselves up for the strike!"

"Roger!" Hibiki and the woman beside him named Jura chorused.

Before they could set to work, a red beam struck them, immediately separating their vehicles and sent them hurtling in space on opposite directions.

"Jura? Jura! Are you okay?" The black-haired woman screamed in the communications. A low moan answered her.

"Ouuuch... yeah, Barnette I'm okay. What happened!" Jura screamed as she shook the cobwebs in her head.

"Mr. Alien, are you okay?" A perky redhead with blue eyes glanced at her console, desperately trying to rouse her favorite male.

"Damn it!" Hibiki groaned as he readjusted his Vanguard's balance. It finally stopped spinning aimlessly. "Where's the pod?" he growled out as he searched his surroundings. He spotted his target just in front of him, but before he could do anything, several of the drones circled him once again, firing mercilessly.

A dark blue Dread, carrying the same perky redhead that seemed to cling unto the pilot of the Vanguard, quickly turned her ship and headed straight for the defending robot.

"No! Mr. Alien!" The redhead screamed as she nose-dived towards Hibiki's position.

Hibiki braced himself as he saw the dark blue Dread straight for him.  
"Oh no... Dita..." he deadpanned silently.

As the two crafts made contact, an outer compartment of the Dread opened up and allowed the Vanguard to board inside. It's wings spread out and modified itself into the arms and the hands, followed by a full spin of the two adjacent front panels of the area near the wings. They turned into legs and the feet, completing the change. The result was a gigantic blue mecha with two large laser cannons attached on its back.

Meanwhile, outside the reaches of sensor range from both sides of the conflict, Ranma and Rin-Ohki watched the fireworks from their position.  
Once or twice Ranma was tempted to step into the fight and was about to help the ships from the huge white mothership. He watched in his cabbit ship's viewscreen how the robot and some of the smaller colored spacecrafts combined and transformed into bigger and more powerful forms. But for some reason, they were dislodged when that red beam of light hits them. The red droids, as Rin-Ohki classified them because they were no life signs in them, and the ships were fighting for the small capsule that was emitting a distress signal.

Rin-Ohki's ship form was a little similar to her cousin Ryo-Ohki's, with big differences. For one, the Environmental Chamber Crystal of Rin-Ohki was diamond in shape and black in color, instead of round and red colored like Ryo-Ohki's. The four crystals that jutted out on the sides were slanted backwards, while two on the upper part were slanted backwards as well. One huge shard of silver crystal pointed itself towards the front, completing the sleek aerodynamic design of the ship.

"Have I ever told you how wonderful you are, Rin-chan?" Ranma said in awe as he examined the cabbit's ship form.

"MIYAH!" A happy sound indeed, coming from an extremely proud cabbit.

Ranma snickered as he patted a floating silver crystal with Rin-Ohki's smiling face on it. "How's the situation outside?" he asked after a few moments of rubbing the crystal.

"Miya, miya miya miyaaaah!" The meows of the cabbit echoed all over the place as she informed her master of the battle's condition.

Ranma requested a zoom in on the newly formed mecha, the giant blue one.  
He watched as another red beam lanced into the mecha, grazing its right arm (front view of mecha, Ranma's perspective). The giant robot froze and floated unmoving as the main enemy, which Ranma deduced because it was the largest and for some reason resembled a gigantic dark blue Manta Ray, wrapped it with its tentacles and slowly dragged into its open mouth, which was laden with sharp pointy teeth.

"Uhm, Rin-Ohki... I think we have to get into the fight, now." Ranma informed his ship. The cabbit meowed loudly and sped towards the conflict, all the while powering up its lasers.

In the blue Vandread mecha, Hibiki and Dita looked helplessly as they approached the mouth of their enemy. Half of the controls were frozen,  
and were glowing red... the same color as the beam that hit them.  
Suddenly, blue streams of light flashed on their screens. The next thing they knew, they were already free, while the giant Manta Ray ship jerked its decapitated arms around. Their sensors bleeped as it detected another presence in the battle area.

"What was that?" Hibiki asked to nobody in particular.

Dita looked into their radar, and pinpointed the source of the beams.  
She summoned another vid-screen window and zoomed in on the silver-colored crystalline ship that was firing randomly at their enemies. It was moving quite fast, almost as fast as his Vandread's other form, the Eagle-shaped one.

"Are you alright... Hibiki, Dita?" A cool and calculating voice cackled from the communications. The image of a blue haired girl with some device wrapped around its right eye (viewer's perspective) looked at them impassively. But Hibiki and Dita knew better. The girl was nervous.

Hibiki nodded. "Yeah, we're okay Meia. Who's that?" He indicated to the newcomer.

Before the girl called Meia could answer, a male voice sounded off from the comms. "Hello, whoever you are in the white ship. I saw that you're under attack, and I was wondering if you need some help." Another window popped out of the screen and displayed an image of a young man with dark-tinted glasses covering his eyes. He had black hair that was tied in a pigtail.

"This is the Nirvana, BC responding, who am I speaking to?" The voice that belonged to the sub-commander, BC as recognized by Hibiki, spoke.

The young man smiled softly. "Saotome Ranma, and my ship is called Rin-Ohki... well we can talk later after we've beaten these... things.  
Right?"

"Affirmative." BC replied.

"Cool! Another alien!" Dita squealed as she wiggled on her seat, much to Hibiki's discomfort.

The Dreads and Hibiki himself watched in awe as the glittering crystal ship fired multiple bursts of laser beams all over the place,  
effectively blowing up the red drones that tried to flee from it in the first place. The Vanguard pilot suddenly felt hope course through his veins as he watched his enemies disappear one by one.

Hibiki glared at the giant Manta Ray ship in front of him. "A dream is something you see when you're asleep... while I have my eyes open, I will not let you guys do as you like!" He ground out as the whole Vandread suddenly jerked and glowed in a bright light. The reddish consoles suddenly turned blue, and they were able to move their limbs once again.

"We did it!" Dita smiled as she felt the controls unfreeze once again.

"Alright..." Hibiki grinned as he prepped the giant laser that was attached on the mecha's back. He willed it forward and stabbed it into the gaping mouth of the ship in front of him. "I don't have the time to deal with a dream!" He fired and watched as the whole ship contorted weirdly and exploded.

Ranma whistled as he watched the mecha emerge from the explosion unscathed. The rest of the enemy forces stopped moving as the main enemy was eliminated. On his screen, a window opened and revealed an image of a silver haired female with a green oval gem on her forehead. She had dark tanned skin and was looking at him coolly.

"Now that is done with, tell us what you were doing in this space. We did a preliminary scan before and only found the pod, which we recovered I might add, as the only one present here. You came out of nowhere,  
Saotome-san." BC said in a grave tone.

Ranma hid a grimace under his cheerful smile. He knew he would get into trouble with this. "Rin-Ohki is really really fast. Also, I have some stealth technology that she might've left on just in case situations like these arise. She likes to stalk and do a surprise attack on her enemies."

BC adopted a curious look. "Why are you referring to your ship as if it was alive?"

The pigtailed alien sighed and scratched the back of his head nervously.  
"You see, well... how do I explain this..." He was cut off when Rin-Ohki miyah'd loudly. On the screen, BC's eyes widened slightly.

"What was that!" The sub-commander of the Nirvana asked.

Ranma groaned. "I can explain it to you when we're face to face. Right now, I have no choice but to seek shelter in your ship for the time being. Rin-Ohki's power reserves are barely above the safe zone. She needs to rest after this... and a lot of carrots." He mumbled the last part.

"What makes you think---" BC began, but was interrupted when an old wizened voice called out to her.

"Enough of that BC... just let him in already. He helped us, so the only logical solution to this is to let him stay with us for the time being"  
The screen changed its image to an old woman's face that was half-hidden in a black hood. The old woman looked kindly at Ranma, saying, "Forgive my sub-commander, young male, but she's a bit high strung lately. I am Magno, captain of the Mejer Space Pirates, and also this ship Nirvana.  
Come on and dock with us... it's the least we can do for saving us in our predicament before."

Two hours later, Ranma found himself within the large mothership,  
Nirvana. He looked around as he got out of the airlock Rin-Ohki created that was connected to the outer hull of the ship. Although Ranma can just phase through the wall without any preamble, he just felt that he can still be as human as possible for these people. No need to freak them out... he still hadn't thought of an explanation about Rin-Ohki when the cabbit reverts to her small form. He also has a problem about his curse. Ranma mentally slapped himself... he'll think of the answers for those later.

He looked around and saw lots of girls, most of them have the same faces for some reason, with different hair color and hairstyle, and were pointing various weapons towards him. Ranma laughed internally at that.  
He couldn't really be hurt by normal weapons anymore, but no need to let them know about that. Sighing dramatically, he raised his hands in the air and smiled softly. His dark bracers were exposed in the air, and reflected a faint image of every face the women in front of him have.

"Well, what a welcome." Ranma said sarcastically. He looked around warily and concluded that... this was a piece of hell. Most of the crew was female... rather... there was probably only one male that he has spotted behind the mass of females in front of him. He wore a strange orange tunic that covered a black overall, with a blue bandanna wrapped around his arm. His hair was in wild disarray, and he was standing close to a red-haired girl, who was a little taller than the boy. A blonde long haired woman stood a little to the left of the two, wearing a tight black dress that was parted on the front, exposing her assets generously. A black haired girl stood close to the blond, pointing a futuristic gun at him. They were watching the scene curiously. For some reason, she looked just like his female form, even down to the eye color.

"Wow! How are you Mister Alien!" The redhead bubbled towards Ranma as she held out her hand as a gesture of peace.

Ranma gawked at the ditzy redhead, and was reminded by two things. First was his female form, and the eye color even matched. But her clothes were way too daring for his taste. Second was... Shampoo! The way the girl hopped excitedly towards him reminded him of the Amazon. He shook his head as he sniffed indignantly, "Hey! Who're you calling 'Mister Alien'!"

((Although…)) Ranma paused in his thoughts. After all, he was really an alien after all, literally. Before he could organize his thoughts,  
though, another voice broke through his contemplation.

"Who are you? Are you another man from Talaark?" A blue haired girl that reached above her shoulders pointed her... rings at him? Weird... and there was a black device that was strapped on one side of her face. Her white tight bodysuit hugged her curves real well.

Ranma frowned slightly. "Talaark?" He asked innocently, "What's that?  
I'm from a planet called Earth..." Ranma stiffened when everyone bristled as he mentioned Earth. Everyone firmed their resolve to shoot him if he moved the wrong way in the next few seconds.

"A spy! Meia, he's a spy!" The blond woman shouted towards the blue haired girl. She glared at Ranma hatefully, as she pointed her own ring thingies (what's up with that?) at him.

"What do you mean a spy? Are you aliens or something? Were you attacking Earth?" Ranma asked rapidly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" The blue haired girl called Meia shot a beam from her rings, which passed by Ranma's head by a few inches. "You've been attacking us to collect our body organs, you murderers!"

Ranma blinked. "Collecting body organs?" He shuddered slightly. "Ewww.  
that's gross. Why would I do that? Where the heck am I anyway? What year is this!"

"What are you talking about!" The dark haired girl growled out.

Before Ranma could reply back, a soft tapping noise interrupted. He saw a figure in dark brown cloak walk over to them. A silver haired woman with dark skin and a rather voluptuous body supporting the figure.

"That will be quite enough. I invited him here to personally thank him for his assistance, and not to do him any harm." An old voice firmly said behind the hood that covered most of her face. The figure was female, and an old one as well, probably the oldest and most likely the leader of the group. Everyone seemed to have relaxed and lowered their weapons when the old woman said so. She lifted her head up to look directly at Ranma's face, trying to look past the dark tinted glasses the pigtailed boy has on his face.

"Follow me, boy... BC you come with me as well." The old woman told him as she turned and hobbled back to the entrance. The silver haired woman nodded to Ranma hesitantly and began to follow as well. He fumed silently at the 'boy' remark... it reminded him too much of the old gho--- err Cologne. Ranma shrugged and walked towards where the old woman has walked through.

Ranma was led towards the Tactical Meeting Room. He followed the two women in front of him as they walked through the doorway.

"So, boy... where are you from? Oh, where are my manners... I am Magno,  
leader of the Mejer Space Pirates from the planet Mejer." The old woman finally said after a short while of gazing at him.

Ranma smiled slightly and replied, "I'm from a planet called Earth, but I think everyone here doesn't appreciate that. If I may ask, Magno-san,  
are you by any chance... not humans?"

Magno sighed softly. "We're humans, dear boy... and about the Earth, the enemies attacking us are from there, our own home planet. You see, we just recently found out that Earth has been 'harvesting' various body parts from numerous colonized worlds. We still don't understand why..."

Ranma looked shocked. "B-But why? Wait... what year is this?"

Magno looked at him skeptically. "It has been hundreds of years since Earth sent colony ships towards the outer galaxies for colonization. As for the exact date, we do not have it. Why is this important?"

"Oh crap..." Ranma gasped, looking horrified. Before anyone could ask him about his remark, he spooled his emotions and stated, "Man... my life is screwed up."

"Miyah!" A sound that startled BC and Magno greatly, making them jump.  
Seeing this, Ranma smirked as he turned to his side and gestured to the furred animal that suddenly appeared there. The long eared cabbit eagerly jumped on Ranma's outstretched arm and climbed to his shoulders.

"What is that!" BC almost screamed out, but managed to control the volume of her shout. Her hand itched to her whip at its slot on her back as she glared on the innocent looking cabbit that rested happily on Ranma.

The pigtailed boy sighed and replied, "That's Rin-Ohki. She's my companion."

"Rin-Ohki?" BC asked. "I thought your vehicle was named Rin-Ohki? Why would you give your space craft and pet the same name?"

Rin-Ohki's ears perked up. "MIYAH!" She said loudly as she eyed BC under with half-lidded stare.

Ranma chuckled. "You just insulted her. She's not a pet, rather a companion and a close friend. You see, she has unique capabilities that you can't possibly understand and believe if I just simply tell you, but she is also my space craft that you saw before."

"HA!" BC snorted as she gripped her whip behind her. "Now I know you're lying about everyth---"

"Commander!" A voice interrupted them.

Magno looked skeptical as she responded, "What is it? Parfait?"

The screen in front of the meeting room flared to life, exposing the face of a brown haired girl in twin pigtails looking apprehensive. Her eyeglasses glinted as she said, "Commander! The silver crystalline ship that was docked with the Nirvana suddenly disappeared!"

"Unbelievable!" Magno breathed out as she stared at the silver-furred cabbit. "Such an interesting life form she is!" Turning to the screen,  
she waved her hand absently, "Don't worry, I know where it is. I'll explain it all to you later."

"Hai, commander!" Parfait nodded, looking at Ranma oddly for a second before her image disappeared.

BC's head snapped to her superior. "Commander! You can't possibly believe this... man..."

Ranma's eyes narrowed at BC. "You're one to talk. Do you honestly think you can hide in that ridiculous get-up forever?"

BC's glare returned full force on Ranma. "What do you mean!"

Magno looked at BC, then at Ranma. "Yes, what do you mean?"

Crossing his arms across his chest, Ranma snorted. "I am a martial artist, and I am trained to detect life energy. Especially now, since my power reawakened. My senses became more sensitive than before." He looked over to BC, who just looked confused, "Some martial artists tend to go further than just identifying and pinpointing where life energies are... some can distinguish them, male or female."

Magno gasped as BC paled.

Smirking at BC, Ranma nodded, "That's right. Unless you managed to fake even your internal life energy, or ki, I can see clearly that you're male. You don't have female ki. I should know, I spent half of the last ten or so years of my life as a female."

Magno turned to her subordinate, who backed away slowly. "Is this true,  
BC?"

BC shook 'her' head as she pointed to Ranma. "He must be breaking your trust over me! It must be his plot!"

Ranma just sighed. "Oh please, really, do you need proof? Do you want me to remove those protrusions in front of you?"

Seeing BC pale further as she clutched on her... ahem... breasts protectively, Magno shook her head. "Amazing... you are one interesting specimen, Ranma-san. You were able to detect BC's disguise that quickly."

BC eyed Magno fearfully. "Y-You mean... you knew!"

Magno just nodded. "I already knew before, but I still gave you the benefit of the doubt. I am one of those who believed that men aren't that bad once you get used to them. I know you are a man, but what I don't get is, why the hassle?" She began shivering slightly, because of trying to stop her tears or because of anger, we do not know.

Ranma placed his hand on Magno's trembling shoulder. "Relax,  
Magno-san... BC is not really malevolent. I won't tell anyone anyway.  
she (snicker) probably just wanted to find out about something here. I detect that much in her (snicker again) aura, am I right, BC?"

BC still looked angry at Ranma, then slowly deflated as she figured that it won't work.

The old woman sighed. "I kept your secret this long BC. You're my most trusted companion... I don't doubt your loyalty for a second. I'm not going to go around and blab it, so don't worry."

BC's eyes widened as unshed tears filled them. She bowed her head slightly as she whispered, "Arigato, Commander."

"Now..." Magno faced Ranma, "I welcome you again to Nirvana. I'll have you meet the crewmembers later. It is going to be... interesting... with you around, Ranma Saotome."

Ranma just smiled innocently.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A little later, in a vacant room...

"So... this was the thing that those weird robot things and you've been fighting for? What is it anyway?" Ranma asked curiously as he looked at the capsule in front of him. For some reason, it reminded him of Washuu's pod, of all things.

A long black haired man in a white trenchcoat over black overalls with bangs covering one eye nodded at him. Ranma learned that his name was Duero, one of the Talaark Elite. "Yes, it's an escape pod." He said stoically.

The idea of men and women living separate from each other gives Ranma the creeps. Especially when he heard from Duero that man-to-man relationships were common in his home world. He has nothing against those, it's their life after all, but he's got his own preferences.  
Whether he strongly denies it or not, he likes females, definitely.  
Although he doesn't go around announcing it over to everyone, unlike Kuno back in his own time.

Ranma was fairly disturbed when he learned from Magno's stories about how bad the situation in Mejer and Talaark were. It even went to as far as convincing the opposite sex that they were mortal enemies against each other. As for reproduction, Mejer women take ovum from each of the donors and splice it together, then inject it back to the 'mother' of the two women. The 'father' is going to be called the 'Homme'. The impregnated 'mother' carries the child in normal term, as like in Earth,  
and gives birth normally. All Mejer offspring were unsurprisingly female. The Talaark on the other hand used cloning and machines to do the term period of pregnancy. They were also divided in classes, which pretty much maps out the future of each of the men born in Talaark. Yes,  
all Talaark offspring were male, as opposed to Mejer's female. Each was taught how to fear and hate the other sex, eliminating contact and possibly any interaction between them. Although Magno was from Mejer,  
her views about men and women were unlike typical Mejerian thinking. In fact, she believes that men and women should work together.

A young girl with long brown hair tied in twin pigtails adjusted her eyeglasses as she continued typing furiously on the keypad in front of her. She was Parfait, the head over all mechanic and engineer of the ship. When Magno introduced him to the crew, Parfait immediately launched a lot of questions as to the whereabouts of his ship. Ranma made a slight mistake of telling the mechanic about one of the abilities of Rin-Ohki. To the cabbit's dismay, not only does she have to dodge those hands with owners making cooing noises and telling her how cute she looked, Parfait was severely interested when Ranma mentioned that she was a different form of crystal life form. The spectacled girl would ask frequently if she could examine Rin-Ohki in her workstation, which was adamantly refused by Rin-Ohki with a lot of hisses.

Most of the ship's female crew including the blond male named Bart, the so-called helmsman of the Nirvana. The red-haired girl, whose name was Dita, stayed behind Ranma, trying to get a good look at what Parfait was doing. Beside her, a very young girl named Paiway, who has long dark hair tied in twin ponytails dressed in a nurse outfit took notes in her notebook. The long blonde haired woman named Jura stood beside her constant companion, the short black haired Barnette. Meia was indifferent as she hung back from the crowd, trying to look nonchalant about everything. She was watching Ranma like a hawk though, much to the pigtailed hybrid's dismay.

Rin-Ohki was content in staying on his shoulders, resting her tired body after her intense transformation. She suddenly stiffened and hissed as the front panel of the capsule opened, which also made a hiss.

They all looked cautiously inside and saw a sleeping figure of a young female. She has long dark blue hair that was tied in a ponytail. Her body was covered in a tight white bodysuit. After a few moments, the young girl twitched and slowly opened her eyes, which to Ranma's surprise were dark red. A yelp from Dita and Paiway behind him made him look back, and saw the speeding figure of the pilot of that strange giant robot he saw before. Ranma remembered his name as Hibiki (which for some reason, didn't settle for Ranma at all... he was wondering if the boy has any connections with a certain half-pig).

"Lemme see! Outta my way and lemme see too!" The small boy shouted as he shoved his way towards the pod. When Dita and Paiway went out of the way, Hibiki shot forward at great speed. Ranma dodged away from him nimbly and let the long haired boy bump himself unto the pod. Hibiki yelped as he almost went inside the pod because of his momentum.

Hibiki looked up from his perched and stared at the red eyes of the girl from the pod. "What? What is it?" Hibiki said uncertainly as he backed away.

The girl was a little frightened. Her triangular earring lit up emitted a soft glow, revealing some sort of a hologram of a yellow blob creature. It talked in some staccato tones which was undecipherable by human ears, but for some reason the girl understood it. Ranma thought that the blob thing might have a connection with the girl in telepathic sense, much like Rin-Ohki with him.

"You... you saved me?" The girl asked Hibiki hopefully.

The boy stammered backwards. "Not... not really! You see... we all helped each other... and..."

The blue-haired girl smiled slightly as the blob finished 'talking' to her. "Really, Q?" Facing Hibiki, she squealed as she leapt towards him,  
enveloping him into a tight hug, "You saved me, my lord prince!" Hibiki sputtered as he tried to get away from the hug, but it was all in vain.

"Lord---" Barnette gasped.

"PRINCE!" Jura finished for her.

Dita twitched as she watched the scene in front of her. "NOOOOOOO!  
Mister Alien will unite with Dita!" She finally screamed for the insanity of it all.

"I feel a battle coming... this needs to be looked into, Pai-check"  
The young nurse Paiway gleefully exclaimed as she held her notepad close to her.

"Where have I seen this before...?" Ranma muttered to himself,  
remembering a certain leotard-clad girl with a crazy laugh back in his time. Rin-Ohki miya'ed in amusement as she caught a glimpse of what Ranma was thinking. Someone heard Ranma's comment though...

"What was that, Saotome?" Meia asked curiously.

"Saotome?" The newly awakened girl fervently asked in disbelief, as her hug slackened and finally let go of Hibiki. She stood up shakily and staggered to where Ranma was. The pigtailed boy started slightly as he saw her approach him.

Composing himself Ranma nodded, saying, "Yeah, I'm Saotome Ranma."

The girl sagged as her shoulders shook. Dita spoke up, "Is there something wrong? Do you know him?"

The girl chuckled at the same time sobbed, as she looked up. Her teared-up eyes gazed softly on Ranma, who was paralyzed on the spot.

Ranma blanched and immediately made warding signs with his hands as he slowly backed away, saying, "Ack! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Whatever I did,  
I'm really really sorry!" He figured he said something to make the girl cry, and apologizing profusely was his only way to cope with the situation.

She shook her head. "No, no, Ranma! You haven't done anything wrong! I'm just glad to finally find you after all these years!"

"Eh?" Everyone mouthed as they watched the confrontation.

The girl's eyes slowly drooped as consciousness slowly left her as she struggled to say, "I... I have a lot of things... to tell you.  
Ranma..." She slowly fell down, but was caught by Ranma's arms. The girl absently wrapped her arms around Ranma's neck tightly, to the pigtailed boy's distress. Rin-Ohki even jumped aside and miya'd in protest as she was almost knocked out.

Everyone was frozen to the spot while Ranma looked back at them pleading, "Help..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Her name is Misty Cornwell, age fourteen." Duero announced as he tallied his findings on a small pad.

Paiway smirked as she tsked lightly. "Actually, she's fourteen plus the sixty-three years of being frozen in the pod, with the total of seventy-seven years old, kero!"

Most of the more curious crewmembers like Dita, Jura, Meia and Barnette were present in the medical lab. Hibiki and Bart were curious as well,  
so they accompanied the group there. Duero and Parfait were tinkering with the lab's equipment in properly restoring Misty's life signs back to normal levels. Years of cry-statis did Misty's body no good. Paiway was assisting Duero as his nurse. They were all eagerly waiting for Misty to reawaken. For some reason, Ranma and Rin-Ohki were absent.

Nobody bothered to think about the two weird newcomers' disappearance because they were more interested in the newly 'thawed' girl in front of them rather than guarding the two. Finally, her eyes fluttered open as she moaned. Her earrings lit up and the yellow blob with eyes appeared.  
The girl smiled softly as she muttered, "It's all right, Q..."

As the girl tried to sit up, she quickly wrapped her arms around herself. "It's cold!" She shivered slightly.

Duero quickly produced a small blanket and wrapped Misty with it.  
"You've been in cryo-stasis suspension for a long time. The feeling should pass after a short while."

The blue-haired girl sat up and gazed at Duero appreciatively. "Hey,  
you're cute! What's your name?"

The Talaark Elite was momentarily surprised at how Misty acted. His training in his home planet hasn't given him any insights on how he should respond to Misty. Before he could answer, Bart's question saved him the trouble, "Hey, you're from a place where males and females were together right? How did they do that?"

Misty's head snapped towards Bart and her face adopted a scowl. "What do you mean! That's how it was supposed to be! You must be some kind of an idiot."

Bart's visage dropped as Hibiki chuckled on his side. Misty smiled widely when she spotted Hibiki and turned to Duero, asking, "Hey, who's he?" as she pointed to the boy.

Duero cocked her head to one side. "If you aren't talking about Bart then I suppose you meant Hibiki..."

"Hibiki..." Misty sighed deeply. "What a wonderful name!"

Meia saw the irritated look Dita and Jura gave Misty. She sighed as she silently went out of the door and left the impending doom she felt inside the room. Sure enough, a shout from Dita was heard as the door slid shut behind her. Meia finally remembered their new arrivals aside from the strange girl that came from the pod. Her brows narrowed dangerously. She quickly set off to find the other two 'guests', namely Ranma and that strange looking partner of his.

The Dread team leader finally found her quarry in the small botanical garden in the middle of the Nirvana. The ship has its own built-in greenhouse, complete with a small river that flowed in the middle of the greenery that spread across the small area. She spied on Ranma and the furry animal that he carried with him carefully, gazing at the waters in front of him. The animal was currently laid on his lap, as he sat cross-legged on the grass. She could hear him humming. Meia's eyes widened as she recognized the tune he was humming under his breath... a song that she recognized since it was a tune from her own jewelry box.  
She kept this box inside her room, and never let anyone see it. The box itself was a gift from her Homme, and she treasured it greatly. The song was... 'What a Wonderful World'. She could hear him muttering afterwards, because the greenhouse produced a dome that was perfect in amplifying sounds.

Ranma's eyes followed the lazy waves of the water as it reflected the dark area of space from the dome above him. He stroked Rin-Ohki lovingly as he let her rest after that wonderful transformation before outside in space. He let her borrow some of his energy when she did, and it all turned out all right. As he gazed at the reflection of the stars on the water, he suddenly has a vision of Ryoko. As he did so, he suddenly wondered what she would be up to. Ranma hoped it wasn't some foolishness. He idly hummed a tune that he heard from the radio back in his own time.

"Well... this is just great... I'm flung into this time and now I have no way to get back..." Ranma muttered loudly as he continued to look at the water. Rin-Ohki had opened one eye and stared at Ranma with it.

The pigtailed boy sighed. "I don't belong here... we don't belong here Rin-Ohki. I feel lonely here..."

"Miyah..." Rin-Ohki replied as she raised her head. She rubbed her face on Ranma's abdomen, purring as she did it.

"I'm sorry..." Ranma shook his head. "I'm really pathetic, aren't I?"

The cabbit stopped rubbing and glared at him. "MIYAH!" She meowed loudly as she swatted her ear on Ranma's chest. The boy chuckled at her.

"I know... but that still doesn't change the fact that I have a weird kind of luck..." Ranma smiled sadly at the cabbit. "Although, I feel better because you stuck with me even with that condition of mine." He bent down and kissed Rin-Ohki's nose, much to the cabbit's surprise.

"Thank you, Rin-chan." He hugged the cabbit closer to him softly as he continued his gaze at the water. "Sleep now... you'll need your strength sometime."

With a soft meow, the cabbit snuggled into his embrace.

"Saotome." A soft but firm female voice almost made Ranma flinch, almost but not quite. He slowly turned around and saw the blue-haired pilot with that weird gizmo on her face, Meia.

"Hello there." Ranma said neutrally.

Meia almost fidgeted, almost but not quite as well (heh). "I'm.  
sorry... when I shot at you before. I was mad at those constant attacks that the forces from Earth has been throwing at us." She almost mumbled the words.

Ranma tore his dark-tinted-glasses-stare at Meia and turned to the waters once again. "You had your reasons. And you have your customs. I heard about Mejerian women hating men because of their differences. I still don't understand why that is."

The Dread pilot wondered on his words, and mentally shrugged. She has no time for that. All she wanted right now was to pump as much information as she can from Ranma so that she could assess whether he was trustworthy or not. Momentarily looking at the small animal on his lap,  
she pointed at it as she asked, "I was meaning to ask you... what is.  
that?"

The young man smiled. "She's not a thing, if you're going to ask. She's my partner... a special life form. She's the space craft you saw out there before."

Meia nodded as she sat down a little far away from Ranma. "I heard about it from the commander. It must be convenient to have such a handy device."

Ranma shook his head. "You're wrong about that. As I said, she's not a thing... she's a living being, and she's my companion. We have a mental link with each other that lets us communicate without words."

The boy sighed, making Meia look at him curiously.

"I guess I'm kinda out of place here..." Ranma said hesitantly. "Back where I come from, I'm used to seeing men and women go hand in hand when they go through life. I'm also used to seeing the blue sky when I look up. I miss Ry..." His voice faltered as he smiled to himself.

Meia cocked her head to one side. "Where DID you come from, Saotome?"

Ranma snorted. "Please, just call me Ranma. Calling me that way reminds me way too much of pops. As to where I came from, are you sure you're prepared to hear it?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I'm not." Meia said contritely.

The pigtailed boy turned his head to Meia. His tinted eyeglasses reflected the girl's face, which quite made the Dread pilot feel conscious about herself. She doesn't know what's going on inside Ranma's mind.

"You know I'm from Earth already." Ranma finally spoke. When Meia nodded, he continued, "It's not really the question of where I'm from,  
it's WHEN." He absently readjusted his black bracers, which caught Meia's attention. She noticed them only now, and they were of different qualities than the other bracers and other wrist ornaments she has ever seen. She vowed to ask him about it later on. She was more interested in what Ranma had said about the 'when' he was from.

"Why am I even telling you this?" Ranma asked more to himself than to Meia. "I guess I'm lonelier than I thought I was. I think that subconsciously, I have this need of someone to talk to." Ranma shifted to one side. "You must be asking yourself, 'what the heck is this male taking about?', well... I'm not from here, really. Not from this time..."

"Are you trying to take me for a fool?" Meia asked angrily. "Are you telling me that you are some sort of a time-traveling person! That's absolutely the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life!"

Ranma quickly turned to Meia, freezing her on the spot. Slowly, he lifted his hand to his glasses and removed them. To Meia's further shock, twin orbs of golden pupils looked back at her. The blue-gray that surrounded those twin orbs in his eyes heightened their luminance as he pinned her in his look.

"Wh-Wh-What the hell?" Meia tried to back away, but her body failed to move.

Ranma just sighed as he looked back to the water and pocketed his glasses. "There are a lot of things out there that you don't know,  
Meia-san. Magic, forbidden martial arts moves, magical curses, gods and goddesses... there are a lot of those. My life has been so chaotic as far as I can remember. Back on Earth, everything seems to spiral out of control when I'm around. I have abilities people cannot understand.  
People like you... that's why I keep it to myself. You must be thinking I'm a demon now."

Meia seemed to have settled down a bit, but her expression was still that of a guarded one. She was about to scoff at the audacity of the male beside her, but she was suddenly reminded of her own loneliness.  
The anger and pain she felt when she was the only one to survive that fateful planetary explosion that rocked the planet she was from. Her Homme and mother both died in that accident, with the efforts of letting her live on. Meia tried to stay with them, but her mother seemed to have given her own life to save hers.

She spent years trying to cope with it. During those times, Meia lived to see herself die somewhere. Suddenly, that chance came when the commander of the Mejer Space Pirates came to her one day, asking her if she was content on how she lived her life. Her induction to the group gave her the opportunity to fight and the chance of dying in a glorious death as well. But every time, it was denied from her. Instead, she just kept on living.

Meia finally got into her conclusion about Ranma.

Ranma is weird. Yep, especially those eyes of his.

Still, Meia felt a tug in her conscience about giving someone the benefit of the doubt. She remembered she felt this way towards that other male, Hibiki, and the other males that came with him. She thought they were worthless, but it turned out that the women needed them after all.

"You okay?" Ranma voice broke Meia's thoughts, causing her to look at him.

"What?" Meia asked intelligently.

Ranma smiled softly. "I said... are you okay? You were silent for a long time."

Meia nodded in understanding. "Oh... I was just wondering if you were crazy or not."

The boy snickered, then it turned into full blown laughter. At first,  
Meia was put off because she thought she was the one being laughed at,  
but Ranma's mirth was contagious, making her giggle softly with him after a while.

Ranma finally got his laughter under control. "I get that a lot, believe me." Ranma said seriously afterwards.

Meia looked at Ranma. "How... I mean... your eyes..."

The pigtailed hybrid nodded. "Ah... that. You see... my parents were not human. I haven't met them, if you're gonna ask. My father's dead, I think, according to what I can deduce. My mother's somewhere out there according to some people, probably looking for me as well." Ranma looked at Meia, who was in the middle of opening her mouth to ask something,  
"Yes, my father's a male, not an Earthling though, but male. My mother's not an Earthling either, but she's a female. Someone told me I got my mother's eyes somewhat."

"I... I see..." Meia was boggled at the thought... male and female together? She has seen that video clip from the ship's old archives pertaining to a scene where a family, comprised of a father, a mother,  
and a daughter were celebrating Christmas. Even with that evidence of their ancestors living together, it still bothers her to think about it.

Ranma sighed audibly. He saw Meia's expression of disbelief, which he assumed to be about males and females being together. His mind cleared as the three small circular silver gems on his forehead glowed softly,  
which was still unnoticed due to his bangs covering them.

"I see that you still can't accept men and women come together, right"  
Ranma asked Meia, who just stared at him. He didn't wait for a response as he continued, "Men and women lived together where I come from.  
Without either one, they can't pro-create. That's why they were dependent and in need of each other. Sure, some women tend to choose to partner themselves with another woman, or men with another man, but it's not the natural order of things somehow. I'm not saying it's wrong, or impossible, but it feels... unnatural for some reason." Ranma shook his head, wondering how he got to think of those things. He was unusually contemplative today, and that also didn't feel natural to him. A gasp from his side caused him to look over at Meia, who was now pointing at his forehead.

"What?" Ranma asked, a bit afraid as to what Meia was trying to say. She looked really upset about it, which didn't settle any better for Ranma at all.

Meia continued to point, but replied, "You... you have... three glowing..."

Ranma's face lightened up in comprehension. "Oh... THAT. Don't mind it... it's just one of those things that make me weird..."

"B-But..." Meia tried to force herself to comment about it. Sure, she has seen other people with ornaments like those. The gem on the sub-commander's forehead was a stick-on and a face ornament after all,  
just like earrings. But Ranma's gems were too... real to be comfortable with. And they were glowing!

She was about to say more when the lights went out. She almost screamed in fright when the gems on Ranma's forehead still shone in the darkness,  
a shiny silver light that seemed to sparkle every now and then.

But Meia shook her head. The power all over the ship seemed to have turned off all of the sudden. She quickly stood up and went to the nearby console on the side of the greenhouse. The back-up power should be able to keep the communicators up and running.

"What's happening? Why is the power out?" Meia asked to the console.

There was a few seconds of silence before the voice of Parfait answered.  
"A self-preservation program from the message node we got from the pod with the girl. A virus broke loose into the system and infected everything! Now we don't have power, and it seems that Dita, Ezra and Hibiki are trapped in the elevator. Wait, hold on..."

Another round of silence followed afterwards. Meia was about to ask again when the console cackled to life, "Oh no! Ezra's going to have the baby NOW!"

"Oh great!" Meia silently cursed to herself. She was about to run to the elevator area to help rescue the trapped crewmembers when all of the sudden, the ship was rocked with explosions. The Dread team leader yelped as she lost her balance and fell backwards, only to be caught in the arms of one Saotome Ranma.

"Be careful..." Ranma chided softly as he helped Meia get firm footing.

Meia blushed slightly. "T-Thank you..."

"You're welcome." Ranma nodded. "We're under attack too, right?"

"Bad timing..." Meia hissed as she changed her direction to the Dread Docking bay.

Ranma just looked confused and shrugged. Rin-Ohki meowed on top of his head, seemingly as confused as he was.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Inside her Dread, Meia has just come out of the hangar bay, which had to be manually opened because of the power failure. Once she got outside, a painful headache erupted in her head. There were a lot of enemies in the vicinity, and worse is that they were severely handicapped. Dita and Hibiki can't be with them, because they were still trapped in the elevator. They would just have to survive without relying on uniting into a Vandread for this encounter.

Barnette and Jura were having their own sets of problems with their enemies. The red cube type drones have faster reflexes, and were more attuned in fighting by groups. Soon, most of the Dread pilots suffered lots of damages, and Ezra was still struggling with her baby. Dita was doing her best, while Hibiki fainted a while ago. Duero, Magno and Paiway were in the Medical Room, trying to instruct Dita on how to deliver Ezra's baby. Initially, it was Hibiki's job, but due to lack of experience associating with females, the sight of the panting Ezra made the boy lose his consciousness.

Ahem. Getting back to the problem outside the Nirvana...

The situation seemed difficult for the Dread forces, but they were still able to repel the attack in most parts. However, just as much as the Dreads suffered, the Nirvana itself incurred a lot of damages. The meager shield the ship tried to erect upon itself by the power left in its reserves was bypassed in most cases. The outer hull suffered a lot of superficial damages. Bart was at the helm and was complaining how painful the hits were because of his physical connection to the ship.

Another powerful stream of laser fire rocked Meia's ship, causing it to corkscrew for a moment as it stabilized itself. The Dread Team leader growled in the unfairness of it all as she listened to her teammates screaming in the comm lines while she monitored the progress about Ezra's ongoing childbirth. Both situations were in peril right now, and she felt quite defeated at the endless bouts of drones sent to them by their enemy. It was then that things got uglier, as several of the drones came together and formed the Vandread clones once again.

Meia growled under her breath. "This is just isn't my day!"

The light blue-haired girl tried her best, really she did, but the clones were a bit too much for their smaller and weaker Dreads. Slowly but surely, the number of defenders dropped one-by-one. Soon, only several were left outside of the Nirvana, and most of them were severely damaged as well.

Meia's Dread was hit with laser volleys rapidly. Her ship creaked and groaned in protest as most of her Dread's statistics turned red.

"Is this it?" She whispered to herself, pounding on the frozen controls,  
"Is this my end?" Her eyes widened as she spied the clone version of her own Vandread, but much darker in color. It poised itself in front of her crippled ship, and powered up its cannons. Meia whimpered as she closed her eyes shut in preparation for her end.

The sound of laser fire followed by a loud explosion that rocked the insides of her Dread caused her to flinch. But to her surprise, she still felt alive and well. Slowly, she opened her eyes and focused her sights in front of her. Meia gasped at what she saw.

A figure floated in front of her ship, with his arms crossed in front of him. A flicker of silver bubble radiated in front of him as he protected her ship from the laser fire that came at her. He was dressed in a black and red battle suit, which clung to his figure, proving he was male. His raven hair was tied in a tight pigtail that was floating behind him as well. Not only that, but also some kind of red protrusion was attached on his backside, and was twitching from side to side.

It was Ranma.

Meia did a double take.

It was definitely Ranma, but he was out in space, without a space suit on. Before she could react about it though, Ranma was suddenly covered in a bright silver glow and balls of light erupted from his hands. The gigantic form of the Vandread Meia clone in front of them was peppered with shots and collapse into itself. It exploded mere seconds after Ranma fired at it.

"Did you see that!" Meia's comm unit cackled to life as her ship's meager auto-repair systems managed to salvage and reroute energy to the communications and propulsion, allowing her to move at least. The voice belonged to Barnette.

"What was that!" Jura's voice sounded off from the comm.

Another stream of red laser streaked past Ranma, missing him by mere inches it seemed. Ranma adjusted the black bracers on his wrists and quickly flew towards the source. Meia saw a Vandread Jura clone nearby firing multiple shots at Ranma, who either dodged the beams or deflected it with his... shield? Meia's head was spinning with information. When Ranma said he was different, she didn't think it was something this major. Ranma can survive in the vacuum of space, can maneuver himself also in space, can fire weird beams and balls of some sort, and was able to generate a shield. Since when did a human been able to do THESE! Was he even human!

Ranma frowned as his energy balls were deflected harmlessly by the reddish shield generated by the giant crab like behemoth in front of him. He stopped advancing as the several mirror things that rotated around the ship pointed themselves toward him and fired successive red beams of light. He twisted and turned over and under the beams as he tried to avoid getting hit. He also made sure none would hit Meia's ship in the process. Her ship was not a pretty sight to look at, and even though he knew next to nothing about machines, he knew she was in trouble. The laser fire will not affect his battle suit whatsoever, but the idea of getting hit by those largish beams are a bit too.  
exuberant for his tastes. He calmly brought up his silver shield as he failed to dodge one of the beams, which hit his barrier and throwing him back a few feet back.

The pigtailed hybrid narrowed his brows as he cupped his hands below his waist, concentrating dark energy between them. Sure enough, a small ball of dark cackling power converged into his open palm, gathering itself for release. When Ranma was satisfied by the amount of energy, he brought his palms in front of him and released the dark beam of energy.  
The beam came out of his palm and covered at least two and a half meters in diameter, even bigger than Ranma's overall height. The beam lanced towards the shielded Vandread clone, its shield shattering uselessly against the dark energy. The beam hit and went through the clone,  
causing it to explode fantastically. Ranma smirked at his handiwork.

Ranma kept himself within Meia's range, deflecting laser fire and everything that came towards her ship. The pigtailed boy quickly spun around, narrowly missed by several thin red beams. He stopped his spin and rocketed forward, slamming his fist against the metallic hide of a cube-type drone. As Ranma backed away, the drone exploded and two more behind it went along the aftershocks. Ranma fired several small silver energy spheres above him, hitting four approaching drones without even batting an eyelash. He suddenly held out a hand in a chopping position,  
holding it above his head. A moment later, crunching metal vibrated in Ranma's body as a cube drone passed overhead, slicing it open in half.

Meia slowly piloted her ship, following Ranma's flight pattern. Her ship was quite a wreck, and it wouldn't charge its laser capacitors anymore.  
She can move, but she can't fire anymore shots. It would have to be repaired, but she was in the middle of battle. She unconsciously kept Ranma's fighting figure in front of her screen, relying on the protection he seemed to have offered when he stood in front of her Dread. She could see him twisting, spinning and firing those glowing spheres of light that seemed to bore through the enemy ships without any trouble. Although Ranma did take some time taking down the Vandread clones, especially the ones copied from Vandread Jura's form, Ranma was basically dancing in space. For some reason, the enemies seemed to think Ranma was a bigger threat than the rest, so they decided to converge on the small humanoid that destroyed a lot of their forces. Ranma just obliviously continued throwing ki blasts here and there, destroying all of the drones that came to approach him and Meia's Dread.

Ranma boggled when he saw two large Seed ships approaching the Nirvana.  
He slapped his hand to his forehead as he muttered something that cannot be heard. With a momentary look of concentration, Ranma's body faded from Meia's view, eliciting a gasp of surprise from the Dread leader.  
She frantically looked side to side, trying to find a glimpse of the boy. Her search was rudely interrupted when one of the approaching Seed ships suddenly went up in an explosion that rocked most of the drones around it and destroyed them. Soon, the other ship's outer hull heaved forward, distorting its surface with small dimples of some sort.  
Suddenly, a beam punctured from one of the dimples, and bore a hole in the Seed ship's hull. With that, the last large enemy ship exploded as well.

The boy Meia was searching for suddenly reappeared in front of her sights once again, making her jump back slightly. Ranma's clothes were singed a bit, as small burn holes were sported all over his body. The holes slowly knit themselves together and disappeared, leaving nothing but the perfect condition of Ranma's battle suit in the beginning of the battle. Ranma patted himself down and readjusted his dark glasses, which were a bit off on the side. He slumped down on the nose of Meia's Dread,  
tiredly spreading his arms all over the front part of the ship. If he could pant, he would've done so.

Ranma just shook his head as he removed the cobwebs that decorated his eyesight. The internal defense system of those big ships punched a wallop into his battle suit, which gave him quite a scare for a while.  
He teleported inside the ships and destroyed them from within, blasting everything around in random. The Seed ship was far from defenseless in the inside, with its multiple laser turrets firing rapid blasts towards him with pinpoint accuracy. The power of the lasers, plus the huge number of the turrets in the first place, blasted Ranma momentarily. He recovered as the lasers batted him around, and in a ditch effort erected his shield. It worked, but it also strained him badly. He had to blast the inside quickly, and he did so. He succeeded in destroying them. Now he was tired as hell, and just wants to sleep it off.

The other Dreads were still busy fending off some of the drones that didn't attack Meia's position, but they were commenting at how great the work Meia's Dread was doing. Apparently, they thought it was Meia who was doing the job. Ranma kept close to her ship, maybe to avoid being seen or something.

Meia shook her head when she saw Ranma had sat down on her Dread's nose,  
looking around idly. The protrusion on his backside, and she dared say that it seemed to be a red tail, was swinging from right to left rapidly, like an excited cat or something. After a moment of glancing here and there, Ranma turned and looked at her directly. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as he realized something. There was no air in space, and sound can't be transmitted. He closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment, with Meia watching sharply. Suddenly, Ranma dove towards her, making Meia almost back away. He kept moving towards her, and she feared that he might bump himself on the head or something.  
Just as Meia thought Ranma was about to get himself a nasty bruise,  
another weird phenomenon occurred. Ranma's body didn't even stop as it made contact with the hard plastic glass on her Dread's cockpit.  
Instead, he went THROUGH the glass without any problems, stopping when half of his body was inside and was facing her.

"Yo, Meia-chan!" Ranma greeted cheerfully, with all his half-body glory. The other half of his body was still stuck out in space, his red tail lashing side to side.

The girl just blinked her eyes owlishly at first, then when she recovered from her shock, she screamed real loud. Actually, she tried suppressing that urge, but seeing Ranma's body like that, it just made her want to scream. Ranma blanched and covered his ears as Meia continued to scream bloody murder in the not-so-spacious cockpit, making the sound louder than normal.

"Hey, relax you uncute tomboy!" Ranma screamed back angrily as he clutched at his ears mournfully. He boggled when he realized what he just said, and boggled some more when he saw Meia staring right back at him with a curious look on her face.

After a few moments of silence, Meia finally opened her mouth and asked,  
"What's a tomboy?"

Ranma's eyes widened dramatically as he tried very hard not to facefault. Doing so at his position would really hurt. "Errr.  
nevermind about that." He muttered loudly. It figures that a planet full of women wouldn't know the term at all.

Meia nodded absently, but then suddenly remembered what happened earlier. She eyed Ranma's half body warily and asked, "H-How... oh hell I shouldn't be surprised right? I mean, I just saw you appear in front of my ship, which was quite ways away from the Nirvana, take down most of the enemies with your weird energy balls, generate a shield, able to pass solid matter like now and evidently can survive in the vacuum of space. You have really weird eyes and have a really weird symbol made up of three silver gems on your forehead. Apparently you also have a red tail sticking out your spine, and you have a weird life form for a partner... what's next?"

Ranma could've laughed out loud at the sight of her expression. He replied seriously, "I also change into a girl with cold water."

Meia was thoughtful for a while, then turned a glare at Ranma. "Yeah,  
right. And I'm really a male under my flight suit."

Ranma sweatdropped as he laughed weakly, pulling on his pigtail in embarrassment. "Heh heh, well... I'll show you later. Uhm... can you.  
keep all of these a secret?"

Meia stared at Ranma.

Ranma stared right back, a hopeful expression on his face.

The girl finally let out a snort, followed by a chuckle. "You must have an interesting life, Ranma." Her serious visage didn't last long as she found herself laughing at the puppy-dog look on Ranma's face.

The boy just rolled his eyes. "You have no idea." Ranma deadpanned.

The sound of static from the comms was broken when a loud wail echoed all over the comm system. When the cry came about, the ship's power recovered itself.

"So... the password was the baby's cries." The voice of BC intoned in the comm.

In the cockpit, Ranma saw Meia relax significantly, probably because the race against time for the baby has finally come to an end. To Ranma though, hearing the baby stirred something within him, and internally he was greatly joyous about it. His own childhood was not really that all nice and dandy, but the thought reminded him of his lost mother. Nodoka was somehow a nice mother, despite her being a surrogate. Not to mention her ideas of manliness were borderline scary sometimes. But what bothered Ranma the most was that he suddenly felt a pang of regret and longing to meet his real mother, the one rumored as the goddess of Chaos herself. After hearing that, his chaotic life was finally justified for him. He was chaotic, and he will live without knowing the full meaning of being 'normal'.

Ranma heard faintly from the comm that the baby was female. It still marveled him how advanced technology has become in the future. To be able to travel into other planets, not to mention other galaxies, it was a dream for those scientists back in his own time. For him, it was still a dream. Then having heard of how these men and women reproduced, even with the restriction of a couple being the same gender, it left Ranma feeling amazed. These people have found a way around the workings of nature, but of course it left its mark on them. All born from Talaark were male, and also from reproduction factories as well, while in Mejer the babies were all women. Added to the mark was the fact that they treated each other as enemies.

The boy finally recovered his bearings and got a glimpse of a small but bright smile adorning Meia's face. For some reason, Ranma blushed lightly when he saw it. The smile was probably out of relief for the baby and its health, Ranma decided for himself. But still, that smile was akin to the smiles he longed to see on the faces of those few people who he really wanted to see happy.

Later on, back in the Nirvana, Meia was bombarded with congratulations regarding her great efforts in battle. Everyone concluded that it was Meia's Dread that destroyed most of the enemies. The fact is, nobody really took a closer look on who was doing the firing. Besides, with Ranma so close to the Dread, they understandably have mistaken the situation. Regardless, with Ranma's small nod in her direction, Meia just accepted their praises. Before her ship entered the landing docks,  
Ranma already disappeared all of the sudden from her ship, momentarily startling her. She saw him again amongst the crowd, hanging back behind them. He held his strange animal once again, cuddling it into his chest.

Due to his request of keeping his abilities discreet for the moment,  
Meia held her tongue when she was showered with praises. Kami knows she doesn't deserve any of them, but Ranma gladly gave her the spotlight without a hint of doubt in his features. He even smiled and waved at her from his position. Though before he disappeared from the cockpit, he told her he would explain and show her some of his abilities once they get some time together, away from the public eye. She could understand his fear, for she felt scared and initially she wanted him to go away from her. That alone was enough for her to give him a chance. Besides,  
she owed him her life because of what he did. She didn't want to alienate Ranma just yet, part of it was because she was curious as to how he had achieved such things. Added to the fact that he mentioned he wasn't human, her curiosity was gnawing in her mind. She just had to know about him.

The deciphered information that came with Misty's pod was finally processed. Magno and BC watched as the ship's chief engineer tinkered with the keyboard in front of them. They planned to show this information to everyone aboard the ship. Parfait reconfigured Nirvana's computer system and had it reset into general viewing. All of the screens all over the ship turned into a general viewing and started the information's playback.

The message, all in all, was really not good. It was a recording of historical events which were catalogued somehow, but it started late in the year 2080's. A scientist from the ninth planet of their original Solar System, Pluto, explained how the Earth became too obsessed in further exploiting their evolution. It came to a point where everything stopped and Earth's resources dried up. Colonization ships were launched into different parts of the universe with hopes of letting the Earth civilization survive.

A serious threat came to Earth's space, which was called the Venomoids.  
The Tekkamen, who to the surprise of those who were on Earth, were some of the humans sent to Jupiter in hopes for colonizing the planet,  
followed the Venomoids. It seemed that the crew of that mission was taken over by these aliens, by use of pods of some sort. The aliens transformed the humans into fighting machines, and set to attack Earth.  
Luckily, one of them got away before his transformation was complete,  
and fled to Earth, in an attempt to thwart the Venomoids' plan. He was called Blade, and together with the last of the Earth's humans, they battled against the threat and triumphed. A few minor squirmishes and clean-up job with the Venomoids kept the Earth Defense Force busy. After all of these, Blade simply disappeared afterwards.

The Earth finally developed the almost discarded Space Ring that was thoroughly roughed up during the war with the Venomoids. They divided it into five parts, and made them into Space Colonies in space. Each one has a different country representing it. They also developed the mobile suits, which were used as transportation in space or in defense. The mobile suits were humanoid shaped robots piloted by humans. They were based according to the first battle suits made from Earth. The greatest mobile suits ever developed were called the Gundams, and were specifically used for combat.

New menaces managed to appear, as to which a convention of all the Allied Defense Forces that were against the threat to be assembled. Most of the members have their own battle suits, mechas, and giant robots at their disposal.

The war that followed was called the Robot Wars. The most Earthlings and Spacenoids (those people in the Space Colonies) battled against each other. Beliefs clashed against each other. The Spacenoids believed that they have as much right as the Earthlings to rule the Earth itself. The Spacenoids also developed some sort of telepathic powers... they dubbed those people as ESPers (not Espers, mind you). Despite this, some Earthlings and Spacenoids allied themselves with the resistance itself.  
During this weak time for the Earth, other alien threats known as the Guests, the Zentraedi, and a lot more arrived. Luckily, the group of defenders succeeded in repelling the invasion force. A short moment of peace reigned afterwards.

After a few years, the greatest work of Earth was finally unveiled.  
the Paeksis core, which was a strong source of bio-energy that can fuel their ships. They made two of them, one was installed in the ship Nirvana was before it transmogrified. The other was left on Earth, and was now being used to harvest the same colonies that were sent out.  
Ironically, since the Earth's evolution stopped at one time, they have this idea of keeping themselves alive through transplants and such.  
Thus, the 'Harvest' was implemented. They planned on taking back different organs from the people they have sent out before.

It was then that a great scientist by the name of Hakubi Washuu appeared in Pluto. She explained how the Earth was already doomed and that they needed to muster enough forces to halt its advances on its mission. She also revealed that behind the scenes, a powerful entity has long taken over the council of Earth, effectively destroying everyone that seemed to get on his way. She said that it was this entity's plan to implement the Paeksis cores' creations, and also the Harvest Project. Professor Washuu only mentioned him as 'Kagato', which she was certainly has been acquainted with. She held a certain loathing against him, but she failed to reveal it. There were also a number of things that Professor Washuu said Kagato owed her for, like the Paeksis fo example. She has vowed to look for a way to get the Paeksis that was left for Earth back from Kagato's clutches. Why? She didn't say much about it. Professor Washuu just mentioned that she (yes, she referred to the Paeksis as a 'she)  
was very important to her, and it was imperative to have the Paeksis back.

Professor Washuu also mentioned looking for someone, an acquaintance of some sort, who disappeared because of an accident years back. She said that this person could help them all in this war against Earth. Before she disappeared, she left all of these in another information cache within the pod's own. With these informations and the hope of maybe finding the person needed for the war, Misty was taken into cryo-stasis and was sent into space to call out to the colonists that were sent out years ago. Nobody knew what happened to the ones in Pluto, especially since it has been more than half a century since contact has been made back home.

At this, Ranma stiffened beside Meia as the girl looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face. He stood and raced forward blindly,  
absently brushing off female obstacles along the way. Meia was left behind, her heart sinking in sadness. She knew exactly how he felt, for she too lost a planet for a home, and her loved ones as well.

Ranma didn't know where he was going, but he felt that he needed to go away. He wanted to go to Earth, but for what purpose? The message has been years already, and who knows what happened to Earth during those lost years? And Kagato... his eyes narrowed at the thought of his name.  
He knew of him, the one who was Washuu's assistant back in her academy days. He betrayed Washuu by imprisoning her in that ship, as well as stealing Washuu's project/child Ryoko. Then Kagato unleashed a brainwashed Ryoko to attack Jurai, all for the pursuit of power. In the end he failed, having underestimated the Juraian Prince Yosho's power.  
The rest was history.

His advance was stopped when he bumped into something. Reacquainting his senses to his surroundings once again, he saw that he just crashed into the blue-haired girl that was recovered from the pod. He also unconsciously caught her as she fell back because of the collision. Her eyes were closed shut.

"I-I'm sorry! Are you alright?" Ranma asked worriedly.

Misty opened her eyes and saw a pair of shades looking at her. She instinctively wiped a tear from her face, something that she was doing a bit earlier as she listened to the general broadcast of her ancestors'  
message. She had come to this window to watch the stars outside, and was greatly saddened by the lost time she managed to incur while she was in cold sleep. Her only family in Pluto must've been gone already. She had met Washuu once or twice in the past, the professor was often busy fixing the machines up and keeps them in running order. Misty also figured that the red-haired genius was searching for someone, because sometimes when things were not really hectic, Professor Washuu was calculating coordinates and such in her weird transparent computer. The rumors said that she was searching for her lover, who was lost in another dimension. Some speculated that a friend was caught in an accident pertaining to one of the redhead's inventions, and Washuu was trying to bring that person back. It was later when Misty heard Washuu mumbling something about a certain 'Saotome Ranma' that seemed to invoke some emotions from the scientist. Mist tried searching for something regarding that 'Ranma', but was later caught by Washuu when Misty's search became too intruding. The scientist forgave the embarrassed Misty about it, and told her about who this Ranma was. Misty was told that Washuu knew Ranma way back. One has to have an open mind, especially when around the redhead. Strange things happen to most of her experiments, and that's what caught Ranma. Due to some circumstances,  
Ranma was swept into a vortex of spatial distortion. Washuu could easily build a device that could take him back, but the problem was finding where Ranma was thrown by the accident. He could've been anywhere, thus Washuu continued her almost impossible search until she finally disappeared once again.

The blue-haired girl finally realized that she and Ranma have been frozen in their position for a few minutes. She suddenly slipped out of his embrace and turned her back to him as she hid her blush. She remembered his question about her welfare, and she replied, "Oh! Uhm.  
I'm alright. Thank you for catching me, Ranma."

"Are you okay?" Ranma asked hesitantly. He saw how red and puffy the girl's eyes were, evidence that she was crying before.

Misty nodded, her back still on Ranma. "H-Hai. I'm just... reminiscing,  
about the lost time, and also my family back in Pluto."

Ranma sighed. "I... I think I understand what you mean."

"I know." Misty replied. "Someone has been searching for you, Ranma.  
Remember Washuu-sensei?"

"Washuu." Ranma smiled slightly. "Of course I do."

Misty continued, "She came to Pluto and helped us in developing our technology. She made that pod I came from by the way. She escaped Earth before it was thoroughly overwhelmed by that hidden menace we've never been able to detect. By the time she reached us, it was too late to do anything about it. We can't muster enough resources and manpower to battle against the forces of Earth. Washuu-sensei still hasn't stopped searching for you though... I heard that you were in an accident that made you disappear. She said that you have the power to help us reclaim Earth again. She installed information regarding Earth and its state in the information in my pod. Before she disappeared, she told us some information regarding the enemy. Kagato, her former assistant and the one who imprisoned her, was the culprit of this... nightmare."

"I know of him." Ranma stated. Oh, how he knew of Kagato... the jerk!  
Brainwashing Ryoko like that... ordering her to kill against her will.  
he shall pay! Ranma shook his head slightly. He was starting to sound like Kuno, which was a scary thought.

"I... I'm sorry, Ranma. But I... can't really speak about those right now. I feel..." Misty paused in her ranting and thought about it for a moment. "Can you give me some time to sort my feelings first? I'd appreciate it..."

"Uhhmmm... sure. I understand." Actually, Ranma had no idea what she was talking about, but obliged her anyway. He looked down to his arms, and saw Rin-Ohki sleeping peacefully. He shrugged as he excused himself from Misty, off to find Meia. Right now, she's probably the only one he could talk to about anything anyway. Besides, he still has to show her his curse...

Ranma and Meia were walking side to side when they arrived at the clinic. The cabbit was draped on Ranma's shoulder, still sleeping, as they ventured to their destination. Meia wanted to see the new baby,  
while Ranma was just plain curious, as well as bored out of his wits.  
Ranma bumped into Meia while he was searching for her in the hangar bay.  
He was pulled towards the greenhouse once again, and was asked a multitude of questions. Again, Ranma asked Meia's vow of silence regarding his abilities, which the girl readily accepted. Meia was most surprised when Ranma turned to a girl via the water in the artificial river that flowed in the middle of the greenhouse. Meia asked for a lot of repeat demonstrations of the curse, thoroughly fascinated by the change. Her animosity towards males in general has been toned down significantly, probably because she couldn't really fault Ranma about it. Although Meia was more at ease when Ranma's female, his male form was also tolerated at most. Meia asked Ranma to stay male as much as possible in the meantime, so that she could get used to the idea of living with them. Ranma readily accepted, of course. They will try and keep the secret as long as they can for the moment, until Ranma has established that he has no intention of conquering them or something.  
Meia wasn't really fascinated with the idea of lying intentionally to her superiors, but Ranma's look of resignation to his fate gave her feelings a one-eighty.

When the clinic door slid open, they were treated to the sight of Misty kissing Hibiki, with Dita and that weird egg-shaped robot Pyoro gaping behind them. Ezra was on the bed and the baby was sleeping on a nearby carriage. Ranma and Meia froze at the door, just as Misty pulled back her head with a soft pop. Hibiki fell down on the floor bonelessly as Dita screamed in frustration.

"Wow... reminds me of a situation I was in before..." Ranma muttered to himself. Rin-Ohki miya'd in agreement as she snuggled into Ranma's chest some more. This looked like the incident back when Shampoo gave him the Kiss of Marriage.

Meia on the other hand grumbled. "I did not just see that."

Ranma smirked at her. "Yep, you did. That's how women on Earth were usually like... well... depends actually... hmmm oh heck whatever."

"Dita's in shock." Meia commented.

Ranma chuckled. "Just you wait, she's gonna scream bloody hell in a little while."

Sure enough, Dita broke out of her shock when Misty turned to her and commented something about the kiss being delicious.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dita's scream echoed all over the Nirvana.

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On another galaxy, a group of five unlikely heroines were currently lounging in their headquarters.

"Anyone want some tea?" A pink haired girl with flowers decorating her head asked cheerfully at her teammates.

A tall red-haired girl with a black hat and a monocle over one eye was idly fiddling with her gun. Her generous assets were half exposed outside the uniform she wore. She raised her head and responded, "I'll have one, Milfeuille."

The pink-haired girl nodded enthusiastically. "Hai hai, Forte-san!"

"One here with lots of sugar as well." A small short blue-haired girl with long white rabbit-like ears replied with a smile to the pink-haired girl, whose name was Milfeuille.

"Okay, Mint-san... but remember that too much sugar is bad for you"  
Milfeuille responded.

A blond-haired woman, also with large assets, dressed in a red tight dress with two huge customized clips on her hair shook her head morosely. "No thank you." She said with a shrug. She faced Milfeuille,  
who was still smiling, and said, "Milfeuille... how can you be so happy so much during a time like this? Our last mission was a failure you know."

But that didn't dampen Milfeuille's spirits. "But Ranpha-san... we did catch the bad guys, right?"

The blond named Ranpha sighed. "Milfeuille, those men were undercover agents. We just blew their cover when we busted them."

Milfeuille's eyes watered a bit. "But... but..."

"Ranpha." Forte's low voice cut through their conversation. "Leave the poor girl alone. Go on, Milfeuille, have the tea ready."

The pink-haired girl immediately brightened as she nodded, "Hai!  
Forte-san!" She pulled five cups from... nowhere... as well as a pot of tea already made. Strange... they all appeared out of nowhere.

Ahem, anyway. As Milfeuille continued her work, Mint turned to the last member of the group, a cyan-haired young girl with red eyes. Her hair was tied up in a twirly ponytail behind her back, and her head was decorated with a white tiara of some sort, which extended down to the sides of her face, covering her ears and a small part of her cheeks.  
It's more of a mini-helmet than a tiara, actually. She held a magenta colored stuff toy... a fat chicken with black tight swirly eyes and the letter Z embroidered on its chest. The stuff toy housed the intelligent AI that was recovered from a guided missile that failed to explode. The AI became sentient and was installed inside the stuff toy, who later called itself Nomad. Apparently, it is male. The girl suddenly stiffened and stood up from where she was sitting.

Mint cocked her head and asked, "What's wrong, Vanilla?"

Vanilla's red eyes widened in shock, much to the nervousness of the rest of the group, even Milfeuille. Vanilla was known to have shown little to no emotions at all, even during the most dangerous missions they were in. She doesn't even laugh, but she did a small smile once. But that was it.

Everyone stared at the wide-eyed expression of Vanilla and strained to hear her whispered words.

Vanilla said under her breath, "Kami-sama..."

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To Be Continued...

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Author Rants:

I did a large rewrite on Vandread's ongoing timeline. The battle on the first episode was mostly on Ranma and Meia's point of view.

Meia's OOC?

Hmmm... maybe. But when Vandread: Second Stage started, her views about males and such already changed, and she was showing a lot more emotions than before. Another male's appearance, with a personality to boot,  
would change a person. She's exasperated, irritated, joyous and worried for Ranma all at the same time.

Ranma confided to her because... well, just because! Ranma needed someone to trust in this timeline, and Meia was in the right place at the right time. Who's he gonna trust, Paiway? Yeah right. Kero!

Oh by the way, a question from the previous chapter about Kiima's youthful appearance. She's somewhere in seventeen years of age,  
approximately. As to how she got there? Well, just a speculation, but because the Phoenix people were a non-fertile race, Saffron would've done something to prolong the lives of his subjects. Kiima should be the one who will be the first to be bestowed with long life, because of her position and duty to the Emperor. She appeared in Canon Ranma looking approximately in her twenties to twenty-five years of age.

Vanilla's last words, about Kami-sama? Heheh... it's not the Kami-sama everyone would be thinking about now. She's a holy and religious person,  
one who could probably detect powerful entities.

Next up: With Ranma's appearance in Nirvana, their normal everyday lives are turned into amusing daily phenomena. While the crew has decided to go back to their home system first (Talaark and Mejer) and inform them of the impending 'Harvest' of Earth, with Ranma in the ship, nothing goes their way.

Ranma will finally get to talk seriously with Misty, and the girl will tell him about the secrets Washuu imparted on her before the redhead disappeared.

What is the Paeksis? Ranma will find out that the Paeksis Cores (yes,  
the two of them in existence) have a direct connection back to him.

If that wasn't trouble enough for him, the appearance of five young girls turns his already inverted life upside down again, and again, and again.

"Kami-sama..."

"What do you mean, Kami-sama? I am NOT Kami-sama!"

"Saotome, who are your... acquaintances?"

"I swear! This is NOT what it looks like! Honest!"

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	12. Chapter 7b

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Remember... the Vandread Universe is gonna be one huge Alternate Universe. I'm gonna rewrite most of the episodes, maybe even skip some unimportant ones, but some will still be used.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus (former email was now pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 7B - THE NEXT FRONTIER: THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE, SOMEWHERE

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Space... the final frontier...

Yeah right, not for Ranma it isn't!

It has been three weeks since Ranma had appeared out of thin.  
whatever. Not out of air, because space has no air, or something.

Okay, Ranma just appeared out of nowhere, and ran into the crew of the Mejer Space Pirates, an all-female group who HAD a very nasty opinion about males in general. Add three males in the group, who were initially prisoners of the group until the males proved their worth otherwise. One boy was for battle, another for medical purposes, and the last was with the ship itself. Everyone there has a place in the chain, like a well-oiled steam engine. Each part compliments the other, creating a powerful chain that made Nirvana what it was.

He was constantly hanging around Meia, more like pestering her. The girl was too serious for her own good, and Ranma thought to irritate her just the same. Besides, he enjoys making Meia scream in frustration when he bothers her. He noticed that most of the time, she was either in the briefing room constantly reviewing battle tactics and such, or she would be in the docking bay, where she would tinker with her Dread for some reason.

Of course, there are other companies out there that he tried to get into. Gascogne for example, Ranma found out that he would never win a card game against this young woman. The able-bodied supplies manager could read through his face, and Ranma knew his poker face was next to non-existent.

Paiway and Duero were usually busy in the clinic, doing kami knows whatever in there. Last time he went there, the male doctor was trying to get his blood sample. Not that he despised the bloody syringes, but spreading his weird predicament regarding his own existence was not in his list of 'to be shared' things. Paiway was constantly taking pictures of everything he does, even his sneezing. Then the girl would scribble notes on her notepad. Ranma didn't really want to know why, for the situation was akin to what happened with him and Nabiki back in his time.

The girl with the eyeglasses, Parfait, was more of a mechanical genius.  
It was a deja vu featuring Washuu for Ranma when he tried conversing with the resident mechanic, chattering mostly about science and stuff.  
She was usually cooped up in her office, the one with the large window on one side showing the weird gigantic ball of blue energy that pulsed every now and then. For some reason, Ranma felt drawn towards the energy ball or Paeksis as its name was mentioned by Parfait. The mechanic was also eyeing Rin-Ohki weirdly, which didn't set well on the cabbit. Just last week, Parfait tried to experiment on Rin-Ohki, much like Duero's medical examination of his body, which prompted the cabbit to bolt and hide outside the ship's hull. Poor Rin-Ohki stayed perched on the Nirvana's outer wall all day, letting Parfait's lust for experimentation pass. It amuses Ranma to learn that Duero and Parfait had something in common.

BC tried to avoid him most of the time, which suited Ranma just fine.  
The pseudo-girl was probably still sore about how Ranma discovered her secret. She was the sub-commander, and was usually in the command room barking orders and/or checking the system.

Bart stayed half of his time inside the helmsman's hole, which according to rumors where he usually go into naked. Other times, the irritating young man was in the males' quarters, sleeping. Bart has this thing about those capsule food things. Once, Bart offered some to Ranma. The pigtailed hybrid took one and immediately gagged. Not only did it taste really bad, but also it was really dry. Ranma would rather have normal food than those capsule things. The guy shaved his head one day, in memory of that girl in one planet they visited. The population was plagued with a sickness that slowly killed most of them, with the girl that Bart took a liking of.

Magno was usually in her room, and Ranma didn't even bother to disturb the old woman. When he does get to talk to her, the old woman would ask about Earth and whatever customs there were.

Jura and Barnette, for some reason, seemed like lovers in Ranma eyes.  
Once in a while though, the blond would come and ask him about babies and stuff, which Ranma didn't have any experience whatsoever. Besides,  
the look the blond gave him really set him on edge. It was somewhat the look Shampoo gives him whenever she's near.

Misty has clearly taken a liking of the Hibiki boy, much to Dita's irritation. They usually run around chasing each other. Once, Misty and Dita even fought as to who will give Hibiki his food. Ranma really felt for the kid, but he was happy that he has no part in that anymore. Most of the time though, Ranma would see a glimmer of sadness and loneliness in Misty's eyes as she chased the boy around. Ranma felt that he should help the girl, but experience proved that he should wait for Misty to ask for his help anyway. He hadn't much experience about human emotions,  
but he knew what loneliness really was.

Dita was a cheerful sort of person, more like Shampoo's happy personality and somewhat his girl type's looks. She was klutzy at times though, and was constantly making mistakes here and there, although, she really showed her affections for Hibiki in a really enthusiastic way.  
Ranma already talked with her a few times, but she was too busy keeping Misty from taking the upper hand in Hibiki's heart. She says that Misty's kiss was enough for her to work really hard.

Hibiki was generally moody, because of the constant pressures of his relationships with Dita and Misty. He usually hung out inside his yellow robot he constantly calls his partner. In Talaark, those robots were called Vanguards, and they were Talaark's greatest achievement to date.

Ranma shook his thoughts out of its current state. He was back in the small greenhouse in the middle of the Nirvana, with Rin-Ohki dozing off on his side. Meia was called into a meeting a while ago, and was probably discussing things like battle strategies and such. Ranma chuckled to himself.

It was a good thing that his abilities were not seen when he helped at that one time before. The event took place behind the ship, so it was safe to assume no one took notice of his interference. Besides, who would believe it immediately anyway? Probably one or two people saw the whole thing, and they could've deduced that it was their imagination or something.

Although, his curse was harder to keep a secret.

- FLASHBACK -

A day after he showed Meia his cursed form, an incident in the cafeteria involving Dita with a glass of icy cold water and a banana peel conveniently left on the floor exposed it anyway.

To say that it was chaos after that would be an understatement. Most of the weapons of the people inside the cafeteria were charged and were trained directly towards the red-haired and wet Onna-Ranma. Jura screamed in fear, while Barnette automatically drew her sidearm. Looking miserable and utterly left alone in the middle of the mass of females who paused and trained their guns towards her, Onna-Ranma just swiped the errant red hair on her face and continued eating in silence,  
ignoring practically everything around her. She was done by the time the group of BC, Magno, Duero, Parfait and Paiway entered the cafeteria room and stared at the new female in the group. Everyone stood away and formed a perimeter circle around the cursed alien, who was now staring blankly at her empty plate with a sad expression on her face. She saw that Meia was nowhere to be found.

"Who are you, girl?" Magno asked curiously as she took note of the resemblance between the newcomer girl and Ranma, especially since she wore the same clothes as well as that same weird animal that clung on her shoulders as it was with Ranma as well. She also wore those dark glasses that covered most of her eyes, which was the same with Ranma.

The red-haired girl looked up and stared at Magno. "I'm... the same Ranma Saotome that came here days ago. I'm under an ancient curse that turns me into female with cold water sprayed on me. Hot water turns me back to male. Before you ask, I am male by birth." To demonstrate, she grabbed the tea she was about to drink and poured it over her head,  
immediately turning her to a 'him'. This caused everyone to gasp and back away slightly.

The girl turned boy looked around him, and saw the confused and quite disbelieving looks that went to his way. "What!" Ranma asked irritably,  
"I came out of nowhere and I have a shady past (although I still haven't mentioned them), should you even be surprised if I have this condition?  
I haven't told you right away because you might think of me as a freak,  
just like what you are thinking right now! I want to get everyone to settle down first before I throw the bombshell, and I think you realize why I needed to do that." He pointedly gestured to their expressions.

Everyone blushed and turned away from him, embarrassed to have been told off by an outsider.

"WOW!" Parfait was gushing as she patted Ranma all over his body,  
eliciting a small blush from the pigtailed boy.

Duero nodded, his eyes giving off a slight glint. "You must allow us to examine you, Saotome."

Ranma blanched at the looks he received from the two.

BC just stared at Ranma. The thought of having the ability to change from male to female was... useful... to her.

"Ranma..." BC said suddenly, "Is the change... complete?"

Ranma snickered slightly at the almost glazed look BC had on her face.  
"Yeah, and taking the words from a scientist friend of mine, 'Complete change up to the DNA level'. I got the curse from Earth."

BC deflated when she heard of the location as to where she could get cursed.

Paiway was too busy snapping pictures on the phenomenon to say something. Her camera was already smoking in protest.

"Simply astounding." Magno said in awe. It was her first time ever to have witnessed such a feat. But she has heard some countless fables back in her childhood about magic and enchantments, but she thought they were just that: fairytales and make-believe.

Jura was miffed a bit. "He's got bigger breasts than I do." She muttered, although nobody paid attention to her.

Gascogne was laughing out loud. "He... He's c-cute as a girl! By the kami! Hahahahahaha!" She gasped out in between laughs.

Barnette has long dropped her weapon on the floor, and settled on just staring at Ranma. She nodded at Gascogne's comment, she really thinks Ranma was cute as a girl AND as a guy. When she realized what she was thinking, a small trace of a blush appeared on her face.

Dita however was as ecstatic as Parfait. "WOW! You really are a Mister Alien!"

"I'm not... oh hell what's the use?" Ranma glared in a futile way towards Dita. His glare slowly melted into a resigned expression as he sighed and banged his head on the table, making the plates clatter.

The door slid open as Meia stepped in. She stopped and saw everyone was around Ranma, who was... well... banging his head on the table. He was also evidently wet. Rin-Ohki was eating some carrots on another table,  
trying to ignore the banging noise. She thought about what could cause this weird sight in front of her, and inspiration struck her mind.

Meia went over to Ranma and said calmly, "So, they found out about your curse, right?"

Ranma just sped up in banging his head.

- END FLASHBACK -

Ranma winced at the memory. The poor abused table snapped into half after that one. He shrugged and then glanced at the small disk in his hand. Misty gave it to him when they talked to each other again. She said it was something Washuu left her, and only Ranma's voice could activate and unlock the information.

He remembered his encounter with Misty, in the same greenhouse he was in right now, but it was on the benches that laced the stone path that led around the area.

- FLASHBACK -

Ranma was lounging around the greenhouse, which became his favorite place in the Nirvana. His blood craves for greens and clean air, and he missed the scenic view of the countryside he used to see during his training trips back on Earth. Besides, the whole area was deserted most of the time, except when Hibiki runs to the small forest to hide from the over-excited Dita. Some people eat their lunch here as well, but that was seldom. Usually, he's all alone here, well, him and Rin-Ohki that is. Sometimes, Meia goes here and sits beside him, talking to him about Earth and his adventures.

Outside the forest, there was this stone paved path where one could take strolls and such, as well as benches along the sides. The path was lit by lampposts, which Ranma was quite familiar with. It seemed that this part of the ship retained some of the old designs from Earth.

Right now, Ranma was on one of the benches for a change. Usually he was on the grass beside the artificial river, either watching the stars or viewing the smooth flowing water. He wasn't really anti-social, far from it, but because of some circumstances, with his upbringing a small part,  
he didn't want to be in the middle of a large group of people. Also, he knew that he wasn't a member of this group as of yet, even if he spent a bit of time in the ship already. There are a bunch of them that he still haven't met yet, and he still reserved some secrets pertaining to who he really was and what he can really do. The only one who had most of the knowledge about him was Meia, who was there to listen on his ranting even if she was a bit too serious about everything. Once in a while, she would crack a small smile at his foot-in-mouth disease.

Ranma sighed as he stretched his arms out horizontally across the top part of the bench he was sitting on. His tail was coiled on his lap,  
where it lay relaxing itself. Rin-Ohki was on his lap as before,  
sleeping as usual. Not that Ranma blamed her, for he knows how exhausted the cabbit must've felt after forcing her body into transforming weeks ago. So Ranma just let her be, because she deserved every minute of it.

It was then that a blue blur went past his current position, creating a small breeze that ruffled Ranma's black hair. His glass-covered eyes easily tracked the blue projectile, which slammed against a bench next to him. The blur turned out to be Misty, who seemed to have not noticed his appearance as of yet. Ranma saw her face in a slight haughty expression, which suddenly melted into a sad smile. She quickly covered her face in her hands as a glistening orb went down her cheeks from her eyes. Her shoulders slumped forwards as she hid her head in between her thighs.

Misty was crying.

Ranma felt torn up inside, because he was used to seeing the girl happy most of the time. Her personality rivals that of Dita's, but he knew that all of it was a huge farce. Her eyes reflected loneliness, and Ranma knew that feeling quite well. He didn't notice himself standing up and transversing the empty space between his position and Misty's. He found himself reaching out and touching the girl on her shoulders,  
making her gasp in surprise and was now wiping at her tears furiously.

"What... what do you want!" Misty demanded.

Ranma sighed softly. "I... feel that you're lonely and in need of company. May I sit down?" He gestured to the seat beside the girl.

After a few terse moments of contemplation, Misty finally nodded and allowed Ranma to sit beside her. The pigtailed boy smiled as he sat down, with Rin-Ohki in his arms.

Another long silence filled the air, marred only by some faint sniffling coming from Ranma's side. His sigh caught Misty's attention, and finally spoke, "Why were you crying?"

Misty's mouth opened to retort harshly, to tell the rude boy to mind his own business, but she stopped herself when she felt a small warmth encompass her. She didn't know at the time, but Ranma's aura of worry and compassion touched her subconsciously, so she was able to stop and think of what to say.

Instead of her earlier angered response, she mellowed down as she said,  
"Nothing really. I just feel that sometimes, life isn't fair. You wouldn't understand..."

Ranma nodded slightly. "Oh, I understand all right. Whenever you think you have it all figured out, sometimes something comes out of nowhere and hit you real bad. Then lots of things start going wrong..." He trailed off.

Misty turned to look at him in the eye, but found it impossible for her to do so. But she saw the serious expression on his face and felt the honesty in his words. "You do understand, don't you?"

Ranma smiled slightly. "Yeah I do. Lots of things happen to me that don't help me much, but without them, I really wouldn't be who I am today. I'm just thankful I'm still alive... and I would be for a really long time." He whispered the last phrase under his breath.

The girl didn't notice his last comment, and was content in watching the expressions that seemed to have been reflected on Ranma's face as he talked.

The boy cocked his head to one side and gazed at Misty, who became flustered at the attention. "So... would you mind telling me why you were crying a while ago?" Ranma asked.

Misty sighed audibly, wincing at the same time. "I... tried asking Hibiki to stay with me. He... chose someone else." She lowered her gaze to her lap.

"I see." Ranma said softly. "You're hurt because he chose Dita, and left you all alone. You're lonely, and you think Hibiki's your last hope."

Misty stiffened slightly. "I sound real pathetic, right?"

Ranma shook his head. "Not really. Being lonely is real harsh to anyone.  
I should know..." He threw a sideways glance at the blue-haired girl.  
"I've been in that position before. It hurt me real bad, but I have to live on and forget about it. There's nothing to gain in pining about it."

"How..." Misty asked hesitantly. "How... did you go on with your life?  
How can you live when you know everything you've lived for was lost to you? I lost everything, my home, my life, my family... I can't even claim someone's love to more or less fill the emptiness that seemed to have covered my heart..."

Ranma shrugged helplessly. "I really don't have an answer to that.  
Everyone has his or her own way of coping with loneliness. But no matter what, you must always remember that you are never alone." He put his hand on Misty's shoulder. "Don't worry. You are not alone, because someone out here cares. You have lots of friends here. At the moment,  
you just have to think of how to get through everyday against the enemy that keeps on attacking, and even with that thought you are still not alone. There's a whole crew of people in here who would care to give you a helping hand." He really does care, because no matter what era he's in, he was still weak against girls who were in tears.

Misty looked at him for a moment, then suddenly lunged into his chest,  
dislodging the meowing Rin-Ohki, who jumped unto the side of the bench.  
Misty's body suddenly shivered as a bout of loud sobs echoed across the greenhouse.

Ranma just looked on in surprise as he automatically wrapped his arms around the crying girl leaning on his body.

After nearly half an hour of crying on Misty's part, she finally disengaged herself from Ranma and handed him a disk, explaining that Washuu had left that in her pod with her. She said that nobody can view the information inside the disk other than Ranma, because the data was encoded with a voice activated file decryption.

- END FLASHBACK -

Ranma sighed as he held the mini disk on his left hand, looking at it as if judging its very existence. With a nod, he finally took hold of the small disk player on his side that he borrowed from Parfait. He inserted the disk carefully, just like how Parfait had taught him, and pressed the 'play' button. A small window appeared in the screen, which said to repeat the words written on it loudly.

Ranma's brow twitched as he read the message. "Washuu-chan... is the greatest scientist in the... Universe?" He read from the window.

The screen immediately blanked out. Ranma thought for a moment that the disk was too damaged already, but was surprised when it lit up once again.

"OHAYO! Ranma-chaaaaaan!" A familiar green-eyed redhead appeared on the small screen.

Ranma really tried not to facefault and was partially successful, but his body still teetered to one side.

The redhead smiled sunnily as she continued, "Well, if you are watching this, it seems you have been found. A lot has happened since you disappeared, Ranma-chan. For some reason, even I can't find you."

"Anyway, this message contains some historical highlights that led to whatever future you are in, if ever you were sent in the future. I have no way of knowing, but just to be sure I made this anyway."

"Alright, to start with, I must tell you what happened when you disappeared. Ryoko, my poor daughter, was catatonic for several weeks,  
constantly disappearing from the shrine from time to time. I heard that she's been appearing here and there around the world, probably searching for you. After nearly ten years of searching, Ryoko finally had herself locked into forced hibernation. Yosho and I tried to tell her not to do it, but you know her... once she has this idea in her head, she won't give it up. She just figured we could reawaken her once you are found.  
She says she can't bear the loneliness, so she'll just sleep while we search for traces of you."

Ranma gasped at the information. "R-Ryoko..." He muttered as he lowered his gaze to the ground. However, the disk rambled on.

"Inuyasha stayed in the shrine until the time came when he has to go and see his beloved Kagome, which was around the late 1900s. Kagero followed as well, saying something about meeting his son. Kiima went back to the Phoenix Mountain to attend once again to her liege, although somehow I think that she stayed here because of a certain... someone. Sango,  
Miroku and Koneko all stayed in the shrine and lived more than a hundred Earth years, older than what most Earthlings could achieve, but in the end mortals were still mortals. They passed on in a very ripe age. The four shrine priests eventually moved out of the shrine and went out into Japan, each having gone into various locations and setting roots there."

"In the late 1800's, we received a rumor about a famous swordsman who single-handedly led Japan to peace. It was after the Restoration period,  
where the Shogunate was finally disbanded. Inuyasha and I went to investigate the rumor, and watched in the sidelines as this swordsman named Himura Kenshin, battle opponents in an impressive display of sword play. I think he could even rival Yosho with just his speed and tenacity in battle."

"In the early 1900s, demonic entities appeared in Japan, effectively striking fear and chaos around the country. My sensors went up when certain powered individuals banded together and went back to battle the Darkness as they called it. I went on to investigate, and found the group hiding out in a large amphitheater, which to my delight was sheer genius. They also made great plays, which I found out when I decided to stay a bit and gather data. I was also fascinated by the mecha they used, which they called Kobu. What you dubbed as Ki, or internal energy powered it. After several months of battles, they finally pinpointed the root of evil in the old castle Edo. They managed to defeat the evil.  
just barely, but defeated nonetheless..."

"After the World War Two, a new kind of entity appeared. They were dubbed Invaders, and the information was kept from public eyes. Japan created an undercover elite group called AEGIS, specific in defending the Earth against the Invaders. The AEGIS was made up of special people,  
who were able to gather and release attacks from another dimension,  
which were called Gate Powers. These special people were called Gate Keepers. At first, it was thought that the Invaders were aliens from another world, that which caused me to get really interested in it anyway. But later I found out, and I guess they did too, that the Invaders were transformed humans having excessive negative energy. Their final adversary turned out to be an evil Gate Keeper, who tried to conquer the world. In the end, the evil Gate Keeper was defeated eventually, along with the countless Invaders he summoned."

"So anyway, the shrine itself became Yosho's after he married a Terran named Itsuki, under the guise of Katsuhito. This happened more or less three Earth centuries after you disappeared."

"They had two daughters, Achika and Nodoka, whom both have considerable powers of Jurai. However, Nodoka didn't finish her own training, making her powers miniscule and dormant at best. Nodoka eloped with a martial artist, and was not heard from as of yet. Achika however manifested hers once, forced to use them to defeat a certain evil that was made up of anti-Juraian energy. She died a few years after Tenchi's birth."

"Some people also discovered some ancient ruins located in China, Tokyo,  
as well as somewhere in a remote island located west of Japan. I went there to investigate, and found that they were ancient alien civilizations that probably crashed on Earth approximately eight hundred fifty years or so. I decided not to breach a certain barrier that seemed to have kept the whole ruin under tight wraps, but there are artifacts in there in gigantic proportions. How big, I found out years later."

"Soon, Tenchi grew up strong as his Juraian heritage manifested nicely,  
although he had no idea what they were. When he finally reached the age of maturity, his powers were already in a nice level. Not enough to give Yosho, rather, Katsuhito a hard challenge, but still commendable. He was a bit of a pacifist somewhat, but he defended his family and friends in times of need. Anyway, suddenly a Juraian Dreadnought appeared out of the sky, and started attacking for some reason. That was when my own ship, the recreated Soja, fired back automatically, crippling the ship and making it crash into the lake that's located near the shrine."

"We found out later that the ship was Ryu-Oh, the royal battleship of Princess Ayeka of Jurai, together with her younger sister Sasami who were in search of their half-brother and Ayeka's fiance, Yosho. Well,  
Yosho talked to me before I got to talk to Ayeka, and somehow got me to promise not to reveal his real self as of yet. We told Ayeka that Yosho was dead, and that he died of old age. Ayeka was in denial, but finally understood when Tenchi produced the Tenchi-ken. The two princesses and their guardians, Azaka and Kamidake, stayed in the now dubbed Masaki Shrine."

"It was during this time that the alien ruins I mentioned earlier came to light. It turned out to be giant war machines, which for some reason were powered with the advanced knowledge of Ki. They called it Life Sympathy, which involved the pilot's state of mind, as well as the ferocity to live through the battle. The ruins were split into two groups, one group was the Rara Army led by a certain Professor Rara, who took the ruins that were located in that remote island outside Japan.  
The Tokyo ruins were claimed by the Global Defense Force, led by a scientist named Sanada Ken. The scientists were also trying to prove the existence of the parallel world, which we both know actually existed.  
The two groups eventually clashed against each other for superiority over the artifacts recovered from the digs. The artifacts were the war machines their selves, and were used in the battle. I heard that the Global Defense Force acquired a pilot that reached a high negative Life Sympathy reading, and from some sources it says that the pilot was from the parallel world... probably the same world you came from. By the way,  
it's not that positive Life Sympathy was weak, but the negative Life Sympathy somewhat exudes this extra power because it is like a desperation attack. You do know how powerful one becomes when he or she gets desperate."

"Check this... I found that the alien artifacts and the Manticores exhibit the same characteristics. In fact, the artifacts specifically from the Rara Army strongly suggest familiarity with each other. The artifacts the Global Defense Force claimed were under-developed and slightly weaker, but I contained some knowledge regarding them anyway.  
So they used this knowledge to recreate some of the artifacts and make copies. They also managed to unearth and revive a near-death alien specimen from the ruins. They gave it a body of a robot... a bioroid.  
an almost robotic replica of the human body, so that it can move and act like humans."

"I was tempted to step in when both sides managed to bring the world I was trying to save into near destruction. Their excessive usage of the artifacts caused the spatial distortion between the parallel world and the original one to expand greatly. It sped up the process that should've taken at least a hundred years or more, which would give me time to stabilize the two worlds at least until you find the source."

"An unlikely source of help appeared in the form of a meteor that fell into Antarctica, which was dubbed the Second Impact. The war between the global Defense Force and the Rara Army was halted immediately. I still don't know if it was good or bad at that time, but when I did realize the significance I was too late. The polar ice caps melted and flooded nearly 90 of the world, and left most islands underwater. Millions of people died needlessly that time, and it really bugged me. When I investigated it, I found out that the meteor was in fact a living being.  
Humans kept it to themselves after it was discovered, and it was called Adam. I think it was around the year 2000 at that time."

"Around fifteen years after that Second Impact, other unique copies of the alien artifacts found in the ruins appeared, but a lot bigger than its predecessors. They were called Evangelions, which was still driven based on the Life Sympathy of the pilots. They were created out of the technology extracted from the earlier models of mecha, and combined with some DNA from the meteor that fell in Antarctica. But this time, certain children could pilot it, not all. The pilots have to 'synchronize' with the EVAs before they could even 'will' it to move... at least more than fifteen percent synchronization. These Evangelion Units appeared so that they could fight another type of invaders, which were suspiciously called Angels for some reason. These Angels have a special shield called an AT Field. Only a stronger AT Field or certain attacks of the Evangelion could penetrate this shield, also dubbed as a Divine Armor.  
The EVA units themselves have this special field as well."

"As always, there was a motive behind these attacks, as well as certain dark secrets from the defenders themselves. The Angels were supposed to be a test from the gods, to judge if humanity was fit to survive in the future. The defenders, particularly their leaders, have their own agenda. The only thing I got out of it was something called the Human Compliment Project. Well, they won, barely, and the instigators of the said project failed for some reason."

"After the Angel Wars, the world was still left in shambles. Soon,  
technology picked up once again, and Earth was able to construct a magnificent Space Ring outside of the Earth's orbit. It housed thousands of people, which was ideal while the planet replenished itself."

"I was in space at that time when Yosho, Tenchi and Ayeka disappeared,  
as well as Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki's cryo-chambers. Sasami was back in Jurai,  
having been recalled for a bit by her mother Misaki. I tried looking for them, Ranma-chan, but they vanished without a trace. It was then that the Earth unified its government into one ruling party."

"Earth sent out space explorers to search other planets to colonize. One such vessel disappeared near Jupiter, where it consisted of a whole family of explorers. The father, mother, two brothers and one sister,  
and the other members of the household like personal trainers and such all disappeared. Later, one came back to Earth, who for some reason lost all his memories. The only thing he knows was just that the Venomoids,  
which was the alien menace that conquered the space exploration team,  
planned to attack and populate the Earth with their spores and such. You see, they were like alien spider crabs and the like."

"Back to the one that came back to the Earth, he crash-landed on the planet without any pod whatsoever. He had amnesia, but he remembered his name as Blade. He demanded to be taken back to space, so that he may stop the Venomoid attack. After hijacking a vessel, he set out to space and transformed into this Teknoman. Apparently, those alien invaders kidnapped the whole family and were the first to be transformed into their footsoldiers, but Blade got away just in time before the process was completed. He revealed that there was another Teknoman leading the Venomoids in battle, who goes by the name of Darkan. Two battlesuits were created out of the designs from the old Earth files, combined with the knowledge about Blade's own Teknosuit. After countless battles and other enemy Teknomen that the group from Earth defeated, they finally took the fight to Darkan's base on the dark side of the Moon. The battle was long and fierce, but they finally won. Blade disappeared after that,  
and reappeared after another threat appeared, but this was some of the recesses from the conflict he just managed to defeat."

"The Earth finally reconstructed the Space Ring, but it was divided into five parts. They called them Colonies, and were immediately settled in by some people from Earth. The people on the planet were later called Earthnoids, while the ones in space were Spacenoids. New war machines emerged, which were called mobile suits. A lot of conflicts rose between the Earthnoids and the Spacenoids, who disputed who should be the ruler of the planet and the territories themselves. More powerful machines called Gundams were built. Those piloted most of the Gundams were from space, because of their special ability. After living in space for some time, the Spacenoids developed their mind in an advanced degree. They developed ESP powers, which was in turn used to pilot the Gundams efficiently. It is said that the Gundams were effective because of their much fluid movements and faster reaction time, because of the mindlink between the pilot and the mecha. These people were called Newtypes, and they were the best of the best in piloting mobile suits."

"The most famous of the Gundam pilots was Amuro Rei, who was the first Gundam pilot ever produced. He was revered all over because he did what he thought was right, and he defended the Earth from the invading Spacenoids. His rival and nemesis was Aznable Char, whom was rumored to have died with Amuro during their battle in space. But they both reappeared together on the same team when another conflict arose,  
gathering allies. What's surprising was that there were other mechas that seemed to have joined in the defense of everything. Behind everything that has happened, there was a huge plot involved, and both Earthnoids and the Spacenoids were the culprit. For some weird reason,  
they seem to have been intensifying the conflict further. Also, after some time, new threats appeared. Aliens such as Zentraedi, Boazam,  
Andromedans... as well as Earth enemies like the Guests and more."

"Anyway, it was a spectacular battle. It was called the legendary Robot Wars. Every mecha on Earth gathered together and battled the enemies.  
The Gundams, Mazinger Z, Raideen, Dancougar, Combattler V, Daimos,  
Voltes V, Grandaizer, Gunbuster, Dunbine, Macross, and lots of others.  
they all banded together, even the elusive Personal Trooper Type Robots and the dreaded Hukkebine. Even though they were severely outgunned and outnumbered, the home team won, and restored the meager peace that was destroyed when the attackers launched."

"Before you ask, no... the Saiyajin you told me about didn't come to Earth for some reason. But there WAS a Saiyajin who touched down in the end of World War 2, but you told me he was kidnapped, right? Well, he wasn't, and was able to return to his home world without any hassles at all. It seems that your appearance as well as your disappearance might've been tied to everything this world has and since you disappeared, everything came falling apart. The Earth became vulnerable,  
although there were still some heroes, they just barely managed to defeat the enemy. With the disappearance of Yosho and everyone, Earth was open season."

"I had no chance in investigating this further, because the first prototypes of Paeksis Cores suddenly appeared. Earth began to send colony ships to different star systems to find places that support life.  
The first one was stolen by me, then I installed it into one of the colony ships that was about to be used in transporting people to another star system for safekeeping. The second one stayed on Earth, in the hands of the Earth Council that was formed as a unified government over the planet. The third was also sent to another star system, but it was a different type of Paeksis. While the other two cores were manufactured,  
this one was a natural Paeksis core that suddenly appeared. I lost track of it once it went out to space, because I was busy securing the first one."

"That was when the REAL problem exposed itself. Nobody really noticed that the Prime Minister, who was the global leader of Earth as well, was replaced by a perfect double. It was until everything was hectic due to the after effects of the wars which ravaged the planet that the Prime Minister turned out to be none other than Kagato himself! You remember him, right? The one who kidnapped Ryoko, brainwashed her, and sent her to attack Jurai to claim Tsunami's space tree. It was also him that imprisoned be for thousands of years in the Soja, my own ship! The Earth was easily subdued, and he gloated to me that he was the one who created the Paeksis Cores. I really didn't understand it, nor did I want to listen to him, but he said that those cores mean everything to me.  
Seeing the situation on Earth turn as it is, I escaped to Pluto, where I found some of the earlier colonists. I gave them a copy of this message so that if ever you turn up somewhere, I'd be certain to deliver this to you. I will leave this place soon, in order to conduct my search elsewhere, at the same time hiding from Kagato, as weird as it may sound. I am the best, but I do know when to run when the odds are against me."

"Once you open this message, it automatically sends a feedback signal that will communicate with my own ship. It will act as a homing beacon so that I will be informed that you have been found, and that I will come to you as soon as possible. Ranma, you must return to Earth and defeat Kagato. He is a plague that must be destroyed. I will join you as soon as I can."

Ranma could only blink as the image of Washuu smiled sunnily and waved enthusiastically at him. Even when the screen darkened, he still stared at the blank small screen.

He finally got himself together when he muttered, "That was a really long explanation." As an afterthought, he added, "That was really weird."

Ranma sobered as he set the small disk player aside. His thoughts were wild and in a disarray because of the load of information that trickled in his mind as of late. But there was one particular thought that nagged in his head, and that was Ryoko.

"Damn it." He muttered to himself. Ranma's disappearance threw the universe in a loop, and he felt responsible for the mess it caused. Most especially, he felt saddened when Ryoko disappeared.

Ranma's eyes hardened as he replaced his shades over his eyes once again. He will find her for sure.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Everyone looked up from their planning in the Meeting Room as Ranma entered it without any preamble, with Rin-Ohki perched on top of his head. Barnette was about to lash out at the pigtailed boy when she finally noticed the serious look on his face. Magno looked at him curiously, as well as BC. Jura was rather surprised at his sudden appearance. Parfait was staring at him, because she saw the pained look on his face. Gascogne looked on in interest, while Duero and Paiway stood on one side, curiosity reflecting on their faces as well. Bart sat haphazardly against two seats, bored out of his wits. Other female faces looked at him as well, but Ranma didn't really remember all their names.  
He knew they were part of the crew that manned the command center with Magno and BC. Dita and Hibiki were no where to be found. Misty and Meia looked worried at the visibly troubled Ranma, which tugged at their hearts for some reason.

Ranma breathed in deeply as he said in a calm but strained voice. "I wish to return to Planet Earth."

"WHAT!" More than several voiced their protest in that word. However,  
Magno waved her hand in the air to get their attention once again, and faced Ranma.

"Boy..." Magno began, shifting her weight on her staff, "You must understand that this is a rather highly unprecedented request. I mean,  
we have our own problems to see through. You see, our planets are going to be attacked by the Earth's forces soon, and we need to get there as soon as possible to save our homes." The other people inside the room nodded in agreement.

The pigtailed boy sighed. "I need to go to Earth and stop the whole thing. No offense, but I think your planets are already attacked, and are probably floating debris right now."

Shouts of indignation and anger rose in the air. Gascogne shook her head and commented, "Still, we need to go back and make sure. Who knows?  
Maybe our home worlds are still in one piece."

Ranma shook his head vehemently. Suddenly, he stiffened as he stood straight. Unknown to everyone, Ranma was now communicating with Rin-Ohki, who was telling him to get her a copy of the area map the Nirvana has seen so far.

Turning to Parfait, he said, "Can you give me a copy of the star systems in this area? I really need to go back to Earth."

"Why?" BC finally spoke. "Why do you need to return to Earth so much?"

Ranma swiveled his gaze to her. "It's complicated."

BC stepped forward boldly, challenging his words. "Try explaining."

Ranma was about to argue, but a meek but firm voice interrupted from his side. "Ranma, please just explain it."

Everyone turned and saw Meia staring at Ranma pointedly and evenly. The boy in turned just sagged and wilted at Meia's weird gaze.

Ranma finally told them, explained most of the weird circumstance that revolved around his appearance in this place, rather, this time. Still,  
Ranma hadn't told them about his special abilities, and a small meaningful gaze on Meia communicated to keep their conversations before a secret. After a narration of his recent encounter with Washuu's invention, the whole area was silent, save for the hum of the Nirvana's engines. Everyone adopted a stunned look on their faces, save Meia and Misty, who just looked on with amusement at their companions'  
expressions.

"You... you came from the Past!" Parfait asked giddily, the thought of having met someone who survived a trip through time made her curiosity run amok.

Misty nodded sagely. "So... Washuu-sensei was correct then. I assume you're the same person she's been searching for so long."

"I guess so." Ranma said slowly.

"Should we really believe all those things you said?" Barnette asked rhetorically.

Misty fielded that question. "Yes, he is. I didn't really know the real story back then, but Washuu-sensei explained that Ranma was involved in an accident that threw him somewhere in the space-time continuum. She wasn't sure if he was sent forward, backward, or even in another dimension. She mentioned something about Ranma's chaotic tendencies or something..."

BC would've reacted too, but Magno's unresponsive face proved that the old woman did have some suspicion about Ranma's origins already. The knowledge was probably from when Misty mentioned knowing him long before she was sent to space.

Everyone jumped when the alarms blared loudly.

The enemies have been spotted.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The crew gawked at the screen as they watched the gigantic Seed ship going towards them at cruising speed. Thousands of smaller cube drones surrounded the large capital ship, as well as several different versions of Vandread drones. The whole screen was filled with red dots, as well as the dark yellow hide of the main ship that seemed to be three-fourths larger than the Nirvana.

Ranma on the other hand narrowed his eyes at the ship. He already knew how outnumbered the Nirvana was, and this just takes the cake! It was rather a bit of overkill for Earth to send this large piece of.  
something... to go after the ship he was on.

He watched intently as the battle finally ensued outside. A large assortment of Dreads was in battle formation around the Nirvana. The Dreads were many, but the drones still hugely outnumbered them. Hibiki's Vanguard and Dita's Dread by now have combined to form the gigantic blue Vandread mecha. Even Gascogne was in her own ship, joining the battle as well. Jura's red Dread was beside Barnette's own, as well as Meia's, and together they led the defense grid.

At first, the battle went smoothly for the defenders, because they were able to repel most of the drones that attacked. Even the Vandread clones were defeated after sometime, but Ranma couldn't help but feel his danger sense going crazy. Rin-Ohki was hissing softly as she arched her back on his head.

After a while, the speed of the attackers went up as well as their numbers, immediately battering the hapless Dreads. Meia took a hit when she was momentarily distracted by something, and was taken inside the Nirvana by Gascogne. She was immediately sent to the medical lab, but she promised before she went inside that she was going to come back and fight again. Ranma was tempted to visit her, but Duero communicated in the comms that the med lab was off limits for now. So Ranma stayed put in the main room, intently watching the fight.

Ranma looked around the battlefield, trying to locate the source of his uneasiness. His gaze finally settled on the unmoving capital ship.

"The mother ship is not moving..." Ranma muttered loudly, enough to be heard by those around him.

BC turned to him quickly and asked, "What's the matter, Ranma?"

The boy continued to stare at the monstrosity outside. "The big ship is not moving, not even firing any of its armaments. All it's doing is sitting there and... waiting."

"Waiting for what?" One of the crew on the room asked.

Ranma shook his head. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's something really big. If I try and read it like a martial arts competition, the big ship is like a observing fighter, and the little attackers are just probes to prod on our defenses. It's like we're attacking blindly and foolishly, not minding what the other is thinking."

Magno sat on the captain's chair, busy in glaring at the huge behemoth that was stationary in front of the Nirvana. "I think Ranma is correct in his assessment... tell the others to be careful and keep their eyes open for any tricks."

BC gasped loudly. "You mean..."

"Yeah..." Ranma nodded. "We're being observed, and the defensive posture will most likely disappear later, once our defenses were studied extensively. Then that big ship will attack, and looking at its size, I think we're in for a slaughter in our hands. We will lose if we continue to fight recklessly like this..." He paled slightly when he saw something outside. "I think it's a little too late..." He said faintly.

Everyone turned from Ranma to the screen and watched as the big Seed ship move slightly sideways. The sensors finally beeped into attention,  
displaying the ship's new statistics to everyone. It turned out that the Seed ship's sides were riddled with high-powered laser cannons that could penetrate their shields without any problem.

The Harvest ship's sides suddenly lit up and fired huge red beams of energy towards the Dreads, dismantling most of them. Luckily enough Barnette's Dread survived with considerable damages, but Vandread Dita was separated when the beam hit it. Jura's own Dread was damaged severely, as well as her own body as it was jolted violently inside the cockpit as she was hit. Her cry of surprise and pain filled the comms,  
taking her best friend Barnette into a berserker rage.

Before any of them could do anything, a green beam encompassed each of their Dreads, pulling them away from the Seed ship's side. It seemed that Gascogne's ship was equipped with a special device called 'Tractor Beam' where it can lock on to any ships incapable of fighting, so that it may be pulled away from danger. Gascogne decided that it was enough and beamed most of the ships, but Barnette's ship was a special case.  
The inventory manager used the pincer-like appendages from her ship and grabbed Barnette's ship on a tight hold, disabling the damaged Dread totally. Barnette's angry voice echoed all over the comms that she still wanted to fight. Ranma and the rest of the crew left in the Nirvana winced when Gascogne and Barnette bickered back and forth across the comm channel.

Ranma and the rest of the crew left in the ship blinked as Bart was forcefully pulled out of the navigator console. At the same time, the ship turned fast and escaped the other way.

"Who told you to escape!" Magno stood up angrily as she glared on the ejected Talaark navigator.

"I didn't do it!" Bart exclaimed urgently. "It was the ship!"

In the engine room, Parfait stared at the frantically glowing Paeksis core, which has more patches of red in it.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Parfait whispered to herself.

After the ones who battled went back inside the Nirvana after the lost fight, the bickering among the pilots became worse. They were currently on stand by in case the Harvest ship from Earth caught up with them. It wasn't long before that happened though.

They were inside the medical labs, where Jura, Dita, Hibiki, Barnette,  
and strangely enough Gascogne were talking. Well Barnette, Hibiki and Gascogne were fighting one another, it seems. Duero, Paiway and Ranma were doing a good impression of nonchalance at the scene, trying to blend with the background.

The doctor and his assistant were busy patching Jura up, who suffered some burns because of the hit she took earlier. Ranma just watched the confrontation, unable to think of anything to pacify everyone in the room. He knew how each side felt, so he was trapped in the middle. He thinks both sides were right in some aspects.

"Why did you pull me out of the battle, Gascogne!" Barnette growled out as she glared angrily on the muscled girl leaning on the wall. Behind her, Hibiki growled his agreement to the question as well.

Gascogne didn't even flinch, as she was subjected to two scathing glares. "It is my duty to keep you out of danger. I took stock of the situation, and made a decision to pull you out."

"I could've taken them on!" Barnette insisted, standing up from her sitting position a while ago. Her fists were clenching and unclenching as she continued shouting at Gascogne. "You shouldn't have done that!"

"My, isn't it convenient..." Hibiki's voice sarcastically cut in the conversation. "For you who doesn't have to go to the front lines and fight, you just have no idea how we feel, don'cha?" He sneered at Gascogne.

Ranma shook his head as he grimaced. He knew he spoke before he thought of it before, now that he hears it from others, it really doesn't sound all that good. Sure enough, Gascogne finally moved and smacked Hibiki's face with her fist, her face in a deep scowl. For a moment, Ranma thought he saw unshed tears gathering in her eyes.

"How dare you..." Gascogne growled out as she clutched on Hibiki's collar.

Ranma immediately shuffled himself out of the room, all the while trying to blend on the walls. He didn't want to be there when the bomb of anger exploded in that room.

Nope, not at all.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The alarms rang again as the enemy was spotted. It was still the same mother ship, but the drones were fully recovered and were now flying towards the Nirvana at full speed.

The Nirvana's Dreads met the attackers head on. As per the earlier attack, the gigantic Harvester ship was stationary, waiting for them to lose their focus and their attention towards that particular ship.

Vandread Dita immediately launched their attacks on the main ship. As usual, the Harvester ship's side opened up and fired a volley of red beams towards the Vandread, crippling them once again. Same tactic, same mistakes...

They floated helplessly along space as the enemy mother ship prepared to fire another volley of lasers. Suddenly, Gascogne's ship appeared to shield Dita's Dread and the Vanguard, much to their surprise.

Inside the Nirvana, Ranma quickly grabbed Rin-Ohki by the scruff of her neck and handed her to BC, who was still sitting shell-shocked on her seat. The sub-commander blinked as she felt Rin-Ohki's fur against her dark skin. She looked up and saw Ranma's face in a tight scowl.

"W-What's this for?" BC gestured to the cabbit.

Ranma looked down on her. "Keep her safe for the moment. I have no choice but to do something about this."

"But what can you... WHAT THE HELL!" BC shouted as she stood up in surprise, reflexively clutching as the cabbit. The rest of the crew's reactions were the same as Ranma softly smiled, his eyes reflected sorrow and for some reason, a little fear. The boy slowly dematerialized from in front of the slack-jawed crew.

Outside the Nirvana, the battle was coming to a dramatic close, with everyone that fought watching in horror as the huge red beam lanced towards Gascogne's hapless ship. Not that it was really undefended,  
because it probably has the strongest shielding of all the ships available in Nirvana. Gascogne worked as supply after all, and her job required her to rush into the middle of battle to refuel everyone, so she might be a definite target of elimination for the enemies. But the firepower surging towards her right now is too much even for her heavy shields.

Gascogne will die.

Inside the supply ship, Gascogne knew that as well. Actually, before she left the Nirvana, she already felt that tug of death in her mind. Hibiki and Barnette's words hurt like hell, but she can't really blame them.  
Due to the nature of her job, she was required to just sit back and watch as everyone went on their merry way. She knew they didn't really mean what they said, because she too suffered a lot of losses in the past. Her older sister's death brought back painful memories in her head, but she welcomed them. She could feel herself blaming her own for not being able to help her sister. It was just a doorway apart, but that little distance cost Gascogne her sister. The sense of loss was evident in her, and she strove not to let that happen again. She saw her friends in deep trouble, and they were basically defenseless. The Harvester ship's hull was really tough, not even Vandread Dita's cannons could penetrate it. A plan formulated in her mind, and it was simple. Have her own ship rush in and put a huge gaping hole at its side.

Yes, all for her friends... to protect them from an early death.

That was why she was smiling as her ship raced into the much bigger ship's outer hull. She was already past the point of no return, not that she ever wanted to anyway. She welcomed her death.

Just as her ship was about to hit, a mop of black covered her vision,  
bathed in a soft light blue glow that seemed to be simply divine in nature. She had wondered if this was death, but she felt a soft warmth as something hugged her. Everything vanished before her eyes afterwards.

The communications channel was silent as they watched Gascogne's ship collide with the Harvest ship. It exploded fantastically, but it was still not enough for it to do much damage to the Harvest ship anyway.  
But the impact point left a gaping hole, but it was still small compared to the overall size of the Harvest ship.

The silence stretched from the moment of impact to when the lit fumes of the explosion finally ebbed.

Loud wails filled the comms as the realization of Gascogne's demise finally settled down. BC announced loudly about her order of retreat,  
which some had some reluctance in following, but then with no other things to do, they did it anyway.

Back in the operations room of the Nirvana, everyone screamed in shock as something materialized on the deck of the ship. Two figures actually,  
one was Ranma, who disappeared only minutes ago, and the other was.  
Gascogne! The girl was cradled in Ranma's arms. The boy lay her on the floor and let himself fall backwards on his back, panting.

"GASCO-SAN!" Several voices screamed as the deck flurried into motion.  
They left their posts as they gathered around the dazed Gascogne.

"I... I'm still... alive?" Gascogne asked lividly as she stared blankly around her, as if trying to see if everything was real.

Ezra was the first to move, who immediately wrapped her arms around the older girl, sobbing. "Gasco-san! You're alive! We thought you were dead!"

"B-But... h-h-how!" Magno asked to no one in particular as she stared wide-eyed at her crewmember.

Gascogne shook her head. "I... I have no idea! I was there, watching as the whole thing's wall came fast towards me... then something appeared in right front of me, protecting me form the blast... then I'm here!  
What happened...!"

Nobody really had an answer to that, until a loud miyah interrupted their impromptu celebration. The cabbit in BC's arms managed to squirm out of the hold and floated towards her master, who was lying somewhere nearby. Rin-Ohki approached Ranma and nudged her nose unto his face.

Ranma opened his eyes and stared at the deck ceiling. "I'm okay,  
Rin-chan... just exhausted. I kinda did two tiring things at once.  
Need... to rest."

"You did this?" An old voice said as Ranma turned his head to one side,  
managing to keep his glasses on his face for some reason, and gazed at Magno thoughtfully.

"I... can't let her die now, can I?" Ranma asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

BC shook her head. "These things you do... they're just not possible!"

The boy just sighed as he gazed up to the ceiling once again, allowing his eyes to close slowly. "It is... now."

"Commander! Gasco-san is... Gasco-san is...!" Dita's teared-up face appeared on the viewing screen in front of the deck. Apparently, nobody outside has yet to know of Gascogne's survival.

Magno turned to the big screen as she finished staring at the pigtailed boy. Mustering barely enough dignity in her voice, she addressed Dita,  
"Gascogne's fine, Dita. She's right here with us." She pointed to the slightly muscled young woman, who was looking down on the unconscious form of Ranma. Actually, all of them were staring at what was connected to Ranma's backside, which by now became visible. It was a red tail, and it was twitching a while ago.

The crew continued to stare at the appendage as they virtually ignored the frantic cries of everyone who were out in the battle. The ones fighting were very happy to know Gascogne managed to survive the explosion, so happy that they didn't even think of asking how that happened. All they knew was everything's all right.

Well, there will be time for that later.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere in Ranma's mind...

He looked around him as he was surrounded by the vastness of space. He looked down on himself and saw his appearance, but he wasn't prepared for the surprise it hid. He wasn't wearing the usual Chinese clothing,  
but rather a modest silver vest that hugged his slightly muscled frame.  
Silver bracers that shone against some imaginary light decorated his arms. His pants were replaced by an overly large pair of dark magenta pants that bloomed on his ankles, which felt like silk to him for some reason. His skin was pale against the black cloak that encircled over his shoulders.

For some reason, Ranma felt himself drift forwards, and found himself amidst a battle of epic proportions. Thousands of discarded weapons,  
broken and not, and also some bodies of dead individuals that might've died in the conflict floated past him. His eyes narrowed at the people in front of him. He felt their evil intentions, which was so tangible that it can be cut with a bread knife. Behind him, a group of more human-looking people also gathered.

Two people were at his sides. On his right was a seemingly bishonen man with ice blue eyes and long flowing light blue hair to match that reached up to his lower back. He wore a golden armor around his torso,  
and wielded a large broadsword with his right hand. On his forehead were two small circular golden gems that glowed faintly against the dark background of space. On his left was a blonde haired woman with jade eyes looking back at him fondly. On her forehead were two dark circular gems that were contrast to the ones the person on his right had on his forehead. On her cheeks were, surprisingly, star-shaped tattoos that seemed to have been comical, if not for the seriousness of the situation before them. Her personage reeks of sexiness and beauty, as her body was in perfect proportions. Her skin was dark in color, and her chest was covered in a slimmer, visibly lighter version of the armor the person on the left wore, and it was also darker in color. On her hands was an oversized mace that was seemingly quite appropriate for her for some reason.

In front of his own entourage, several figures of giants seemed to be unfazed of all the gore around them. They were in the vicinity of a large rainbow-colored planet, to which Ranma thinks that it was caused by the atmosphere. Four of the giants were mounted on what seemed to be like horses, but they were grotesque and much more horrifying than the ones Ranma knew. The 'horses' had Ram's horns on their heads, and their large bulky bodies were riddled with spikes along the sides. For some reason, the fact didn't seem to faze their even scarier looking riders.  
The mounts have three pairs of legs, and have a dark leathery hide. It looked like the horse his companion had before, but they left the glorious white mount in the stables back in the planet down below... or was it up? The mount's name was Sleipner, and it was already transferred in another location when the conflict arose. In space perspective, one can never know. At the far back, the largest of the giants held his gigantic two-sided battleaxe, which seemed to gleam against the meager light the planet reflected from the star it was revolving around on.  
There were others surrounding him, but were much smaller in size though still bigger than he was anyway. They were floating in the area where the light doesn't expose much, hiding them in as much shadow as it could. Not that it mattered, because their aura were blazing so hotly that it was creating an effect that made them look scarier. The powers they have were staggering.

Ranma felt himself speak in a language he didn't understand, and his body moved without his permission. He felt himself a passenger in this dream, or was it a memory? Was it his? If it was, why does it appear now?

He was speaking and gesturing to his companions at his sides. The man was shocked when Ranma said whatever he has to say then it turned to sorrow, then finally acceptance, while the woman grew angry and was yelling at him in a desperate way. Her eyes were pleading, trying to tell him not to do what he was saying. He felt his feelings falter for a moment, but then his expression hardened again as he traced the woman's face with his black-gloved finger. Having said his piece, Ranma, or rather whoever he was in this dream, turned to the giants and gathered an ominous energy that seemed to send chills up and down his spine. With a determined look on his face, Ranma materialized the energy in front of him, forming a dark ball that seemed to absorb everything, even the light was sucked into it.

Once again, a dainty female hand grabbed Ranma's arm. He turned and saw the woman once again, pleading him for something. She was probably pleading for him to stop. He just shook his head and barked out a command, to which the woman reluctantly followed as she back away with the other person on his side before. The others that were behind them finally followed the departing two, each giving him a respectful glance before backing away as well.

He saw that his enemies (yes, he figured they were enemies since his group seemed to be glaring at the assembly in front of them) were shouting in protest and were aligning themselves for the best defense.  
Ranma noticed that the enemies put their weaker-looking troops in front of them, as if using them as a shield to whatever he was doing. But he felt that he doesn't have to pay the action any attention as he focused on putting all of his energy into the dark globe of force in front of him. He closed his eyes began to chant in that language he can't understand again.

Ranma opened his eyes and stated a name that he said in a different language, but for some weird reason he understood it anyway. It was the only words he could understand in what he said.

His aura shone bright silver as the black ball of power enlarged into several times from before. The cackle of an occasional lightning coursed all over the ball, which upped the intimidation factor. But everyone around nervously backed away as they recognized the power of Creation and Destruction in that sphere of energy.

Finally as everything inside Ranma felt all drawn out to the ball, he staggered to one side, still holding the ball aloft with his left hand as his right clutched at his chest. With a glare sent to his enemies, he stated the name that everyone clearly understood and heard, no matter how far they were.

"Chaotic... Disruption."

And with those words, the huge ball of darkness launched itself from Ranma, engulfing the now fleeing army of the giants. The ball swiftly absorbed all of them, dragging them into its dark confines. But it didn't stop there, as the ball continued on its merry way and streaked towards the rainbow-colored planet.

To his allies' horror, the energy he released slowly enlarged itself as it absorbed the whole planet into itself, not leaving anything... not even a speck of dust from it. Everything disappeared, except the halted ball of darkness that seemed to float in place of the planet.

Seeing his work done, Ranma or rather, his other self slowly lost consciousness, but he could feel his elation and the smile etched on his face as he felt himself slowly fade away.

As he was about to find out, Ranma was brought in the Medical Room after he collapsed on the deck.

Ranma slowly opened his eyes as his dream slowly dissipated. He blinked owlishly for second, trying to wave the fogginess in his vision. He felt something furry scamper to his side, rubbing itself into his arms. He smiled gently, knowing exactly who it was.

"Ranma?" A rather familiar voice called to him softly. "Are you okay,  
Ranma?"

Ranma blinked once more, and sure enough the fuzziness in his eyes lifted. He saw a mop of light blue hair in his line of vision looking down on him. He cocked his head to one side slightly, asking, "Uhmm.  
Meia-san?" He shook his head slowly, eliciting a wince on his face. The action brought some painful jolts in his brain, a residue of being drained of energy too much.

"How... how long was I asleep?" Ranma asked softly.

Meia sighed and said, "About sixty-four hours at least. You were in deep sleep that long..."

Ranma groaned. It was probably not a good idea to do two long-range teleports and the full activation of his shield to protect him and Gascogne from the explosion momentarily at the same time. The whole process drained him real badly. "Okay... so how did the battle go?"

Meia's face broke into a huge smile. "Surprisingly, we won after some planning. You see, Gascogne's 'supposed' suicide attack left a huge hole on that gigantic ship's hull, enabling us to enter it and install the virus from the information pod in Misty's probe. It wasn't easy though,  
because there was a gigantic mecha that seemed to have sprouted from the giant ship. It made things difficult for us for a while, but we managed to enter the ship while the others kept the giant robot busy. The inside was huge, and it was filled with self-defense mechanisms that were composed of thousands of turret lasers. Amazingly, we reached the core of the ship and had Pyoro install the virus for us. The machines finally stopped moving, and remained stationary in space, all except the giant robot for some reason. We didn't expect it to move until it hit us dead on with its cannons. We thought we were gonna die, and we let Barnette,  
who was with us at that time, to go and escape with Pyoro. We didn't want to lose, and that feeling was so strong that it enabled us to transform all three Dreads and the Vanguard into one Super Vandread. We formed a sword by experimenting the buttons and finally defeated the enemy."

Ranma frowned, looking at Meia intently. "You were not hurt, were you?"

The look on Ranma's face brought a small blush on Meia's cheeks. She replied meekly, "Well, we weren't hurt that much, especially after we defeated the robot. We were kinda happy after that." ((No need to tell him that I wanted to live and win because I wanted to see him again,  
right?))

"Alright." Ranma nodded. As he sat up, gasps of surprise were heard from around him. He saw a lot of faces peering at him, some in curiosity,  
while some in fear and disgust.

Ranma cocked his head to one side and commented, "What did I do? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Meia smiled slightly as she explained, "Ranma... your glasses were removed earlier."

The boy shrugged. "So? If my glasses were... removed... oh." His eyes widened in realization. In reflex, he lifted his hand to his face to feel for the glasses, only to find that it was indeed removed. Not that they blamed them, but still, the looks they were giving him were too weird.

Ranma finally got fed up of the staring and huffed, "I know my eyes are not normal, but you don't have to stare at me like I'm some kind of monster or something."

"We do deserve the full explanation, don't you think so, Ranma-san"  
Magno said with a smirk. It seems that the old woman wasn't really that surprised at this.

Ranma looked at Meia helplessly, asking silently for help. But the blue-haired girl just shrugged a little, saying, "What harm could it do?  
You can't hide it anymore anyway. Just accept it, you're busted."

The pigtailed boy just sighed in response, and proceeded to tell them everything about his life. He skipped his childhood, but he did explain the real phenomenon of how he got to their time in the first place, and told them of his alien blood. He still hasn't told them much about his skills, because he wanted to reserve some secrets for himself. The looks he got from Duero, Parfait and surprisingly Paiway were nothing short of maddened glee. Dita was cheery as always and a bit smug, declaring she knew all along that Ranma was a 'Mister Alien', much to his annoyance.  
Meia already knew most of it, while the others were silently assimilating the information given to them.

"A real live alien..." Dita said breathlessly, her eyes were shining in happiness. It seems her pursuit of being the first one to make contact with UFO people were fulfilled. Let her have that fantasy anyway.

The door for the infirmary silently slid open and accommodated a newly recovered Gascogne, with Misty by her side. Seeing everyone turned to look at her, Gascogne smiled and said, "I'm okay. I just wanna thank the one who saved me." She blinked when she saw Ranma though. Now that his glasses were off, she could clearly see his eyes, which were far from normal.

"Damn." Gascogne commented. "I won't be surprised if you say you're not human at all."

"That seems to be the case." BC responded on one side.

"Still..." Gascogne continued, "He saved my life. Human or not, I trust him."

Everyone turned to Misty expectantly, who just looked back at them evenly. "I've heard good stories about him. There's no reason I would not trust him."

"TRUST!" Barnette finally growled out. "Look at him! He's... he's.  
his eyes! Look at his eyes! Have you ever seen a human with that pair of eyes before! He has shining stones stuck on his forehead! He has a weird pet! And he has a tail for crying out loud!"

"Red, cuddly tail... to be exact." Ranma said sarcastically as Rin-Ohki climbed into his arms. He automatically cradled the small form into his body.

The others were about to comment as well, but Magno put a halt in that though. "In any case..." She began, "I don't see anything wrong with him staying. He saved Gascogne... and that is what's important."

She began to look thoughtful for a moment. "By the way, how DID you save Gascogne from inside the ship anyway?"

"Urk..." It was all Ranma said that was understandable before he babbled some nonsense, to which everyone sweatdropped heavily.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Things have become quite awkward after rumors of Ranma's weird powers came about. Most of the girls in the Nirvana eyed him with fear, and some with curiosity. Ranma just shrugged, already understanding their fear of the unknown. If they were afraid of getting in contact with men before, how can this be any different?

Besides, Ranma was usually alone anyway, so it didn't bother him much.  
Some of them like Meia, Misty, Dita and Gascogne weren't like the others, because they were still usually there to cheer him up some,  
despite the actions of others. Magno was also talking to him, but she was usually in her room or in the deck, and Ranma didn't want to go there for no reason at all.

Right now, Ranma was back in the greenhouse, which he thought to be his hangout place. He was currently wearing nothing for his torso, except that black and red battle suit that Washuu has constructed for him back in his time. Although he was wearing his black pants because he learned that his armor, while protecting his body perfectly, still molded against his body, leaving nothing to everyone's imagination. He was rather thrilled with the fact that he never has to worry about losing clothes, since the suit constantly reconstructs itself if ever it gets damaged. Also, the suit adjusts itself prior to his male and female forms.

Beside him was Meia, who was holding Ezra's baby. The little girl, who was the newest member of the crew, was named Karua, but that weird robot Pyoro kept on calling her 'Pyoro 2' much to Ezra's exasperation. Meia didn't know any of this, but the crew was planning a birthday party for her. Dita already whispered about it in Ranma's ears about distracting Meia for a while. The Dread team leader didn't like the idea of celebrating her birthday, so every year the crew planned this surprise party for her. Due to a rare ingenious plan hatched by the combined minds of Hibiki, Dita, Paiway and Duero, they thought of letting Meia take care of the baby as they continued on their activities without any hindrances. After making sure Meia wouldn't be able to escape via patrolling and locking herself inside the meeting room, the plan was going perfectly.

The baby made quite a ruckus a while ago, crying her heart's intent. For some reason, an instinctive compulsion led Ranma to take the baby into his arms himself, rocking the baby in slow tantalizing motions. Soon,  
the baby fell asleep with a small smile in her face. Who would've known Ranma has a hidden talent in keeping babies at bay? Or maybe it's a fluke...

Misty was with them until a few minutes ago, having been called into the radar room for her turn on duty. She took the job after Ranma suggested that she find something to do so that she could somehow feel at home in the ship. Her calling seems to have led her into the radar room.

Ranma heard a small sigh at his side. He deftly looked at his right and saw Meia having a far-away look in her eyes. It looked like she was thinking of something real bad to lose her concentration like this.

"You alright, Meia?" Ranma asked worriedly.

The girl's eyes snapped back into focus. "Huh? Oh Ranma... yeah I'm okay."

The boy snorted. "You're thinking about something. You can tell me you know."

Meia gazed at the boy in wonder. She still can't get over the enticing look Ranma's eyes have when you stare at them for too long. It looked like the yellowish full moon over a dark blue sky. Now those two wonderful eyes of his were hidden behind those dark glasses of his once again, to hide away from prying eyes. She also marveled at the trio of silvery orbs that sparkled every now and then on his forehead, mostly covered by the black bangs from his hair. She had seen him do feats that defy physical limitations, and she still didn't know if that was all he could do.

Ranma said softly, "Ezra has been called into the tactical room a while ago by BC."

Meia nodded. "I know. It has something to do with not spending too much time with her baby. Parfait told me about it, although I don't understand why. I mean, the others don't mind keeping the baby busy, and I know Pyoro won't mind at all. In fact, he spends the most time taking care of the baby anyway."

The boy just sighed. "That's the whole point though. Ezra should be the one taking care of the baby. She's her mother... and from what I experienced, growing up away from one's mother is not good for the child." Ranma sadly shakes his head. "My father took me away from my mother when I was barely walking, so I can't remember much about her. I have to trust and believe all the crap my father told me about her, so when I finally get to meet her, I was so terrified and confused at her that I almost pushed her away. A child should bask in its mother's love,  
so that a bond may form." He didn't notice it, but the three gems on his forehead glowed briefly.

Meia was a bit shell-shocked at what she heard. For some reason, she couldn't deny the truth in his words. She looked at him and saw the jewels on his forehead glowing. ((It must be the gems making him all introspective like that...)) she wondered in her mind. She shook her head briskly, banishing her thoughts about Ranma. "Everyone's planning something, aren't they?" She decided to change the topic, hoping for Ranma to take the bait.

And take the bait he did. Ranma used his best poker face, which we all know was bound to fail anyway. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Meia laughed slightly. "Don't worry. Every year when my birthday is near, they plan a surprise party for me. I just wished they didn't make a big deal out of it."

"They care about you, that's why they do it anyway." Ranma shrugged.

"I know..." Meia smiled. "But it's just a lot of work..."

"Well..." Ranma said, "They think it's worth it. As I said, you can't really blame them if they wanted to show you how much they care. Humor them anyway, you won't lose anything out of it, rather gain some food in the process."

He shifted slightly on his position. "You are lucky to have so many people caring for you to even remember your birthday."

Meia looked at Ranma oddly. "You sound jealous."

Ranma smiled sadly. "Partly, because they remembered your birthday, and they want to share their gratitude on your continued existence by celebrating it. I can't even remember my own birthday you know. Nobody back at home celebrated it, even my own family. I probably celebrated it when I was really small, but when I started my training trip, everything that doesn't pertain to the Art is neglected. My birthday is one of them..."

Ranma lay himself down on the grass he was on. "I have been alone most of my life, only my so-called father as a companion. And even with that the old man didn't do a good job with it, accompanying me I mean. I watched as he used his martial arts skills to pilfer and steal goods from various people. He used me as a bartering chip for his vices. That was why I feel so alone even though he was with me all those times before. My birthday is not in the list of priorities, as well as having friends. Whatever friendship I was able to build up during the short times we stopped in villages and cities, he destroyed by taking me by force away. He didn't even teach me about how to deal with people as well. That's why I was a rash and proud boy once before. I still am, but it is moderated nowadays. I can't change the way I am, but I can redirect them in some things."

"I... I never knew how hard it was for you." Meia said shortly after a somber silence surrounded them.

The boy just smiled softly. "You were never meant to understand it. But seeing that you think the people who care for you were just wasting their time, I thought I needed to tell you that it was all because they love you. You are not alone in this ship, always remember that. You have a family here, whether you think it or not."

Meia's eyes widened marginally for a moment, before moisture erupted from those same eyes. A soft sob escaped from her lips, alerting Ranma of Meia's soft crying.

"ACK!" Ranma sat up abruptly and made warding signs with his hands.  
"P-Please stop crying! I'm sorry if I said something wrong! I didn't mean to, honest!"

The girl giggled with her sobs as she wiped her tears gently with one hand. "Relax, Ranma... I'm n-not really s-sad. I'm actually happy,  
because you reminded me that I am loved in here."

Ranma grinned roguishly. "I'm glad you to be of service."

Just then, a familiar blare of alarms filled the air, alerting them of an impending attack. The baby was jolted awake as she cried hard because of the noise. Upon seeing Meia trying to look for a place to settle the baby down in haste, Ranma held her shoulders down firmly, locking her into place.

"You're not going anywhere." Ranma said seriously.

"But the enemy..." Meia tried to protest, but was silenced once Ranma gave her a hardened stare.

Ranma gestured to the baby. "You have a responsibility of taking care of the baby's welfare, whether forced or not. You have to see it through,  
and settle on watching the battle from here. Don't worry and have faith in your teammates... they can win this battle. Meanwhile, you have your own battle to win, like how to settle that baby down."

Meia nodded numbly as the baby continuously cried out loudly, having heard the irritating alarms from earlier.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In nearby part of the galaxy, five intricated ships were zeroing in on the disturbance that bleeped in their monitors. The data seemed to have detected a massive Lost Technology device that was under attack by something.

We go to one of the ships' interior, where a pre-adolescent blue-haired girl with long ears extending on both side of her head monitoring the signal generated by their target.

"Mint, are you sure you about the Lost Technology? It's the size of a battleship, and this will be the first time we found a technology as big as this." The red-haired face visualized in the viewscreen of a short blue-haired girl with long doggy ears.

"I am sure, Forte-san. Even I was surprised at its size... but there is no mistake. It is a Lost Technology, one that probably predates everything we've found so far." The blue-haired girl called Mint replied.

Another viewscreen appeared beside the one with the redhead named Forte,  
bearing the face of a blond haired young woman with large white hair clips on her head and a small triangular tattoo pointing downwards to a small dot on her forehead.

"Quit whining, Forte! All we have to do is just go there and drag the huge hunking thing with us back to Headquarters, right? No big deal"  
The blond snorted derisively.

Forte visibly bristled at that. "Shut up, Ranpha! You were also complaining a while ago, back in Headquarters right? You were the one who said, 'It may be just a waste of time, why do I have to get dragged into this' earlier, you know!"

Before Ranpha could respond, another screen squeezed itself between the two bickering girls, one with the face of pink haired girl with blue eyes and a bright smile.

"I wonder if there are people in there..." The pink haired girl said loudly, effectively breaking up the squandering duo.

Mint shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Milfeuille-san. It might be pretty old, so there may not be people on board that ship anymore,  
although I'm quite curious why it's under attack or under scrutiny of something. Our sensors picked up just at that point."

Milfeuille sagged slightly. "That's... that's so sad..."

Another screen appeared on the side, showing a red-eyed girl, whose cyan hair was tied up in a high ponytail. A white headdress of some sort secured her hair over her head and the sides of her face, covering her ears in the process. She usually held a dark pink stuffed toy that has a passing semblance to a fat bird or something, but she left the thing back in Headquarters. Her face brooked no emotions, which put the rest of them except Milfeuille rather uneasy.

"People reside within the location where Kami-sama is located." The girl said cryptically.

Mint cocked her head to one side, momentarily recovering from her uneasiness. "What do you mean, Vanilla-san?"

For some reason, it seemed to them that Vanilla's face relaxed slightly,  
despite having no change at all in their screens. They just 'felt' it like that. "We are currently headed to where Kami-sama is located, where my feelings are at their strongest." She replied rather vaguely.

"You keep saying 'Kami-sama', Vanilla. But what do you really mean by that!" Ranpha said in exasperation.

Vanilla merely looked at back evenly, her face not even twitching for a bit. "Kami-sama is Kami-sama."

"Guys... only three more minutes before we reach our destination. Ready your weapons in case someone's really attacking in there." Forte interrupted the impromptu ranting of Ranpha regarding Vanilla's evasive answers, although she was also quite curious as to why Vanilla seemed to react very much to this mission.

A long bout of silence permeated in their comms as they cruised along the darkened surroundings of space. Finally, their sensors picked up the Lost Technology easily, pinpointing its exact location and as well as information regarding those around it. Sadly, it proved that those smaller crafts around the technology have their weapons charged and were firing quite rapidly.

They seemed to have walked in the middle of a battle.

Sure enough, their screens displayed a large white battleship being peppered with laser fire. Other smaller crafts around it seemed to chase and destroy the red cube-like ships that seemed to fire at the big ship as well. There was a mecha-type craft that was having some trouble with its own enemy.

Without any second thoughts, the team swooped into the battle, their own lasers ablaze.

Inside the Nirvana, their sensors bleeped as they detected the appearance of five new ships. At first, the crew at the deck seemed skeptical, while Magno just watched on tensely. The old woman was hoping they weren't enemies, because they were already having some trouble with the current one. It seemed that the Harvesters developed a weapon that was equally fast and was capable of stealth technology. Hibiki and Dita were having a hard time fighting it, as the others took care of the smaller cube-types.

Magno released a huge sigh of relief as the newcomers attacked some of the Harvester drones, effectively destroying them. She also took note that the designs of the five ships were a bit like those of their Dreads.

The Nirvana's communications window lit up, and the face of Mint greeted them all. "Uhmm... hello there. Ah... are you the ones in the Lost Technology?"

BC was skeptical at best. "Lost Technology?"

The blue-haired girl nodded. "Hai. I mean the ship we detected that seemed to possess technology from long ago."

Magno answered at this point. "Yes, child, you are correct. This was once a vessel from Earth, hundreds of years ago. We named it Nirvana,  
after we took it back from those who tried to possess and use it for war."

Mint's face brightened at that. "Yatta! We were not expecting inhabitants in the Lost Technology, and we thought we would grasp at straws trying to understand how it works. It seems Kami-sama blessed us with luck this time." A small explosion rocked her ship as the view shook for a moment. "We'll talk later... right now we'll have to beat the enemies."

Suddenly, they were interrupted when a loud signal suddenly lit up,  
alerting them of an escape pod blasting off from the Nirvana. Everyone looked confused as to why it was so, since they haven't been beaten yet.

Near the escape pod's entry point, Ranma held Meia and the baby close to his body in reflex.

They were about to go to the bridge where it's safer when the ship shook violently, making Meia lose her balance. Ranma on the other hand didn't even flinch when the ship vibrated, along with Rin-Ohki perched on his head. He saw Meia, with the baby in her arms, stagger to one side.  
Meia's hand suddenly shot forward in a vain attempt to balance herself.  
Because of this, her hand accidentally pressed a large red button on the adjacent wall, making her open a circular door that happens to be the wall Meia was about to reorganize her equilibrium.

Ranma's arms shot out all of the sudden, grabbing Meia's flinging arms in an attempt to stop her backwards movement. It was totally successful,  
with Ranma hugging Meia gently, pulling her away from the circular door.  
Sure enough, the exit closed itself, and a loud explosion from behind the closed door followed it.

A viewscreen on the wall suddenly flared to life, with BC's worried face on it. "What happened? An escape pod suddenly left the Nirvana, is everything alright?" BC's voice cackled from the communicator.

Meia was still trying to catch her breath when Ranma decided to answer for her, "Meia almost got caught in that pod, along with Ezra's baby. I guess I just pulled her out of it when the pod escaped."

"I... I see..." BC was relieved, according to the emotion on her voice.  
The screen finally went to static before shutting off.

Ranma finally noticed that he still held Meia's trembling form. He tried to pull away, but Meia's body unconsciously followed. In a soothing voice, he said, "You're safe now, Meia."

The girl snapped out of her trance and gazed at Ranma's eyes. She replied in a soft voice, "T-Thank y-you..." Seeing herself still in his arms, she slowly pulled away from him.

Ranma backed away a bit from her, also a little embarrassed at the awkward situation. His tail was even twitching from side to side, while Rin-Ohki watched in amusement.

Back to the battle outside, the only enemy left was the fast squid-like cruiser that disappears from view when it is targeted. Hibiki and Dita was having a hard time fighting it. When they finally have a lock on unto it, it ripples out of existence and reappears only when it was going to blast them with its laser. Vandread Dita was already heavily damaged and was starting to lose power. Irritated, Hibiki finally had enough and immediately took his hand from the controllers,  
simultaneously immobilizing the Vandread.

It was an ancient technique, used by weaker and slower prey to attack their predators. It was the 'Play Dead for Now, Attack When the Enemy's Guard is Down' method.

The Vandread lay vulnerable and open as the cruiser kept on battering it with its armaments, but it didn't notice that the intervals it was going invisible was starting to waver. After five minutes of blasting and almost no movement was detected, the cruiser finally sped up and prepared to ram its sharpened point into the Vandread.

All those who were watching screamed for Dita as they watched the final enemy speared towards the Vandread, but at the last moment Hibiki finally held the controls and caught the tip of the cruiser with two hands. Holding it into place, he willed the two cannons on his back to life and blasted the enemy, obliterating it out of existence.

The five newcomers were awed at the destructive power of the giant blue mecha that emerged unscathed from the explosion.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Uhmm... hello. We're the Galaxy Angels, from three galaxies across the western quadrant sector of the universe. We do odd jobs and collect Lost Technology for our headquarters. I am Mint Bramansche." The blue haired girl with weird long ears bowed curtly in front of the crew of the Nirvana.

It was two hours after the battle, when everything finally settled down.  
Magno invited the five girls into the ship, since they were also interested in the so-called Lost Technology that they seem to have referred the ship with.

When Mint stepped back, the tallest red-haired girl wearing a hat and a monocle on one eye stepped up and waved lazily. "Forte Schutolien, at your service. I must say, you have some nice weapons in here."

The second tallest blond haired girl with large white hairpins stepped forward. Her forehead was decorated with a dark blue inverted triangle tattoo with a small dot on the bottom. She was dressed in a tight-fitting red dress. She looked around and sighed, "My name's Ranpha Flambois. All of you are women here? No men? Well, aside from that small scrawny guy with the redhead, that goofy-looking bald guy... what's up with that anyway? And that okay tall guy... but I think he's already taken by that four-eyed nerdy girl by his side..."

"HEY!" Hibiki, Bart and Parfait almost exploded, if not for several of the crewmembers holding them back.

BC put her hands on her hips as she said nonchalantly, "Well we have at least those three me..." An elbow in her ribs made her amend the statement, "I mean, four men... we recently acquired another man in our travels. Our civilization may differ from yours, because we have lived without men for years. Our women were brought up thinking that men bring diseases or something. But recently, we have been in contact with them ever since."

Ranpha gaped at her. "N-No men! That's absurd!"

BC snorted. "Maybe to you, but to us it makes some sense, at least before we got into contact with them once again. Our planet, Mejer, used cloning technology to make reproduction between women a possibility. We were forced to co-exist with the men in here while we're trying to locate our home system. The men are in the same boat, growing up in an environment where they thought women were cannibals that eat men's livers."

"No... men..." Ranpha was shocked at that information.

A pink-haired young girl stepped up next, smiling brightly with her blue eyes sparkling. She straightened up as she said cheerfully, "Hello! My name's Milfeuille Sakura, age seventeen! I'm so happy to be here! Do you like tea? How about cakes? I love cakes, especially those with those cute icing on top..." She rattled on about cakes, ice cream, cooking tips... you get the point.

Everyone sweatdropped at the hyper girl that was no different from a bunny in an adrenaline rush. After fifteen minutes of talking,  
Milfeuille finally managed to stop talking, simply because she lost energy to do so.

A rather stoic girl, surprisingly more serious than Meia was before,  
with cyan ponytailed hair bowing slightly forward. Her eyes were blood red in color, and her head was adorned with a white headdress.

"Vanilla Ash." The girl said curtly, her face never betraying a single emotion.

Ranpha rolled her eyes and added bluntly, "Before we came here, she's been mumbling about someone Kami-sama. I think she believes Kami-sama's in this place. Is there someone like that in here?"

Magno's brows raised considerably. "Kami-sama? Here? Where did you get that thought?"

Ranpha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I really didn't believe it all that much. I mean, what are the chances of... HELLO! Who's that guy!"

Everyone turned to look at the approaching pair of Ranma and Meia, with Ezra's baby on tow and Rin-Ohki perched on Ranma's shoulder. Ranma suddenly looked up and noticed the attention set on them. He raised his hands in the air and said quickly, "Whatever it is, I didn't do it! I just got here for crying out loud!"

"WAI!" Milfeuille appeared on Ranma's side, curiously peering at Rin-Ohki. "I'm Milfeuille! That's so cute! What's its name?"

"Uhhh..." Ranma looked helplessly at Magno, who was stifling a laugh. He gazed back to the pink-haired girl and replied, "Well, she's Rin-Ohki."

Milfeuille clasped her hands together. "Can I hold her, pleeeeaaaaase!"

Ranma sweatdropped. "O-Okay... just don't drop her or anything." He reached up to his shoulder and looked Rin-Ohki in the eyes, saying, "Are you okay with this?"

"MIYAAAAH!" Rin-Ohki replied happily.

He chuckled and handed Rin-Ohki over to the pink-haired girl, who quickly petted the adorable silver furred creature in her arms.

Ranma turned to ask something, but stopped cold when he found himself faced with the cyan haired girl, who was looking at him with curious red eyes.

"Okaay... this is getting freaky." Ranma said softly.

Magno finally spared him the embarrassment. "Ranma, I would like you to meet Milfeuille, Mint, Forte, Ranpha, and of course, the lovely young lady in front of you is Vanilla..." She gestured to each with her hand.  
"These are five Galaxy Angels, who came from another galaxy to inspect our ship. I think they are from the other colony ships that escaped the Earth years back. They are interested in Earth's technologies, or what they call Lost Technology right now."

Ranma nodded. "I see... more survivors of... uhhmm... Vanilla-san?" He started to feel nervous when Vanilla touched his forehead with her hand,  
as if searching for something.

The girl gasped and stepped back, her face lighting up much to her companion's shock. Vanilla reared back and bowed to the waist,  
declaring, "Kami-sama! I finally found you!"

Everyone fell silent at that. It was bound not to last.

"EEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ranpha pointed to Ranma. "You mean this hunk of a man is the one you've been pining about since we left headquarters!"

Forte whistled. "You have to admit, she's got good taste."

Mint blushed at the implications. "Forte-san! Ranpha-san! Don't tease her like that!"

BC and Gascogne were chuckling hard. It was a rather funny thought.

Magno guffawed as she thumped her chest, laughing at Ranma's luck so far.

Dita, Jura, Barnette, and the rest of the crew just stared blankly at the pale Ranma.

"You know... Washuu-sensei mentioned the same thing back in Pluto"  
Misty said, tapping her chin with her index finger.

Meia looked at Ranma thoughtfully, humming, "Hmmmm... you know,  
Kami-sama seems to fit you for some reason. I mean with all your abilities, I won't be surprised at all."

"Uhm, actually, it was my mom who is the goddess." Ranma said meekly,  
too softly for anyone to hear as he tried to clarify, but if he tried to think about it, that will make him a god as well. We do know thinking was not a strong point for Ranma anyway.

"Mister Alien is Kami-sama!" Three guesses who THAT was.

"I'm NOT Mister Alien!" Ranma retorted hotly. Then he paused for a moment to think about it. "Oh, wait... you're right. I am a Mister Alien."

Meia eyed him evilly. "Oh? So you DO admit you're Kami-sama?"

Ranma bristled at that. "What! NO! What makes you think I'm Kami-sama anyway! And for that matter, why are we even talking about this!"

Meia just smiled cutely at him, holding little Karua close to her breast.

Suddenly, the whole area was filled with loud wails of sirens signifying an attack.

"Enemies already? We just defeated them a while ago!" Jura moaned as she started to walk towards her Dread. Meia wordlessly handed Karua to Pyoro, who has been pestering her since she entered the room with the baby in her arms, and started to follow the blond. Hibiki, Dita and Barnette, as well as the other Dread pilots sighed tiredly and started to go to their own Vanguard and ships as well.

They were stopped when Ezra's voice filled the comms. "Ano, Captain,  
there's a ship right beside ours. It seems to be hailing us."

Magno's face reflected a curious look as she replied, "Patch us through,  
we may be able to avoid a conflict this time."

A high-pitched voice echoed all over the ship as it said,  
"Ohayoooooooooo minna-san! How are you? Is my cuddly-wuddly Ranma-chan in there?"

"Cuddly... wuddly... pyoro?" The white egg-shaped robot turned to stare at Ranma, with the giggling Karua in his arms.

Everyone turned once again to Ranma as well, who stood up straight with a strange look on his face. His right brow was twitching rather violently as he sweatdropped. His tail was swaying quickly from side to side, to which Mint, Ranpha, and Forte were staring at right now.

Vanilla just remained fixated at Ranma's face.

"MIYAAAH!" Rin-Ohki squealed in Milfeuille's arms, apparently glad that Washuu was there already.

"That... that voice..." Ranma had a funny feeling who that was. Only one person has that kind of a deceptively sweet and annoying voice.

The voice answered back with an excited tone in it. "Is that you in there, my lovely guinea pig? It's been a long time, my Ranma-chan! I finally found you!"

"I sometimes wished you hadn't." Ranma said softly, but the smile on his face says that he didn't mean it at all.

Washuu replied back, "I am SUCH a genius! But of course, I AM the greatest scientist in the whole universe! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ranma could actually sense the two puppets on her shoulders popping out and throwing confetti all over, declaring praises to Washuu, even when the communications was voice-only.

"That's Washuu?" Magno asked, her face screwed with disbelief.

Misty nodded sagely. "Yep, Washuu-sensei has such an ego that even a black hole can't suck it all up." A small bead of sweat rolled down on the back of her head anyway. The yellow holographic blob Q that appeared outside her earrings nodded with Misty.

Everyone facefaulted at that.

"Uhmm... Washuu... chan?" Ranma asked hesitantly, his sweatdrop returning with a vengeance as well.

Washuu continued her cackling laughter in the comm channel.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Author Rants:

Sorry if this took longer than it should. I learned that wounding your index finger by the tip hurts a little, but it constricted typing speed to a bare minimum since the small wound was always pressed or something.  
Who knew a little cut would give me that much trouble? I cut myself while chopping vegetables for a good beef veggie noodle soup.

My companion laughed so hard about it. She says it was the first time she has ever seen me fumble like that. It was all her fault too, making side comments about stuff bearing the R-18 rating.

Anyway.

A lot of things were prevented in this Vandread AU. We all know Ranma wouldn't allow anyone to get hurt, especially if he knew he could do something about it.

Whew. Making the history Ranma missed while he was in limbo turned out to be a chore. It was rather long. But it's now kinda understandable what the heck happened.

Sailor Moon and the other scouts remained dormant in the Parallel World,  
because of the appearance of the aliens featured in Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure. Beryl seemed to have lost her will to attack, how the heck should she react on these gigantic things?

Yes, it's all Ranma's fault. His mere presence put the time line in a loop within loop craziness.

Tenchi was still strong, although the lack of Ryoko's presence changed a lot of things. Instead of killing Kagato, he ended up just hurting the villain enough to put Kagato into retreat mode. Also, instead of going after Ryoko, Kagato went after Washuu.

So, where the heck did Ryoko go? And the Juraians too?

Feh. You'll find out in the next subchapter.

Just a thought... with Ranma traveling in that limbo, he could very well be thousands of years old, since who knows if he's trapped in there or just passing through? Huh? What the heck am I talking about?

There are now two perspectives in Ranma's real age. One is according to those he met in the future after he got out of the limbo, the other is his perspective. But can we really trust Ranma's perspective, since he will live a long long LONG time.

NEXT SUBCHAPTER: Washuu finally found her Ranma-chan, but she can't return him to the past just yet. WHY? Oh! They need to return to Earth!

The secrets of the Paeksis will finally be revealed, as well as Ranma's role in the grand scheme of things. It will shock Ranma to the core when he finds out the truth about them. Everyone gets sucked into this scheme as long as they are in contact with Ranma. What will they do?

They will stumble upon a planet plagued by another familiar energy signature, which was also in the middle of a war. Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens! The Legend of the False God will unfold!

Just what is Vanilla Ash's relationship with Ranma?

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	13. Chapter 7c

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Remember... the Vandread Universe is gonna be one huge Alternate Universe. I'm gonna rewrite most of the episodes, maybe even skip some unimportant ones, but some will still be used.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 7C - THE NEXT FRONTIER: COMFORT IN THE 'EYE' OF CHAOS

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma sighed as he stood face to face with a small red-haired girl with green eyes, who was smiling at him in full blast. After the sudden appearance of the Soja II (yep, Soja I was filled with bad memories so Washuu reconstructed the thing and viola, Soja II was born), Washuu teleported herself inside the Nirvana, but not before attaching a chain-like apparatus on the side of the Nirvana. Now they stood face to face, Washuu on one side while Ranma, the crew and the five Galaxy Angels stood on the other side of the docking bay.

"Washuu-chan, it's... nice to see you again." Ranma said tiredly.  
Rin-Ohki immediately launched herself towards Washuu and circled happily around her legs, meowing all the time.

Washuu put her dainty hands on her hips as she pouted rather cutely.  
"Awww... only 'nice', my dearest Ranma-chan?"

Magno, the captain of the Nirvana, turned to Ranma and said, "Are you sure she's not your lover? You sure sound like one to me..."

Ranma's eyes bugged out as his face planted on the floor.

Misty boggled at the thought. "I never realized that. It would make a lot of sense though. Ranma-san, I never knew you liked really young girls!"

Ranma's body twitched violently in response. He slowly lifted his head from the dent it made on the metal floor and muttered, "That's not her real age. She can change her outer appearance by will."

"R-Ranma..." The boy in question looked up and saw Meia's somber face.  
"I... I didn't know you were that way..." she said softly, but loud enough to be heard by the boy.

The boy's face threatened to go through the steel floor at the moment as another massive facefault hit his already facefaulted face (cool description, ne?).

Vanilla stepped forward and kneeled on Ranma's side, asking, "Are you alright, Ranma-sama?"

"Vanilla, no need for the honorifics. Just 'Ranma' will do." A muffled response came back.

Finally, Washuu took pity on Ranma as she responded, "Oh come off it everyone. Ranma is my dearest guinea pig, and also my dearest friend.  
There's nothing going on romantically between us." ((Although he's actually really nice on the eyes... pretty clueless too... but Ryoko would kill me over and over if she found out about it, that and also Ranma's my niece, not that it would matter anyway, but nobody should know about that right now...)) she thought to herself.

Ranma finally stood up shakily, trying to bat the cobwebs in his head away. Looking at Washuu, he asked, "So, Washuu... how the heck did I get here anyway?" Seeing that Washuu just crossed her arms across her chest and stood adamantly silent, he amended his earlier statement. "I mean,  
Washuu-CHAN..." he said the last syllable with a small amount of sarcasm.

Whether Washuu heard the sarcasm or not, she didn't give any signs about it. "Well, Ranma-chan... you do remember that teensy-weensy accident where you got zapped by my experimental Spatial Equalizer? The one I'm making to stabilize this world long enough for you to find a way to bridge the gap of the two parallel worlds and making them separate from one another? Well, as it turned out, that and your latent chaotic nature somehow made it into a temporal wave distorter, accidentally sending you to this time. By the way, that experiment botched after you disappeared,  
because it literally exploded in our faces after a short while." She explained with a flourish, but grew a sweatdrop when she noticed everyone but Parfait, who was drooling once again at the information,  
stood glassy eyed and looked rather lost.

Especially Ranma.

Washuu shook her head as she explained blandly, "You went bye-bye because of my experiment."

"Ahhh!" Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Is it true?" The crew turned to the timid voice of Ranma, who was sitting on the floor looking anguished. "I mean, is Ryoko...?"

Washuu lost her smiling face and took on a more somber look. "It's true,  
Ranma-chan. Ryoko had herself locked in cryogenic sleep when she couldn't find you. After years of searching for even a clue as to where you might've been sent to, she finally broke down and made that request.  
Naturally, Yosho and I tried to stop her from doing so, but she was quite serious about it. I couldn't do anything but watch as she and Ryo-Ohki entered her tomb in the cave of the shrine."

Ranma and Washuu sighed simultaneously, while the crew of the Nirvana kept silent because they didn't know anything about the past. Suddenly,  
a thought came to Parfait.

"Wait a minute..." Parfait said to Washuu, "You said you've been with Ranma since then, I mean, how old are you!"

Meia looked on thoughtfully. "Actually, that's kinda a valid question. I mean, if Ranma's from a distant past, and he knew you, how could you be alive right now?"

Washuu snorted. "Oh please! That's not a hard thing. Besides, don't you know it's bad juju to ask a woman about her true age?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the 'woman' comment. "Uhm... Washuu... you're in your child form."

Dismissing him with a wave, Washuu retorted, "Details, details."

He rubbed his hands unto his temples. "Just tell them, will ya?"

"Oh, fine! I've lived for more than twenty thousand years before I met Ranma, how can a few millennia more be the same?" Washuu leveled a slight glare at Ranma, who pointedly ignored it.

Everyone except Ranma gasped at the information.

"HOW!" Parfait asked again, baffled by the sheer impossibility of the phenomenon.

"T-Twenty... t-thousand years!" Ranpha goggled. "Damn, you're really old!"

Forte gazed intently at Washuu. "That's one hell of an operation..."

Washuu huffed in disgust. "Don't be absurd! I did not take an operation of some sort! Do I look old to you? Age doesn't hold me down pretty much. Even Ranma there is older than he looks."

"Uhm... actually, I'm not really that old..." Ranma said softly, but loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Yes you are, you are somewhere in your fifties, if I remembered it correctly. But because of that temporal accident, I have no idea how old you are right now, whether to think about it in terms of how long I searched for you, or in your own perspective."

Ranma cocked his head to one side. "Huh?"

Washuu shook her head. "Ranma-chan, you may think you're still as old as you think you are. But if you look at it in our perspective, especially mine, you are older than two millennia."

The boy groaned loudly.

"Anyway..." Parfait interrupted impatiently, who was also planning to get Ranma later and finally unlock his secrets. "We were talking about how you survived, Washuu-san."

Washuu smacked her fist to her other open palm, saying, "Oh yeah. Well,  
that's easy!"

Ranma sighed. "Oh man, here we go."

Washuu cackled gleefully. "Because I'm the Greatest Scientist in the Universe! Muahahahahahahahaha!"

A small sized Washuu popped out of her left shoulder showering confetti and cheering, "Washuu-sama is the greatest!"

Another small-sized Washuu emerged from her right shoulder, also showering confetti and has cymbals on its small hands. "Washuu-sama is a genius!"

"I knew it!" Ranma smacked his hand to his forehead as the others sweatdropped.

"Washuu, your ego is showing." Ranma commented.

Washuu stopped laughing abruptly as she responded, "As if there is a difference when you do your own rendition, Mister Greatest Martial Artist in the Universe."

"At least I don't have the puppets." Ranma shot back.

"True, but only because you don't know how to do them. Wanna learn"  
Washuu said to him casually.

Ranma and Washuu smirked to each other. It is amazing because one could really see the family semblance, AKA the proud smirk.

"HOWWWW!" Everyone jumped back from Parfait as the girl suddenly screamed out of frustration.

"As I said, she can control her physical aging." Ranma answered and stuck a tongue out to Washuu, who glared at him in full force.

"That's impossible!" Parfait garbled out. She was really trying to understand how this can happen, and the two who knew how didn't want to cooperate with her!

Ranma shrugged and willed his own body to change. Everyone stared in rapt attention as Ranma's body shrunk down to approximately Washuu's own age. "No such thing as impossible in my life." Ranma said wryly.

"We're not human to begin with." Washuu took over the explanation.  
"Ranma is not even native from my world. Ranma is an alien hybrid who has more firepower than he lets on, and I'm his aunt. He's my sister's son, you see."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After two hours of explaining Ranma's history, much to the boy's embarrassment, the listening group was finally satisfied and were occasionally asking questions for confirmation on some things. Washuu's explanations were thorough, even having a laser pointer with a large chart of Ranma's body to boot. They vacated their former location in the hangar to the cafeteria, because it was the only room large enough to accommodate all those people. Most of them were especially interested in Ranma's genetic make-up.

Some of the members of the Galaxy Angels were curious about his powers,  
as Washuu had described them. Milfeuille was just happy that Ranma liked the cake she made earlier.

Ranma on the other hand finally managed to slip out of the room without being detected, and started to head towards nowhere actually. He just felt suffocated in the presence of more than a hundred people, mostly comprised of women much to his dismay, who were talking about his life.  
Before he gave them everyone the slip, he gave a silent 'go' signal for Washuu to explain everything. He knew the scientist could make everyone understand something he didn't understand much either. His weird aunt was livid with joy as she started pulling out charts and diagrams pertaining to his anatomy, gleefully showing them and discussing them to her audience. When Washuu first explained those to him all those years back, he was as stunned as they were. He didn't know much about the significance of the blood that flowed in his veins, but after she told him about it, his ignorance for things faded in due time.

Ranma found himself in a large circular room with a transparent ceiling,  
probably an auditorium or stargazing area of some sort. Here he stood in the middle of the empty place, as he continued pondering on life in general.

Much of the things he took for granted, such as studies and social graces, were now in par of his top priority, which was the Art. Ever since the power inside him awakened, his thirst for fighting seemed to have escalated, constantly in search of a stronger fighter to pit his skills.

Ranma's gaze fell to the black bracers he wore on his wrists. He finally noticed that since Washuu made him wear those limiter bracers years ago,  
he virtually forgot about them. He felt a lot weaker when he first put them on, but then everything was forgotten afterwards. Right now, he even felt stronger than he ever was, even with the limiters in place.

That thought somehow scared him. What was he becoming? Was he going to the path of becoming too powerful for his own good, transforming him into huge egomaniacs like those enemies he encountered along the way?  
Suddenly, his thoughts went back to Son Goku, and how he always searched for the perfect sparring partner, doomed to live for the fight. Not that he had anything against the full-blooded Saiyajin, in fact, Ranma respected Goku for his efforts to become stronger and save Earth more than a few times in the future... or was it the past? Oh... he didn't even get to this timeline as far as Ranma remembered from Washuu's recordings.

Ranma didn't want to become like a 'typical' Saiyajin, as Chi-Chi always usually complained about her own husband. The pigtailed hybrid did not want to end up looking for a fight just to satisfy his battle-lust. He just wanted to live normally.

Ranma sighed. He needed to think about that one, because he will never be normal anymore. He didn't really mind that much at all anymore, but all these accidents involving parallel universes and dimension hopping seemed too bizarre even for Ranma's tastes. Oh, he believes them all right, heck he's been an unwilling victim most of the time, and if not for that accident with Happosai he wouldn't have learned of his true lineage.

Ranma shuddered at the thought, him being grateful to Happosai just didn't seem right. No matter how much he looked at it.

That was another thought he wanted to think about. Ranma wanted to meet his real mother, even though he felt a bit nervous about it. He heard that she was evil, but he didn't really believe that at all. Most of the people in Nerima thought that Ranma was the embodiment of evil, always trying to blame most of the chaos towards him.

Oh, wait. That's right... it was partly his fault. He is the son of Tokimi after all, the dubbed 'Goddess of Chaos'.

Speaking of chaos... now Ryoko and everyone went missing. What went wrong? Was it really his disappearance that caused all these to happen?

Ranma felt moisture seep down his cheeks. He lifted his hand to his face and was a bit surprised when he felt some tears leaking from his eyes.  
How did this happen? It wasn't manly to show emotions.

The boy shook his head vehemently, banishing those thoughts away as he let his tears flow. For once, an unabated bout of tears sprang from his eyes as he wept silently for the loss. Amidst his silent weeping, he was thinking, ((Did I really care for Ryoko so much to cry for her?))

The tears flowed even harder as they cascaded down his cheeks some more,  
giving the answer to his silent question.

((I don't know if this is love, but I do care for her a lot.)) And care he did. Ranma finally admitted to himself about caring for someone.  
Although how it will work, he didn't know. He just wanted to be there for her, because he didn't want her to feel lonely anymore. But Ranma always dreaded the fact that he was going to be forced to go back to his own universe.

((Washuu once told me that I am the main problem in the two parallel worlds. Although there are some slightly smaller problems in magnitude,  
I was the biggest one. So there might be a chance that I must go back to my own universe to stabilize it. So I might have to leave Ryoko behind... what then will we do?)) Ranma thought morosely to himself. That was why he was trying to hold back Ryoko for a bit. His unstable existence in this parallel world might've caused his random accidents,  
such as what had happened to him earlier, so pursuing a normal life is somewhat out of the question as of now.

Ranma was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice someone else entering the area he was in. By the time he heard light footsteps behind him, the person, whoever it was, was already close enough to touch him.

Realizing that it was too late to do anything anyway, he sighed and asked, "I... I want to be alone."

A moment of silence filled the air, as Ranma felt the footsteps stop just inches behind him. He had this urge to turn around and look at the one who invaded his privacy, but he resisted it and continued to stare forward.

"I cannot do that... Ranma-sama." A soft but firm voice answered.

Ranma's eyes widened a bit, as he recognized it off the bat. The voice was female, and was one of those newcomers that docked with the ship.  
She was one of those... Galaxy Angels or something. Before he could ponder deeper on it, the girl finally went to his side and sat beside him. Ranma inclined his head to one side and confirmed his suspicions as to who it was.

The girl was Vanilla.

Also without his knowledge, his tail unconsciously unwrapped itself from his waist and carefully snaked its way on Vanilla's backside, rubbing itself on it slowly. Vanilla flinched a bit, but relaxed when she traced the source of the furred sensation on her behind back to Ranma.

The boy wiped the tears from his cheeks and said, "I'm sorry if I sounded harsh... I was just realizing some things."

Vanilla nodded. "I know, Ranma-sama."

"Please..." Ranma half-groaned, half-pled to the girl, "Just Ranma will do, okay? I'm not some god to be called like that."

Vanilla looked at him, her face slowly showing some emotions, such as surprise and a bit curiosity. "As you wish, Ranma."

Ranma finally let go of the breath he was holding. "That's... good. So,  
how about you, why are you here?"

Vanilla looked down on the floor, uncharacteristically fiddling on the laces of her uniform. "I... was searching... for you."

Ranma stiffened. He didn't notice, but the gems on his forehead lit up softly. "What about me?"

The girl's red eyes bore into his own. "I do not know, but I have a feeling I should be searching for you. A vision in my dreams once told me to seek those who have those gems on your forehead, as well as some semblance of your own appearance that was silhouetted against the darkness. I was to search for you, and help you with all I can."

When Ranma fell silent, she broke her gaze and stared forward,  
continuing, "Washuu-sama may not remember me, but I remember her well.  
For you see, she saved my life once before."

That actually got Ranma's attention. "Saved you? How?"

Vanilla inclined her head. "I was... dying... when she found me. My former creator, Ikari Gendo, abandoned me when he finally revealed his true purpose in trying to achieve the Third Impact. He used me as a tool to achieve his goal of destroying mankind and rebuilding it just the way he wanted. In other words, he wanted to be God."

Vanilla clenched her fists as she glared to particularly no one. "He left me to die while he went to try and resurrect his dead wife,  
regardless whether or not she wanted to or not, and regardless of humanity's survival. Washuu-sama took me in after she found me and reconstructed my mangled body using her technology."

She lifted her hands in the air and looked at them. "She was as good as she said she was, and recreated me perfectly. My hair is also out of its natural color, and my age regressed somewhat. Although she added some.  
quirks... in it as she said."

Ranma sighed. "I was gonna ask you how you managed to survive this long in that body, but I guess those 'quirks' must be it."

"Precisely." Vanilla nodded in approval. "For some reason, I got shipped in the next flight in a colony ship, and managed to reach another star system. There I restarted my life, away from the hard one I came from before. But as of late, I was having these visions of you, and that I have this urge to go and find you. It is really confusing, but I want to trust my heart in this. And here you are." She softly gestured to him with a look.

"If you say 'It's Fate!' or 'It's Destiny!' I'll scream real loud"  
Ranma deadpanned.

Vanilla just gave him a confused look once again. "You don't believe in fate?"

Ranma shrugged in response. "There may be a Fate or Destiny, but I would like to be the one in control of my life. Knowing something like those controlling what was happening to me gives me the creeps. I hate having no control of my life, that's why I don't want to give my life to Fate or Destiny."

"I... I see..." Vanilla said softly. "I... envy you."

It was now Ranma's turn to look confused at Vanilla. "Huh? Why?"

Vanilla looked longingly at him. "I... used to believe that it was my fate to die. Back when the man who created me was using me, I devoted myself only to him and his wishes, even if I was to die. You see… I wasn't born naturally. I was created out of the memory of that man's dead wife. At first, there were many others like me, or you could call them clones. I was made to pilot these giant organic robots called Evangelions, which existed to specifically battle Angels. The Angels were God's messengers, and at the same time they were tests given by God to Humanity. It is to find out if humanity was still fit to survive for the future."

"I see..." Ranma replied seriously, then blinked as he realized something. "Wait a minute... that would mean that you came from..."

"Around in the year 2015 of Earth... that was probably the approximate time I was alive on Earth." Vanilla continued for him.

"Ah... that means you are still a bit further in the future of my own original time. I was from the year late 1990s, originally that is. Then I warped myself into a parallel past, as Washuu explained to me when she was freed." Ranma explained, as he finally understood. "That means you're from that war with the Angels era that Washuu's recording for me explained. It also said that the leaders of the so-called defenders also had their own agenda, mainly, that Human Implementation Project or something."

Vanilla nodded. "Yes. That was where Commander Ikari and the Seele members would activate the Third Impact and supposedly ascend to Godhood, according to the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Seele members and Commander Ikari planned to double cross each other in the end, because Ikari only wanted the power for himself so that he could resurrect his wife, while Seele wanted power over life and death. It was all a nightmare for the Evangelion pilots, especially since all three pilots were only fourteen year old children."

Ranma eyed her incredulously. "C-Children! You mean to tell me that they used children for their dirty work! What kind of a future is that!" Ranma's face saddened over the thought. "And to think it must have been all my fault! For disappearing like that... crap! This is all my fault!"

"It was a dark and struggling world." Vanilla said simply. "Back then, I used to go by the name of Ayanami Rei. I was a clone who thought I didn't have a shred of soul in my body."

Vanilla gazed up to Ranma and continued, "It wasn't your fault, Ranma.  
You could never have predicted what will happen once you disappeared.  
Nobody could've thought everything that happened would really occur. Who knows? Maybe even if you were there, it would've happened still. No one knows the future..."

Ranma looked at her sadly. "I... thank you, Vanilla. What happened to you was unfortunate, and I couldn't help but feel responsible about it.  
Lucky for you, Washuu found you before anything else could've happened to you."

"Hai. Don't feel too bad about it, because you couldn't have known it will happen. Besides, it all turned out for the best." Vanilla nodded curtly, now gazing at the transparent glass panel overhead. The stars were moving slightly slower right now, as because Nirvana was moving in cruising speed.

Silence fell upon them as they pondered on their own thoughts, about their pasts and their near futures. Oddly enough, their thoughts were coinciding with each other's.

The door behind them slid open, bathing the near dark room with bright light. Startled out of their thoughts, Ranma and Vanilla turned to the door and saw Washuu and Meia standing just outside the doorframe. Washuu has this weird smirk on her face while Meia just looked upset about something.

"My, my, Ranma-chan... you're really quick with the ladies, ne? What would Ryoko think when she finds out about this...?" Washuu sing-songed thoughtfully as she tapped her chin with her index finger. When she saw Ranma's confused look, she gestured on his tail, which was semi-wrapped around Vanilla's back.

"Urk!" Ranma blanched as images filled his brain. Sure, Ryoko and his relationship was really... well... mostly platonic (images of Ryoko smooching his lips flooded Ranma's mind)... hmmm okay (sweatdrop) well not so innocent after all, but still... and he also willed his tail to his lap, where it is much safer (bad tail, baaaad tail!).

Meia turned a curious look at the redheaded scientist. "Who is Ryoko?"

Washuu grinned. "My daughter... who has this 'thing' for a guy with red tail..."

"WASHUU!" Ranma growled out, trying to fight a huge full body blush.

Washuu chuckled happily, while her gaze finally settled on Vanilla, who was looking back impassively. "Hello, you look very familiar."

Before Vanilla got to answer, Ranma's loud grumble was heard, "She should be... you saved her life a long time ago."

"Really?" Washuu's brow raised up as she looked Vanilla up and down.

The pale red-eyed girl nodded. "Hai, Washuu-san. It was in the Earth Year 2015, before the invaders started to attack the Earth. It was after the Angel Wars."

"Hmmm... I remember saving someone from that year. She was dying in some sub-atomic nutrient liquid called LCL when I stumbled on her. She was an amazing piece of work... I can't believe that the Terrans were able to develop that advanced technology that could actually clone humans to such degree. I took her body and recombined her damaged DNA with small amount of leftover Masu genes I have to restart her body's healing factor and..." Washuu stared incredulously at Vanilla, muttering, "Oh,  
my..."

Vanilla bowed low. "I was Ayanami Rei, and I never got to thank you for saving my life. I am now Vanilla Ash, of the Galaxy Angels, Washuu-san."

Ranma chuckled at Washuu's quite stunned stare.

Meia just looked confused. "Uhm... can someone please tell me what this is all about?"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After a half hour long explanation of Rei, err, Vanilla's past, Meia and Vanilla found that both of them have a lot of stories to tell. The Dread pilot pulled the Galaxy Angel to one side and talked vibrantly with each other, trading 'war' stories and such. This left Washuu and her long lost (for her) nephew Ranma to his and her own devices as the redhead already sat herself beside Ranma. Rin-Ohki appeared a while earlier in the middle of the explanation, snuggling possessively once again in Ranma's arms once again.

The door opened once again as an overly excited Dita ran with a glass of something in her hands. Apparently, she took a detour in the cafeteria when she decided to barge into the room somehow. Everyone turned to her expectantly as she ran towards where the four were.

"Mister Alien! Washuu-san! Leader! Vanilla-san! You have to see this!  
There's this... ohhh!" Dita's inconsistent blabber was cut short when by a stroke of fate, her foot stumbled awkwardly, causing the girl to reflexively throw her hands in the air, tossing the glass in her hands in the process.

Three... two... oopps. Not more than three seconds since the errant glass flew, Ranma's hydro-magnetic body managed to sponge up the only water that was present in the room.

Yes, instant Onna-Ranma. Oh look, Dita smacked her face on the floor.

A pin drop can be heard for minutes in the silence that seemed to stretch for so long in the room.

"OhmygoshI'msosorryIdidn'tmeanitIwasrunningsofastbecauseIneededtotellyousomethingandIforgottolookwhereI'mgoingandI"  
Dita's mouth moved so fast that Ranma just gaped at her.

"Uhmmm... if it's about the water, no need to be sorry about it. It's bound to happen anyway." A now female Ranma drawled out while waving a hand dismissively.

Onna-Ranma noticed Washuu looking at her oddly. "What is it,  
Washuu-chan?"

Washuu shook her head. "Huh? Oh... I was wondering why you still haven't figured out how to control your gender change. Of all my guinea pigs (giggles), you are the most adaptable of them all. I thought you would've caught on by now."

"Eh?" Onna-Ranma just adopted a confused look. "How can that be?"

Washuu smirked. "Think about it. You can change age by will, how could your gender changing be any different? Although, only you can be capable of it since your body has been altered dramatically by your curse. I thought you would've wanted the pleasure of figuring out yourself,  
which's why I didn't program any of your skills unlike what I did to Ryoko. Do you remember? Ryoko's skills were pre-programmed in her head so she can use them subconsciously. You on the other hand would've refused if I asked, so I taught some of your skills manually. Besides,  
your body is so complex that I don't know much of its secrets, but I do know that you could control your curse by simple application from your age-changing technique."

"You mean to tell me..." Onna-Ranma said softly at first, but gradually growing louder and louder, "That I led myself to believe I'll be forever cursed just because you forgot to mention something as important as that!"

The smallest redhead in the room, between Dita, Onna-Ranma and Washuu,  
just shrugged in response. "You didn't ask. Besides, as I said earlier,  
I thought you'd want to discover it by yourself."

Onna-Ranma pulled her hair out with two hands and growled loudly as she fought for tedious control of her anger. Washuu just watched the transformed girl impassively, as Vanilla and Meia looked on with amusement. Dita however finally snapped into attention as she remembered why she was running in there in the first place.

"Oh, I was going to tell you Mister Alien... we found a planet! We have to make a stop for supplies. The captain was wondering if you could come with them in this mission..." Dita explained cheerfully.

Because of the sudden change in topic, Ranma's anger was deflated a bit as she stared at Dita. After a moment's silence of contemplation, Ranma nodded to the Dread pilot. "Fine..." she muttered, still sore about the latest surprise Washuu sprung at her.

Dita smiled brightly as she stood up and went out of the room. Ranma turned to Washuu with a pout. "You should've told me."

The scientist smirked. "I know. I'm so sorry." The sarcasm was oozing rather obviously.

"That... was weird." Vanilla said in monotone as she commented on Ranma's new body.

Washuu tapped her chin with her finger. "Oh... Rei, I mean, Vanilla doesn't know about your curse."

Ranma sighed loudly. He, rather she, looked at Vanilla with her blue eyes with golden pupils and explained, "I turn into a girl with cold water, hot water turns me back to my boy form. It's a curse I picked up when my stupid adoptive father dragged me into a forbidden training ground called Jusenkyo. Before you ask, I really am a boy. The girl part is my curse."

Meia snorted. "Some ohma... taking a child to something as dangerous as that."

The pigtailed girl shrugged. "What can I say? I had a weird childhood."

Vanilla nodded thoughtfully. "I see."

"By the way, Ranma-chan..." Washuu interrupted, "Since when did you have those gems on your forehead?" she asked, pointing at Ranma's head.

"Huh?" Onna-Ranma absently lifted her hand to her forehead and caressed the trio of silver stones, "Uhm... I don't remember. But it was after I got away from my own time. Why? Do you know something about them?"

The smaller redhead shook her head. "No, not really. But it looks so familiar... well forget about it for now. Anyway, let's go see what the captain was talking about when she sent Dita here, ne?"

Ranma shrugged once again as she readjusted her clothes, which has become laxed from her body. She silently vowed to discover how to control the curse change as well, like she did with the aging bit.

"Now to find some hot water for now..." Ranma muttered to herself as she followed the small entourage of ladies outside the room.

After turning back to her birth form, a male Ranma with Rin-Ohki in his arms finally entered the meeting room of Nirvana, where most of the battle maneuvers used were created. Inside the room were Magno, BC,  
Gascogne, Misty, Dita, Jura, Barnette, Meia, Parfait, Paiway, Bart,  
Duero and Hibiki already waiting. Present in the room were Washuu and Vanilla, as well as the rest of the Galaxy Angels.

"It's good you have finally joined us, child." Magno opened with a small smile on her face.

Washuu stepped forward to comment, "Actually, he might be older than you. So..."

"It's just a rhetorical statement." Magno deadpanned.

BC cleared her throat. "Anyway... we have stumbled upon a moderately populated planet, with a population ranging between two million people to fifteen million. Their technology seemed high enough, since we have detected movements from giant robots around the planet's surface.  
Surprisingly though, the lack of space equipment like some satellites and such gave us a little mystery. Be aware that we have detected some strange energy readings from a larger body. At some wavelengths, it can be compared with the Paeksis, but at the same time it isn't. Anyway,  
that seems to be the assessment as of now. The captain wanted to come down to the planet in person, while I accompany her. Meia is needed if ever something occurs and Duero for medical purposes. We will go down to the surface to get some supplies and if possible, some information. The rest will stay here in the Nirvana to defend the ship if ever an attack commences. Ranma, Washuu-san and the Galaxy Angels' group, you are welcome to join us, but please bear in mind that we are not forcing you in this."

Ranma smiled. "I'll come along. Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

Washuu snorted. "I'll stay here in your ship. But I have to make one request from you, BC-san..."

"Uhmm... what is it?" The dark tanned subcommander asked curiously.

The redheaded scientist smiled cheerfully, "Call me, Washuu-chan!"

"Err, right. Washuu... chan." BC just nodded at the violent nods coming from Ranma and Misty.

"I'll stay too." Forte volunteered. She still hasn't finished analyzing the Nirvana's various weapon preferences.

"I'll go with you." Ranpha replied. "There might be something real interesting down there." ((Like treasures and money... besides I can't just let Vanilla have Ranma!)) She chuckled to herself darkly, earning herself some speculative stares from those around her.

Mint thought for a bit before shaking her head. "I'll stay here in the Nirvana. There should be someone here to control Forte-san.  
Milfeuille-san will stay here as well."

"Hey!" A shout came from irate weapons collector of the Galaxy Angels.

Milfeuille pouted cutely. "Awww... I wanted to go... but oh well.  
Mint-san says I shouldn't, so I won't. I'll just have to bake cakes for everyone then!"

Vanilla looked at Ranma briefly before staring forward and replying, "I will accompany Ranma."

After a brief nod from Ranma, Magno finally smiled and said, "Well,  
prepare to board the shuttle then. Gascogne will lead us to it."

May the Kami have mercy on the planet below. Ranma has descended!

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

At first glance, the planet seemed to look like a peaceful sort, having lush green vegetation and wide open seas. While on the shuttle, Ranma and his companions marveled at the view.

Of course, not all things that seemed good were always really that good.  
In fact, some were just masked to look good in the surface. This planet has been battered by a war that slaughtered a lot of people. Unknown to those in the incoming space shuttle, the planet also has a history of discrimination that persecuted a lot of innocent lives along the way.

The wars in this planet were fought with giant machines called Gears,  
the counterpart of giant robots from Earth as well as the Vandread.

The Lambs and the Abel... two forces that distinguished themselves from each other. The Lambs were cattle to the Abel, which were also called the 'Surface Dwellers'. The Abel were more or less members of an elite organization called Solaris. The Solaris believed themselves to be something of a deitic blood, scoffing at the mere thought of communicating with the Lambs. Because of this belief, the Solaris treated most Lambs as slaves. A sad plight to those caught by the elitist group.

But the war on the surface of the unnamed planet escalated to a high degree when Solaris, an organization that thrived on technology, finally fell. A group of rebels finally mustered a force that toppled the mighty Solaris Empire, and their very own headquarters.

After that, certain events led to the reawakening of an old colony ship that contained a new living symbiote. It mutated from energy into a sentient being, gaining its own intelligence and almost took over the whole colony ship as it traveled near the planet. The crew lost control and finally crash-landed on that planet, leaving its precious cargo to 'go forth and multiply'.

It has been millennia ago since that crash, and now the being finally rose once again to gather enough power to go back to its own home world.  
With its rise, it will need to gather each and every living organism as its host body, but those same rebels that toppled Solaris went against it. As of now, each side was planning on their moves against one another.

During this time of temporary peace (since its a deadlock between the sentient being and the rebels) the Nirvana's shuttle craft descended from the sky without any preamble, since for some reason the technology on this world seemed to be limited on-surface only.

In another part of that world, a lone battleship dragged forward in the sand. It was huge, probably three-fourths the size of the Nirvana. It has a dark green color that seemed to blend well underground. It's form is of a submarine model. This is the Yggdrasil IV, flagship of the former King Bartholomeo Fatima, leader of the Desert Pirates of Aveh.

A strange dolphin, who was dressed in a military like suit, was keeping track of the sonar and radar. He suddenly stiffened when a bleep sounded off from the radar.

""Captain! There is a ship descending in the forest near Nisan. It's an unknown from our ship's databank."" The dolphin said loudly.

A blond haired man with an eye patch covering one eye stepped forward.  
His one good eye has a color jade as its pupil. He was dressed in a red coat and white pants. A bandanna decorated his forehead. He was Bartholomeo Fatima, otherwise known as Bart to his friends and crewmembers. He looked curiously at the screen for a moment, which was flashing unknown variables about the detected craft.

Bart turned to the dolphin and said in a loud voice, ""Turn the ship thirty-five degrees to the west an' head to the Nisan port. We should investigate this right?""

Another man with white hair and an eye patch covering the opposite eye flanked Bart. He nodded as Bart looked at him after asking for his agreement on the matter.

""What do you think, Sig? Another enemy?"" Bart asked the man behind him warily as he examined the readings.

Sig, rather, Sigurd sighed and replied, ""I do not think so, young master. Let us not act in haste. Shall I tell Fei and the others about the situation?""

Bart nodded perceptively. ""That'll be good. I might need back-up when it turns out ta be enemies ya know.""

Sigurd nodded and went out of the deck to inform their companions about the current news. Meanwhile Bart just stared at the read-outs, still wary about the coincidence of the arrival. It was understandable, since the whole planet was in the middle of a huge war.

""I hope they're not enemies or somethin'..."" Bart whispered to himself.

Fei and the other members of their resistance group were all situated inside the conference room. They were all planning to meet there after Bart has successfully led the Yggdrasil IV back to Nisan. He was sitting on a chair that decorated the room, with Elly beside him on a chair as well. The red-haired ex-soldier of Solaris looked saddened by something.  
They have just come back after killing the giant Sufal Mass from the Soylent Plant. Even if it was an enemy, Elly felt that horribly guilty about it. No matter what it was, it was still a life.

Rico and Billy stood at the other side, staring at nothing in particular. Rico's hometown Kislev was almost destroyed by the war. He also watched in horror as people around him slowly turned into monsters.  
He felt lucky that his own appearance didn't really make him feel bad anymore. He was also thinking about his feelings about the upcoming battle. He just hoped he would come back alive after it. Billy on the other hand was contemplating on the teachings of his beliefs before he joined Fei's group. He was taught that Wels were to be hated and destroyed, but after seeing how they were created in the first place, he felt sick to his stomach that he had to follow those beliefs.

Citan and Jessie were on the bar with Maison, the Fatima Family's retainer, drinking in a somber mood. Since the Soylent Plant encounter,  
their mood seemed to have dropped. Seeing Elly despair over that wasted life really tore their hearts. The veterans knew that in battle,  
casualties are inevitable, but someone as young as Elly, though a hardened soldier at her own right, still has lots to learn about life.  
Because of the newly reawakened sentience that has transformed most of the people around them into bloodthirsty Wels, they have to defeat,  
rather, kill most of them in order to stop their rampage. The reason people were being transformed into Wels was to create a body for the sentience, which some in Solaris believed to be a god itself. They believed, since the ship the sentience was located was the same ship that carried the first people to arrive in the planet, the sentience itself was God. Now, they were just giving back and sacrificing their own bodies to feed 'God' for redemption.

Maria and Emeralda were huddled in a corner as they watched the adults talk about whatever. Emeralda's now older body towered over Maria, but her mind was still of a child's. They both seem to understand a bit what everyone was so down about. They saw how cruel the former humans were treated in that Soylent Plant. Emeralda knew how it felt to be created,  
but her 'parents', no matter how brief it was before they were killed gave her love and affection and she was taken into Solaris' custody. The Solaris lobotomized Maria's father as the scientist finished created Seibzhen's predecessor Achtzehn. The Solaris thugs even downloaded her father's brain patterns into the giant gear, creating a monster that was a shadow of who Maria's father was. Both Emeralda and Maria suffered heartbreaks of their own as they grew up, so they were not strangers to pain. But their experiences paled to what they have witnessed in the incident, and that will give them nightmares for weeks to come. Still,  
they both knew they have to fight for their own survival, especially now that the seal for human evolution has been removed. The limiters installed by the early humans in themselves were finally removed by the nanobots that were spread into the atmosphere by Tora. But to their horror, the same limiters seemed to have tripped a failsafe device that transformed most of the humans into Wels, to serve as ingredients for God's final body.

Margie was sitting alone at the other side of the table, with Chu-Chu at her lap. Margie felt helpless as she watched her friends despair over their last mission. All she could do was offer her sympathies and support, which for her was not really all that much no matter how grateful they say they were about it. Chu-Chu wanted to sit with Fei,  
but seeing Elly's tear-streaked face made her think about it. The red-haired girl needed comforting more than she does.

The door slid open and Sigurd walked inside the silent room, catching everyone's attention. When he reached the table, he found that everyone was looking at him expectantly.

""So much sorrow in one room..."" Sigurd muttered to himself as he settled on one seat on one of the stools directly in front of Maison's mini-bar.

""Sigurd."" Citan nodded his head, raising his glass of bourbon on one hand. "What brings you to this place?"

Sigurd sighed as he nodded to Maison, who grabbed another tall glass and poured his favorite whiskey into it. With no hesitation, the white haired former Solaris Elite gulped half of the glass' contents and slammed it down on the table with a slam. Wearily, he turned to his friends' faces, those same faces that fought with him and his young master, who was in truth his half brother as well.

""I hope it's nothing, but a new development arose."" Sigurd declared solemnly, stirring what's left of his drink in the glass. ""We detected a craft landing in one of the thick forests outside of Nisan. We still can't determine whether it's Gebler, Solaris, or even from that gigantic ship that rose from the sea. All we know is that it appeared out of thin air, and it's not registered in our ship's databank.""

""So basically..."" Jessie commented beside Citan, ""We have absolutely no idea who or what is inside that ship?""

Sigurd nodded tiredly.

Fei sighed loudly. ""We can't catch a break, can't we?""

""But..."" Elly interjected, ""It could be nothing, right? They could be allies of some sort, right?""

Rico snorted. ""Maybe they're some sort of spies too.""

""NO!"" Everyone jumped at the voice, and stared at the quivering form of Margie, who was glaring at them in general. ""Don't think like that!  
We must think good things!""

""Margie..."" Sigurd began, but was stopped when Margie shot him a look.

""Don't you dare tell me to calm down! Look at all of you! All whiney and weepy and god knows what else! I can't stand it!"" The small girl furiously wiped the tears that seemed to fall down her face. ""I know I can't do anything good for you... so please! Just let me make you feel all right and just think of good things for now. We don't even know what the intention of those inside that ship is, and here we are already jumping into conclusions!""

Oh yes. In other words, in the end there were at least several shamefaced individuals trying to placate the crying Mother Superior of the Nisan Sect.

Inside the incoming space vessel that was slowly positioning itself in a good landing spot in the forest outside Nisan, everyone was glaring at the floating pigtailed boy, who was currently changing height constantly. Ranma decided to practice changing genders, deciding that it would be prudent that he learned how. Somehow, he still can't get the hang of it, often triggering the change of his age only. Everyone had gotten annoyed, except Meia and Vanilla that is, when they grew tired of watching the red-tailed boy shift physical aging.

"Amazing." Meia said in awe as she watched Ranma shift once again from an eight-year-old to a twenty-year-old once again. "Ranma's so cute when he's a child. Who knew men could be so cute at that age?" She wondered out loud.

Ranma paused in his shifting as he stared at the girl. "What's being a man gotta do with anything?"

Magno interjected, "You do remember that in Mejer, they believe that men are their enemy."

"I still can't believe that." Ranpha mumbled to herself.

"What about you?" Ranma asked the old woman curiously. "What do you believe in?"

The old woman snorted as everyone stared at her, waiting for her response. "I'm not as close-minded as those fools back in my planet. If I were, I would've thrown out the men that came with us at the first instant we discovered them in the Nirvana."

Gascogne shrugged. "I didn't believe much of those stories either. My work as a pirate and as a supply manager opened me to various types of information. A pirate goes to a lot of places, and I found one or two planets that seemed to adopt man to woman relationships. But in respect for my home planet's beliefs, as well as avoiding a lot of questions, I just kept silent about my thoughts."

Meia, BC and Duero were gaping at Gascogne, who looked back innocently.

Ranpha grumbled as she crossed her arms across her chest. "I say you're all nuts. Men and women needed each other for procreation! How could anyone live in groups with same genders? And don't even get me started with male to male... no offense, but it disturbs me."

"Eh?" Ranma asked eloquently, silently floating above them with Rin-Ohki looking attentively down to them in his arms. "You can't really blame them, since they were brought up in that kind of life."

"Men and women... together?" Meia gazed at Ranma thoughtfully, suddenly catching herself in a blush. She turned to the lone window and stared at the scene outside, trying to hide her flaming cheeks. The thoughts of Ranma and her hand in hand came into her mind for some reason. She also started to consider her feelings when Barnette, Jura and Misty would start to snuggle up to Ranma for whatever reason. The feelings of pain and anger in her chest would intensify when she sees those other girls go near Ranma were a mystery to her. Now, whenever she looks at Ranma,  
her thoughts go astray as her heart goes into palpitations. She had asked Duero about it once, but all he said was that she was fine. Those feelings confused her, and she once opted to ask Ranma, but for some weird reason she suddenly felt fear and anxiety as she resolved her courage. She backed out on that plan, and is now suffering because of it.

"We have landed." Vanilla pointed out as the vessel halted its descent.  
It shuddered once as it settled into position.

Ranma and the others turned to the window and saw their vehicle finally came to rest. With an unspoken signal, Ranma and Rin-Ohki phased through the steel wall, eliciting some stares from the group. Even though they have witnessed some of his powers, they still can't get used to some of them. Seeing him pass through the wall without any preamble reminded them how different he was from them.

After a few seconds of waiting, Ranma's head popped out of the same wall, catching most of them unawares. Magno clutched to her chest panting, while Ranpha screamed in surprise. BC and Duero backed away nervously as Meia's left brow twitched. Vanilla just blinked and smiled slightly.

"The air's breathable, or that's what Rin-Ohki says." Ranma informed them. "I trust her though, because I can't actually tell... now that I don't really need air to breathe anymore."

"V-Very well, thank you Ranma." Magno replied in a slightly shaken manner.

After last minute checks for their vehicle's stability, the group finally exited the space craft and was awed at the tall trees in front of them. Mostly because they were from places that thrived on technology, that they were used to seeing machinery and factories. Oh sure, they have some meadows and mountains and such, but the thick vegetation and various small animals hopping around were new to them.  
They saw Ranma leaping from one tree branch to another happily, with Rin-Ohki hopping excitedly on the ground as well.

Their contemplation was cut short when a loud roar rumbled all over the forest. Ranma and Rin-Ohki reappeared near the group in preparation,  
while Ranpha, Meia and BC prepared their weapons for use. Strong pounding resonated together with the roars, punctuating that their adversary would be big, in fact, it's VERY big.

Sure enough, after several loud poundings of the ground and minor tremors, a large dark-green head emerged from the dark patch of the forest. Its body easily towered over their space vessel. Its head was comparable to a dinosaur's, having a large mouth with serrated teeth in them. Its eyes were golden as it glared on its victims below its vision.

Unknown to them, they stood face to face with a Rankar Dragon. How it got there, nobody really gives a hoot right now.

Seeing the dragon preparing to strike, Ranpha open-fired with her laser handgun, BC started lashing out with her whip and Meia fired her laser rings. The beams seemed to dissipate on the dragon's hard skin, and BC's whip snapped harmlessly across the dark hide as well. The dragon just growled in annoyance and stepped forward menacingly.

"Oh great." Ranpha blanched as she fired more shots from her gun, which still had little to no effect at the dragon at all.

Meia already abandoned her rings as she picked out some rocks from the ground and chucked them at the creature. It seemed to somehow irritate the Rankar.

The dragon glared at the puny insects at its feet. How dare they try and hurt it by their pesky light show! It opened its massive jaws and lunged forward.

))SMACK!((

Everything stopped as the Rankar's huge mouth froze at midair. A fist connected to an arm with a black bracer stopped the hulking head as it was embedded at the creature's snout.

The crowd followed the fist to the body that sprang it in the first place. Sure enough, there stood Ranma with his knuckles buried halfway into the dragon's mouth. A few drops of blood flowed down on the ground from the shattered Rankar's orifice as pieces of broken flesh and teeth were exposed from the hole created by Ranma's strike. The pigtailed boy slowly pulled his arm back and watched as the green dragon whine pathetically a bit before teetering down to one side. With a loud crash,  
the huge creature fell to its side, struggling futilely for a moment before its final shudder. With a snort, the Rankar finally breathed its last.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the cooling carcass in front of them. Then their gazes lifted to Ranma, who was trying to crack a crick on his neck. Then they lowered their gazes down on the dead thing again, and once again to Ranma.

The boy finally got fed up and complained, "What!"

"What are you!" Ranpha all but screamed as she grabbed a fistful of her blond hair in agitation.

"One punch..." Gascogne was mumbling, still shell-shocked at the huge dead dragon in front of them. "A huge thing like that... down with one punch!"

"Miyah." Rin-Ohki sighed. She just jumped into Ranma's waiting arms,  
snuggling into it happily. She knew her master could do it, so she wasn't really that surprised.

"You never cease to amaze me, bo-- I mean, Ranma." Magno nodded approvingly.

Duero had already walked over to the corpse and was already examining it thoroughly. After a few moments of silent contemplation he stood up, and eyed Ranma with an appraising gaze. "That was some punch, Saotome. You utterly demolished three-fourths of this animal's front teeth, as well as destroying the connecting bone between the jaw and its head."

Before anyone could comment further about it, the whole area shook once again as a mechanical rumble from somewhere hummed in the air. Birds and other animals quickly bolted out of the area in reflex. Ranma just looked at the wavering group curiously, mainly because he was still up in the air so he wasn't really feeling the tremors. All he saw was that the ground blurred a bit and his friends were having a hard time balancing themselves. But he did hear the ominous rumbling... but a living thing didn't make it. It is however, a mechanical kind of rumble.

Without another word, Ranma rose above the thick branches of the trees all over the small forest. When he finally reached the top and saw the sun, he gaped at the view on the horizon.

Nearing their position was a huge dark green submarine-like ship that has some kind of symbol at its tip. It stopped just outside the sand's range and just settled there. Ranma discovered a little later that he has been staring more than five minutes at the hulking thing when some movement came from the ship as three to four smaller but still impressively gigantic things emerged from it. Focusing his eyes on it for a moment, he made out images of humanoid robots, but they were sleeker than those he saw back in the Nirvana. Suddenly remembering the group still waiting below him, he phased out of the area in his haste.

The said group except Vanilla (nothing can phase the girl, I tell you)  
jumped back in surprise as Ranma's form materialized all of the sudden right in front of them. They started to talk at once when Ranma suddenly spoke.

"We have company." Ranma said warily as he settled down on a tree branch where he eyed the direction where he last saw the huge craft. In a distance, he could already hear a different set of engine exhaust whirring against the wind. He just knew this would be bad news for them.

Sure enough, three huge mecha emerged from the trees, momentarily surrounding them. One of the mecha was dark blue-gray in color, with small wing-shaped apparatus at its back. It seemed to lead the group. It was flanked by a white and pink robot, which was standing quite close to the leader. On the other side was a larger dark-green robot with a huge sword in its hands. They all surrounded them quickly and efficiently blocking their paths of escape.

""LOWER YOUR WEAPONS AND RAISE YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR."" A loud booming voice emanated from the lead robot. To the Nirvana crew, it was all garbled and not understandable.

"They want us to surrender." Vanilla informed them. Everyone was just too surprised to even notice how the pale girl could understand the language anyway.

Ranpha stared at the giants in front of her. "Forte would be jumping up and down with glee right now, if only she could see these robots..." She quickly raised her hands in the air.

Gascogne raised her eyebrow as she added, "Dita would be hugging the thing's leg shouting, 'Another Mister Alien!' and that sort of thing."

Ranpha turned her head at Gascogne and choked out, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Gascogne just smirked.

The others just followed suit, well everyone except Ranma since he still has Rin-Ohki in his arms. The cabbit on the other hand was gazing at the robots with hearts in her eyes. Ranma shuddered as he saw in his mind what his partner was thinking. It was more in the lines of the robots lying haphazardly in between huge loaves of bread. ((Eh? Robot Sandwiches?)) Ranma thought as he tried to think of a way to get out of this mess. He could just go and thrash the robots, but that would expose everyone to danger. No offense to them, but they might get caught in the crossfire and get hurt in the process. He can survive the battle, but casualties may arise in that.

Magno hobbled forward, her hands on her cane. "We mean you no harm. We happen to pass by your planet and figured that we needed some supplies,  
that is all."

The area was silent for a moment, save for some scuffles from the remaining animals that remained in the forest. After several minutes,  
one by one the robots went down to one knee as loud hisses came simultaneously from them, causing the visiting group to fidget slightly.

From the dark blue-gray robot, a young raven haired man with it tied in a long ponytail that hung on his back emerged. He wore a white shirt laced with blue with black kung-fu pants. He quickly stepped out of the cockpit of his mecha and leapt into the air, landing at the robot's feet with a soft thud.

A long red-haired woman came out from the white and pink robot. She wore a tight fitting white pilot's uniform with black trimmings and combat boots. She too leapt down from the cockpit located on her robot's chest area and landed on its feet. She quickly made her way beside the young man, who was eyeing the group intently.

Lastly, from the last dark-green robot a somewhat older looking man with glasses and black long hair emerged. He wore a green shirt and white pants. He landed beside his other two companions as they watched their captives' movements.

The young man with the long ponytail finally stepped up and said, ""Who are you and where did you come from?""

The visitors have this blank look on their faces as they failed to understand what he was saying. However, Ranma had this bewildered look on him as he leapt down from the branch he was perched on. The young male pilot idly noted how well Ranma moved as he landed silently.

""English, huh? So it would seem you speak English in this planet... not Japanese as the ones in the Nirvana."" Ranma rubbed his chin with one hand thoughtfully. Everyone just turned to gaze at him as he fell silent in his memories. He did remember Chi-Chi's lessons about the language,  
how it was hammered into his head as his second language. He was silently thankful for the lessons Goku's wife gave him back then. Ranma finally snapped back to the present and noticed the Nirvana's group staring at him.

Hazarding a guess, he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and said,  
"I guess you were wondering how I could speak their language then?"

"It is in English." Vanilla commented as she remembered her life as Ayanami Rei once again. All the information were downloaded into her brain as her body was revived at that time, and the languages were just one of the information she received. She silently walked to Ranma's side and stayed there.

"English?" Meia asked as she scooted closer to Ranma. She took note of the slight twitch that seemed to have appeared on Vanilla's cheek when she did so.

Magno nodded sagely. "Ah, I remember... an old language from our original planet Earth."

Ranma noticed that the three newcomers were looking at them in confusion as they waited for a response. He said to them, ""Sorry about that, but most of the people in this group don't understand your language. Only me and that small girl with cyan hair over there are the only ones who can understand you. Before you ask, the language you're using is called English.""

The young man with long ponytailed hair looked at Ranma oddly at first,  
and then nodded. He replied, ""My name is Fei, and the woman at my side is Elly. The person behind us is Citan. We detected the descent of your ship near Nisan, a town that has the highest priority of protection from us. We immediately mobilized to make sure you weren't a threat or anything.""

Ranma nodded at Fei's explanation, while Vanilla quickly translated for the bewildered group behind. His face screwed in contemplation and asked, ""I am Ranma, just your normal wanderer. My companions are Vanilla, the other girl who can understand your language. Meia is the leading tactician of our group. Duero is the doctor in charge of medical stuff. Ranpha is member of an elite force that we recently met, who by the way has the same origins as Vanilla. Buzam or BC for short, is the assistant to the leader of the group I'm staying with; Magno, the leader of the whole group in general."" He explained, pointing to each and everyone behind him. A loud miyah interrupted Ranma whoever.

""Oh! Before I forget, this is my partner, Rin-Ohki."" Ranma gestured to the silver furred creature in his arms. Elly peered closer to the thing and gushed at how cute it was. Women, bah (no offense to women everywhere though heh heh).

Ranma looked at Fei. ""I was wondering, what were you so uptight about?  
I mean... no disrespect but... you were awfully jumpy at such a small craft. You even sent those robots as reinforcements.""

Fei chuckled as he relaxed his stance. ""Sorry 'bout that. We have no idea what to expect, and we're in a middle of a crisis. You see, we've been fighting something really bad, and we're just making sure about things. The Gears, these robots as you refer them, are our.  
instruments for warfare. They are also used for other things, but right now war is its purpose. So tell us, where were you from?""

The pigtailed boy smiled nervously as he looked back to Magno. Since she's the captain of the Nirvana, she has the last word about things.  
Revealing their origins are one of them. Vanilla just finished translating for Ranma as Magno nodded back to him, giving him her approval on being honest with the inhabitants of the world they were supposed to gather supplies from. It won't do if the whole planet would declare war on them because they withheld information.

""Well..."" Ranma began, as he struggled for the words to describe their origins, ""You see, we're really not from around here.""

The red-haired girl named Elly (weirdly enough, a lot of the women Ranma met were redheads) finally spoke in an accented English (she's half-Solarian right?), ""From where then, another island?""

Ranma violently shook his head from side to side. ""Uhmm... would you believe we're from another... planet?""

Silence reigned in the area, leaving the Nirvana group wondering if they should run. They looked at Ranma, then to the three newcomers, then back to Ranma once again. Only Vanilla seemed calm enough though, and that gave them the courage to stay put and wait it out. They were avidly waiting for the impending explosion from their hosts.

They weren't disappointed.

""You have GOT to be kidding me!"" Fei all but yelled at their faces.  
Eyeing them warily, he stepped back and stood in a hidden but ready stance. The others were quite oblivious about this, but Ranma's experience in battle saw this really well.

""Another... planet?"" Well, Elly's reaction was a bit more subdued,  
with a little bit of fear and disbelief in her voice. The fact that she was quivering a bit under her pilot suit clearly showed her agitation about the situation.

But the best response of all was from the last member of the host's group. ""Simply amazing!"" Citan said as his eyes gleamed excitedly.  
Ranma sweatdropped when he saw this. The glint in Citan's eyes reminded him of Duero, Parfait and Washuu whenever they have this new toy to tinker with.

Before any of it blew out of proportion, Ranma commented quickly,  
""We're really visitors from another world, although since you speak a language that was familiar to me, it would seem that you might've came from our planet as well. Tell me, were you colonists here?""

This statement stunned Fei and the others. Citan spoke up, ""Yes... yes you're right. Records has it that we were not native in this world.""

Fei and Elly just looked dumbly at Citan, while Ranma nodded knowingly.  
They knew about their people's history, since their reincarnated memories reminded them about it, but they never knew Citan had that knowledge as well.

Ranma just smiled softly. ""I knew it. You were probably one of the original colonists sent forth into space from planet Earth."" He gestured to his companions, ""Well, these people were also from the same planet you probably came from. They were colonists before they got to settle down the planets they are in right now. Although... they have some... weird customs that I plan to correct later on.""

""Regardless, please forgive our skepticism... but this is still hard to swallow you know..."" Citan said seriously.

Ranma shrugged. ""I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't experienced it by my own."" At Fei, Elly and Citan's questioning looks,  
Ranma continued, ""Being flung into different universes dulls the skepticism in my mind. That and revealing a lot of secrets about oneself."" He chortled merrily. In truth, he was quite amused at all of these. After all, things just go bye-bye when Ranma's around, right?

After considering for a moment as the trio of Gear pilots conferred in a huddle, Fei finally nodded and looked up to Ranma and the Nirvana crew,  
saying, ""Well, since we can't leave you here, we just have to take you in our ship, the Yggdrasil. Beware though, no funny business. The captain there is quite... eccentric.""

Ranma just shrugged as he held Rin-Ohki tighter into his body. He had long curled his red tail around his waist once more, dispelling the obvious conclusion of his weird but noble descent (crap... he now sounds like Kuno!).

With that, Fei looked around to see if there are any more who would come with them, he finally spotted the odd hill that stuck out on their side.  
He walked towards it and peered at it closely. Realizing what it was, he gasped as he backpedaled towards Elly and Citan, who were suddenly alert at Fei's reaction.

""What's wrong Fei? Is there something the matter?"" Elly eyed the Nirvana crew suspiciously, thinking that they were hiding something from them that Fei had just uncovered.

Citan only fell silent as he stepped forward, taking a look at the 'hill' as well. With an admiring whistle, he stepped back and faced the confused Nirvana crew.

""This is a Rankar Dragon. One of the deadlier animals that roamed these parts."" Citan explained to Ranma, since the pigtailed boy was the only one who understood. Vanilla was busy translating for their group. The surprised looks on their faces indicated that they finally get what they have apparently killed.

Ranma for his part just looked really innocent. ""Soooo?""

Fei finally recovered, but was a bit pale as he struggled to stand in Elly's arms. He remembered his first encounter with the beast, and it was not pretty. He wasn't able to do anything to the dragon but piss it off. Luckily, Citan saved him by transporting Weltall to his location so he may fight it. It was also around that time that he met Elly. ""To kill one of these, we usually used Gears to do our dirty work. These monsters have very tough hide, and even with our Gears he have a lot of trouble dealing with them. How did you get to kill one of these anyway?"" Fei asked incredulously.

Before Ranma could answer the question, Vanilla's flat voice replied,  
""Ranma punched it. Once.""

""EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"" Fei, Elly and Citan commented intelligently, eyes bugging out while looking at Ranma.

""Hmmmm?"" Ranma just looked more confused than ever.

Fei walked up to him. ""That's not possible! I tried fighting it before,  
and I didn't even scratch it! I have to use a Gear just to beat it!""

Ranma crossed his arms across his chest. ""Just because you can't do it,  
doesn't mean I can't.""

""It is of no belittling of your abilities."" Citan assured him. ""It's just hard for us to believe that you can defeat something as powerful as a Rankar Dragon.""

Ranma just waved their skepticism off. ""It's dead, alright? Can we just talk about something else?"" He was also getting real annoyed at the direction the questions were going.

Refraining from asking any more questions, Fei just contacted the Yggdrasil to pick them up, along with the message of more people coming in as well.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The Yggdrasil was a very huge ship, and the crew from the Nirvana could attest to that. It was roughly five-eighths the size of the Nirvana itself. The huge docks it had held several large Gears, and even took their shuttle inside. Although there were a handful of women, most of the crew was men, much to Meia's dismay. Though she has no qualms about men and their presence, pirate men were another story. They were just no 'Ranma', and subconsciously she took a peek at the pigtailed boy at her side. She sighed longingly.

Vanilla was walking beside Ranma, and for some reason not even she could name, she was sticking real close to him. She was still as emotionless as ever, but Ranma knew what to look for. Dealing with Nabiki taught him about subtle eyebrow shifts and cheek twitches proved to be something.

Ranma adjusted the dark tinted glasses over his eyes as he boredly followed the trio of Gear pilots in front of him. He took note of the spacious ship the Yggdrasil was made of, but it was nothing compared to the Nirvana. Of course, when it comes to cool techno-crap, Washuu's Soja II came a distant first. His hand was scratching Rin-Ohki softly,  
eliciting some purrs from the hybrid pet while it slumbered peacefully despite all the excitement.

Ranpha was disappointed, because most of the men were either old or too weird-looking. Her pursuit for gorgeous men was in vain after all. She shrugged, since she could always go for her old standby... treasures!  
Besides, the male hunk she was acquainted with in front of her took the fun out of finding other prospects. Even though he changed to a girl with the application of water, the promise of control (Washuu mentioned it before, and Ranma was ranting about it nonstop when he heard it)  
skyrocketed Ranma's appeal. Now, if she could only find a way to nab him from the other girls eyeing him.

Duero was actually quite interested in the relationship between the males and the females of the ship. He saw how that Fei person and Elly were interacting. They were touching and remained in contact with each other for the duration of the trip. He already heard from Ranma about 'intimacy', but experiencing it first hand was another thing.

BC was rather interested at the Gear designs. Their own Dreads and the Vanguards were a bit more advanced than the Gears, but the latters'  
designs were efficient and well made. Magno was looking around her the same way, as well as trying to decipher some of the puzzling language the crew of the Yggdrasil was using. She should know about it, but it has been so long that she had already forgotten it.

Fei was feeling something a bit odd from the pigtailed boy. For one, why was he wearing those dark glasses inside the ship anyway? There is no sun anyway. And also, the fact that this 'Ranma' also defeated a Rankar Dragon with his bear hands... with one punch no less! He was wondering if he should challenge the guy, but for once he felt a sudden chill as he thought what would happen if he did so.

Elly was rather skeptic at everything. Sure, she believes that there might've been life in other planets or something, but seeing them face to face is really weird. Plus, the fact that they might all belong to the same planet of origin still made her feel a bit overwhelmed. Also,  
the way Ranma moved made Fei look like a turtle in grace. She also thinks that Rin-Ohki is quite cute.

The good old doctor Citan already has some conclusions on the group.  
Yes, he believes that they are as they say, since his former master Cain educated him about this. The boy Ranma was a bit of a puzzle though,  
since he felt something off about him.

The Nirvana group was led to the conference room, just beyond the bar area. A lone white haired old man who was standing behind the counter was looking at them curiously. It would seem that they were not used to visitors as of late. Finally arriving at the room with a huge chandelier and that oval table, they saw another group of three small girls, a pink fluff of a pet, a dark skinned green haired woman, a totally green guy with red hair, a white long haired guy with an eye patch, an old looking guy with a scar on his face dressed in a trenchcoat, a white haired young lad in a trenchcoat and guns slung inside them, and at the head of the conference table was a blond haired young man with an eye patch on his eye as well.

""Welcome..."" The blond young man with an eye patch greeted them. Ranma smiled and bowed slightly. When the others saw the gesture, they took it as a sign and bowed as well.

Ranma chuckled at the young man's confusion. ""Pardon them, but they can't understand a thing we're saying, except the girl in white. I am Ranma, a wanderer of some sort. The girl in white is Vanilla, who just recently joined our group. The blue haired girl is Meia, while the silver haired one is BC. The one in red and has blonde hair is Ranpha,  
who was with Vanilla long before they kinda stumbled in with our group.  
The longhaired young man is Duero, resident physician of the group. The one in my arms is Rin-Ohki, my partner. Don't irritate her or she'll do something real bad."" He shrugged at the last sentence. Ranma was sure Rin-Ohki reacts badly when she gets pissed, like that time Inuyasha tried to pull the carrots the cabbit was eating right out of her grasp.  
Who would've ever thought that a cabbit could fire energy blasts unconsciously? The look on Inuyasha's shocked face, as he lay on the ground smoking was a classic!

The 'eye patched blondie' nodded, eyeing the weird rabbit-looking animal wryly. Rin-Ohki just yawned cutely and snuggled into Ranma's arms,  
dreaming of the delicious metals on board the ship they were on right now. Just think, she could eat several of those huge robot thingies and she will regain most of her strength and be able to transform to her ship mode! Also, she was thinking of some major modifications, ever since seeing those robots made her wish she could transform into those as well. She would have to fix all that after she gets the metals she needed, which will be rather soon once everyone's attention is away from her.

""Anyway, this ship here is the Yggdrasil, and to clear everythin' up,  
we're pirates. You can call me Bart, and I'm the leader of the group"  
Bart said after contemplating for a bit.

Ranma chuckled, earning himself a curious look from everyone. ""Well,  
waddya know? It's a coincidence, ya see, Captain Magno here and her crew are pirates as well. Although, they're all women. Cool... a meeting between two pirate leaders...""

""Really? Wow!"" Bart blinked as he realized the irony of it all.  
""Anyway, welcome then! I'd like ya to meet everyone here, since all of them're my friends ya know? I see ya met Fei, Elly and Citan already.  
Well, I'm gonna introduce ya here to the rest.""

Gesturing to one of the smaller girls, she was a white haired one with dark red eyes. She was holding unto a notepad for some reason, with a pen connected to it with a string. ""Her name's Primera, and she can't speak much... trauma or somethin'. Anyway, she usually writes what she wants in that pad of hers, so just watch out for that."" The others smiled at her warmly, which she returned in kind.

Another small girl with long hair and goggles just above her hairline was introduced. She was looking at them with a demure attitude. ""She's Maria, and believe it or not, she commands one of the big Gears ya saw back there in the docks, specifically the big blue one."" Everyone was looking at her amazed, making her blush a bit.

The third small girl was wearing a big red hat over her head, with her clothes over her body in red as well. She was also clutching at this pink stuffed toy, err correction, something alive, since it just moved.  
""Lemme introduce my cousin Margie, Nisan's Holy Mother. Uhhmmm, but she's no nun or anythin' okay? Just so we're clear about it"  
Everyone laughed as Margie smacked Bart upside his head.

Bart just grumbled as he scratched the back of his head. ""Anyway, the ball of fuzz Margie is holding happens to be a living thing. Minda ya,  
she's a bit irritatin', but once ya get used ta it, it all comes down to place. She's called Chu-Chu, a survivor of one of this planet's original inhabitants or something. She turns into a giant Chu-Chu when she fights big enemies. Ya have got to see that.""

The pink stuffed toy look-alike huffed as she jumped down from Margie's lap. ""Chu-chu is very happy chu meet new people!"" Chu-Chu squealed excitedly. After Vanilla translated for the pink life form, everyone nodded in acceptance.

Bart nodded to the white haired young man in a dark blue trenchcoat. His guns were gleaming against the light from the chandelier. ""Meet Billy,  
former member of the Ministry. After learning what they really had in store for humanity, he defected and joined us. He's real good with guns,  
and he's very trustworthy."" Billy bowed slightly to the guests.

Next was the white haired man with the eye patch, who was wearing a white version uniform of Bart's red. ""Here is Sigurd, my assistant commander and my... half-brother."" Sigurd looked surprised at Bart while the blond just smiled contentedly.

Bart finally took note of the look Sigurd threw at him and responded,  
""What? I wanna let everybody know that yer my older brother. It's time that everyone knew the truth anyway."" Sigurd's face melted into a soft grin as he nodded appreciatively.

Continuing with the introductions, Bart pointed to the man with a scarred face and dark trenchcoat. ""Meet Jessie, Billy and Primera's father. He's a gun maniac, and a very good sharpshooter. He helped us a lot of times, and like his son he's very dependable."" Jessie smirked arrogantly to the others, much to the women's askance.

Bart laughed lightly at the sight. He finally sobered as he pointed to the elderly man behind the counter. ""The one over there is Maison,  
who's been in my family for years. He's loyal and caring, and offers great advice to those who asked."" With great exaggeration, Maison bowed to his waist with a flourish.

Moving on, Bart gestured to the huge green man. ""He's Rico... don't mind the looks, coz he's got a heart of gold inside that hard outer coverin' of his."" He chortled as he heard Rico growl. ""Anyway, he's a good friend, and you can depend on him whenever yer in a jam.""

Ranma finally spoke up, looking at Rico intently. ""Uhhmm, no offense but, are you an alien or something?""

The rest of the Yggdrasil inhabitants laughed at Ranma's conclusion.  
Even Rico didn't have the willpower to muster enough anger to vent.  
Instead, he sighed as he explained, ""I'm what some called a demi-human.""

Ranma scratched the back of his head. ""I... I see. So there are others like you in this world?""

Rico nodded. ""Yeah. Most of them look like animals and stuff. Like Hammer..."" Fei's group immediately saddened at the mention of Hammer's name. Even though the demi-human chose the path to power and was killed by it, they still thought of him as a friend.

Ranma noticed the mood change as he winced. ""Bad memories?""

Fei smiled sadly. ""We just lost a... friend recently. It was hard on all of us, especially Rico.""

The greenish demi-human glowered at Fei for a moment, then let up.  
""Even if he was a bit irritating at times, he's still a good person. He was just tired of being treated like a lower class life form because of his looks.""

The pigtailed boy cocked his head to one side, his eyes closed in contemplation. ""Ahh... I'm sorry to hear that."" He straightened himself up as he breathed out. ""Hmmm... so anything weird looking is okay right?""

As the rest of the people around him looked on in confusion, even those from the Nirvana themselves, Ranma finally unfurled his tail from his waist, earning gasps from the Yggdrasil crew side. He even removed his glasses, exposing the meshing of blue eyes with yellow pupils. But instead of fear, he just saw curiosity in their gazes. Even the small girls were unafraid of him.

"Ranma! Are you sure this is wise?" Meia asked from his side as he finished exposing his secret.

The boy just shrugged. "It's not fair for them to just trust us out of the blue, just to find out that I kept something as important as this to them."

Turning back to the chattering Yggdrasil group, Ranma cleared his throat, gaining their attention once again. ""It would seem you have a lot of questions.""

""You're not a demi-human."" Rico stated calmly, daring Ranma to refute his words. He was quite surprised when the pigtailed boy just chuckled.

""Whoever said I was?"" Ranma asked amusedly. ""I'm more of a hybrid,  
but not of human standards however, at least that's what my scientist friend would say...""

Maria skipped to his side and glanced at the red appendage behind him.  
""Well, I think you're cute.""

Emeralda cocked her head to one side, looking at Ranma intensively.  
""Nothing wrong...""

Citan tapped his chin with his finger. ""I seem to detect an unusually high life force within you. Tell me, are you a martial artist?""

Ranma's head whipped to Citan's direction, boring his ethereal eyes into Citan's own, making the bi-spectacled man fidget a bit. ""Before everything, I 'was' a martial artist. But now, I'm a warrior.""

""Is there a difference?"" Fei asked, confused at the declaration.

The pigtailed boy nodded. ""Of course. A martial artist defends the weak, trying to keep everyone safe and sound. A warrior defends the weak, but to extremes. Warriors kill their enemies if there's no other way in resolving everything.""

Fei was aghast at the implications. His eyes narrowed a bit as he asked,  
""Did you kill already?""

Ranma snorted. ""I won't be a warrior if I did not. Although I was mortified when I killed the first time, I had to do it. Monsters and such alike are hard to make peace with you know. It is better to destroy them than letting them live. But don't make a mistake, even if they were monsters, a life is still a life. I choose to kill only if the situation has exhausted all options.""

Fei was about to reply when all of the sudden, the alarms around the ship were set off. Everyone just looked confused, that is until one of the men from Bart's crew came stumbling inside the conference room. He was pale and was panting real badly.

""C-Captain! W-We have a s-s-situation!"" The unnamed crewmember stuttered helplessly.

Bart and the rest of the crew from the Yggdrasil grew pensive when they saw the panicked look on his subordinate. ""What the hell is it!"" Bart almost shouted out loud. He was already enjoying a bit of downtime from those battles him and his friends were into back then, and now it would seem that the short rest was over too soon.

The crewmember struggled to control the shaking in his voice.  
""T-There's something happening! We have reports from all over the world... that people started transforming once again into Wels! The cure somehow failed!""

""Shit!"" Bart cursed as he glanced at Sigurd, who paled at the news.

Fei also cursed under his breath as he felt Elly cringe close to his body. ""What is it this time?"" he mutters angrily.

But the news was far from over. ""We also sighted something lifting itself up from the ocean floor. Something really massive, and it is somewhat mechanical by nature."" The crewmember explained, having calmed down a bit after explaining the first bad news. ""We are still analyzing it, and would probably have the results later on.""

Bart sighed and nodded. ""I see... carry on then.""

The crewmember saluted smartly and ran back outside.

The blond captain of the Yggdrasil shook his head as he faced Ranma and his guests once more. ""As you can see, we have a lot of problems right now... I might suggest that you leave this planet real soon. Once things get ugly, you might be caught in between.""

Ranma agreed and turned to Magno. "I suggest you call the Nirvana and have them on stand by. I feel that a little while longer and this planet would erupt in a huge-scale war. You don't want to get caught up in that right?" he spoke in their native language.

The old woman smiled softly. "Although I can see it in your eyes that you wanted to help these people, right? Don't bother denying. Anyway,  
let me inform Parfait about the situation." She pulled out a small circular button, which Ranma recognized as the communication devices each of the crewmembers of the Nirvana have with them. Magno began speaking in the small device, frowning slightly at something before speaking into it once again.

Ranma detected a hint of fear and annoyance from Magno's features.  
Hunching himself to her side, he whispered, "Something wrong?"

Magno glared at the device she held before putting it back in her pocket. She looked up to Ranma's concerned face and replied, "I can't seem to contact the Nirvana. The lines are all garbled."

""What's the matter?"" Bart asked from behind them.

""We can't contact our ship."" Ranma said warily as he scratched the back of his head. He kept his grip firm on Rin-Ohki with his other hand however, since for some reason her thoughts disturbed him.

Citan stepped forward. ""Something must be interfering with the communications array. It must be the thing coming out of the water right now. You see, we also released some nanobots into the atmosphere a few days ago. It was so that we could remove the limiters installed into most of the Land Dwellers. Unfortunately for some reason, when this new thing came up, there was a severe side-effect. It seems that removing the limiters and the new phenomenon sped up the evolution of chosen individuals all over the planet into those things called Wels. We found out earlier that the Wels were to be used as a host body for a resurrecting god.""

""Wow."" Ranma breathed out. ""This planet's kinda messed-up.""

"Ranma..." Magno called to him. "We need to contact the Nirvana."

The pigtailed boy just shrugged. "What can I do? Wait... there's something I can do! Wait here for a moment while I try a long range teleport there okay?"

With Magno's nod, Ranma closed his eyes and concentrated. His body faded away together with Rin-Ohki as the Yggdrasil group stared at the spot he was in a while ago.

He came back a little later with the cabbit still in his arms. He blinked when he realized everyone was still staring at the spot where he disappeared.

""What!"" Ranma asked dubiously.

""HOW!"" Everyone save the Nirvana crew shouted simultaneously.

Ranma sighed as Meia and the rest chortled in amusement. Another long explanation is at hand, but that's for later. Turning to Magno, he said,  
"There's something wrong with the atmosphere that seemed to... uhm.  
interfere in the communications. They were actually ready to send some of your ships on the planet to retrieve us. Good thing I arrived there just in time. Anyway, I told them to stay put, and be alert at any changes that's going to happen. Is that okay?"

The old woman nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Ranma." Gesturing to Bart and the others, who were staring adamantly at Ranma, she continued,  
"But I suggest you start explaining about your... 'gifts'. I don't think they'd take this lying down."

Ranma sweatdropped at the smoldering gazes directed at him.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The whole group was now watching the viewscreen intensively as they watched something huge emerging from the sea. Then the scene shifts to one part of Nisan, where most of the refugees converge. A lot of people were screaming, tearing the flesh from their skins as they clawed at themselves. They were all slowly turning to Wels, even with the presence of the nanobots Tora created to counteract the effects of removing the limiter. Other viewpoints were also viewed, with the same scene and results.

It was horrible.

Citan grimly explained why, his own theories were the best they've got.  
He revealed that the only way for the humans to grow to Wels at such an incredible rate was to use the Gaetia Key, which to his knowledge was in the hands of the Gazel Ministry, the group behind the whole thing. There was a snag though. The reason the ministry hasn't used it earlier was because there was someone who was stopping it and that was Citan's master, Emperor Kain. The only way for the Gaetia Key to be used was for Kain to be killed.

Those people destined by god, regardless of whether they were surface dwellers or Solarians, began to change shape, one after the other. The howling was the people themselves, who re-populated the earth in due time, calling out to god. When the humans have actually filled the earth, this same god will finally re-awaken from his long sleep, and the awakening of Mahanon, the paradise in the sky, will soon follow. Mahanon was, for all its worth, was the 'resting place of god'.

They saw Mahanon rise from the sea on their screen. Its long hibernation already caused the whole thing to accumulated layers upon layers of seaweed and barnacle. It turned out to be an old hunking battleship,  
which to Ranma and Magno's conclusion, was the same colony ship sent by Earth to this planet.

They also detected a massive strike force approaching the still rising battleship. This force has quite a number of Gears, but majority of it was made up of Wels who were formerly of Solaris and Gebler's own. Fei and the others decided to put a halt to their advance, since they couldn't let the Gazel Ministry get their hands on the ancient knowledge of god.

A new meeting was called into place... and it centered mainly on the two couple, Fei and Elly. Magno and the rest of her crew were escorted in a vacant room to discuss their own plans and options, but Ranma, Rin-Ohki and Vanilla decided to stay with the meeting, since they could understand what Bart and the others would say.

It was really not what they expected, but somehow, Ranma found it rather lethargic listening to the argument that brewed.

Elly was screeching out loud as Fei uttered the words she hated to hear from him. ""Wait a minute! You want me to stay here? No, I'm going with you!""

Fei shook his head sadly. ""No. It's too dangerous...""

""Why? I've been in many dangerous situations. This isn't the first time!"" Elly pressed on with her request.

Fei growled. ""I said no! We can't take you. Please understand!""

The redhead stomped her foot on the ground angrily. ""No, I want to go!  
We've been fighting together all this time! And suddenly you're telling me not to go? I just don't get it!""

Fei crossed his arms across his chest. ""This isn't like any other fight! It's a battle for the wisdom created by god. It's life or death.  
Whoever controls it, becomes the true dominator of the worlds! It's obvious the Ministry will bring the strongest possible troops. There is no guarantee you would come back alive!""

Elly's eyes softened slightly. ""That's exactly why I want to go"  
she said softly.

The love of her life looked away. ""You don't have the slightest idea..."" he mumbled back loudly.

Elly suddenly felt enraged again. ""What don't I understand!""

Fei closed his eyes as he slowly shook his head again. ""If the enemy were only the Ministry or just mechanical weapons it would be okay. But most of the enemies will be made up of what were once humans... humans just like you and me!""

The redhaired former Solaris operative froze at his declaration.

Fei nodded his head once he saw Elly's hesitation. ""I saw them at those facilities... Gears that were made out of humans. They were the same as Hammer... Could you now destroy them after knowing this! In order to save ourselves, can you truly say that you could kill those who were once our friends! So, do you still want to go now!""

Elly looked down to the ground, her hesitation growing by the minute.  
Memories of Hammer and his death haunted her memories since it happened.  
""W-Well..."" she stammered, unable to make a feasible reply.

Fei decided to drive his point home. ""You can't even kill one person.  
Your presence would be a burden during the fight.""

Everyone, especially Elly, stiffened at his words. Ranma however narrowed his eyes on Fei, who took no notice since he was still struggling with the words he wanted to convey. Vanilla's own gaze was smoldering if Fei bothered to look at it.

""You'd just get in the way."" Fei finished his statement, looking satisfied at his argument. Elly suddenly turned without a word and ran outside the conference room, her passing was streaked with twin lines of tears in the air.

Bart looked at Fei in astonishment. ""Don't you think you went a little too far there, Fei?""

Citan nodded in agreement. ""We cannot blame her. At least we should understand her feelings.""

Fei groaned, feeling a headache coming. ""I know how Elly feels. I knew she wouldn't have listened to me if I had just said, 'You're not coming!'. Seeing as she has worked together with us for such a long time and all... That's why I had to explain to her like that... The people gathered in Nisan need Elly. She's gotta realize how much people are depending on her. I can't put her in a dangerous situation...""

Ranma fought off the urge to smack Fei hard on the head. He knew how Fei felt, and he also knew his own mouth would shoot off probably the same things Fei said. Now that he heard it as a third party, Ranma wouldn't believe how hurtful his words and actions were back when he was in Nerima. But he knew he had to comment anyway, ""The way you said it.  
it reminded me of how stupid I was back home.""

Fei leveled a glare towards Ranma, who just snorted when he saw the look.

""Don't give me that. I know you just wanted to protect her, but the manner you showed how you care to her... damn. No wonder everyone wanted to kill me back then."" Ranma chuckled sadly as several people stared him at.

Margie looked back to Fei and put her hands on her hips. The expression on her face was less than approving. ""He's right. The way you said it was a little harsh.""

Billy patted his sister Primera's hair lovingly. He knew the little girl was upset at the situation. ""You didn't have to be so cold. She was crying, you know?""

Fei faltered. ""But...""

""I hate seeing females cry."" Ranma commented, ""I just can't stand seeing girls feel sad like that. It hits me real bad."" All young girls'  
stared at him in surprise, even Vanilla, and felt their hearts melt at the simple and unintended declaration from Ranma.

""I am sure she realizes that you wanted to protect her."" Citan said calmly as he sat once again at a chair.

Bart nodded in agreement. ""I agree. Maybe you are the one who doesn't understand?""

""Me...? I don't understand?"" Fei pointed to himself as he slowly backed away from the group.

Margie placed her hands on her chest as she said, ""A lady's.  
heart...? What a woman wants for the love of her life?""

Billy smiled as he patted Fei's shoulder. ""She wants to go, to be with you, Fei... until the end...""

Margie beamed a smile. ""Yeah.""

Bart added his own comment. ""If I were you... I'd hold her tight and say... 'Let's go together!'... just like that!""

The people gathered looked at Bart curiously, but it was Margie who asked their question. ""Really?"" she asked at Bart's face, her eyes watering in happiness.

The one-eyed pirate blanched at the implications of his statement.  
""Um... no... I mean... errh...""

Everyone laughed at Bart's stammering. ""Young master, don't overdo yourself now..."" Maison chided the captain of the Yggdrasil lightly.

Bart blushed heavily. ""Ah, shut up! Anyhow, why don't you go ask her to come with you? Whether she'll go or not, you should express your feelings in words. If you really care about her, you have to go tell her.""

Citan chuckled lightly. ""Express your feelings... right?""

Fei's eyes widened in surprise. ""I, I didn't mean...!""

Bart shook his head vehemently, grasping Fei's shoulders with his hands.  
""Too late now. Everyone knows it.""

""You are not being true to yourself, are you?"" Citan leaned forwards,  
his face almost touching Fei's own as he stared the fighter down eye to eye.

Margie crossed her arms across her chest and nodded. ""I agree.""

Emeralda stepped forward and tugged on Fei's sleeve. ""Fei... say it.  
straight out...""

Margie pointed to the door. ""Go ahead... go chase after her! What are you waiting for?""

After a moment of hesitation, Fei hardened his resolve and finally ran out of the room, determined to follow Elly. Everyone's gazes was rooted at the door where both exited before.

""He's lucky."" Ranma said softly, catching the group's attention. The sadness on his face was evident. ""He's got someone who would wait for him no matter how long it takes."" Before anyone could comment on his words, Ranma turned and walked outside. Or rather, Ranma glided outside,  
followed by Vanilla and surprisingly, by Emeralda.

The ones that were left just looked at each other in confusion.

When Emeralda went out of the conference room, she immediately sought out the one she was following, which was Vanilla, since the girl would lead her to that young man, Ranma. Emeralda was actually intrigued as to why the boy exudes some sort of aura entirely different from Fei, yet the attraction to it was more powerful. She realized that she has to find out why, so here she was. She spotted the girl just going up the ladder leading to the balcony of some sorts of the Yggdrasil. She hurried her steps along, since she has to warn the pale red-eyed girl to be careful, since that area was pretty dangerous when the Yggdrasil is moving.

Emeralda cautiously went up the ladder and opened the circular hatch on top. The wind suddenly blasted against her pale green hair, but she doesn't mind at all. She quickly pulled herself up and closed the hatch once again. She looked around and spotted two people just in front of her. Ranma was sitting on the railings while Vanilla leaned unto the railings themselves. She saw a silver-furred animal hopping madly at the Yggdrasil's hull, defying physics and everything. Heck, Emeralda wondered how Ranma managed to balance himself with the wind blowing like this. She shook the thoughts away from her head as she started to walk towards the two.

"Is there something wrong, Ranma-sama?" The cyan haired girl turned slightly to the boy.

Ranma sighed to himself. "You're never gonna call me in a normal fashion, are you? Anyway, yeah I'm okay. I'm just reminded of what happened before I went on and wished myself out of my time."

Vanilla nodded. "I see."

Emeralda was dismayed when she discovered her quarry was speaking in their native tongue, so she can't understand him real well right now.  
Looking back into her knowledge database, otherwise known as her brain,  
Emeralda tried to look for a solution in her predicament. Surprisingly,  
an answer showed itself to her. She tapped Vanilla on the shoulder,  
making the girl turn to her in surprise and curiosity.

""Do you need something from me, Miss Emeralda?"" Vanilla asked bluntly.

Emeralda nodded. ""I wish... to connect with you...""

Ranma remained silent at the exchange, but was listening attentively. He continued to look at the passing clouds above him.

""How will this be done?"" The Galaxy Angel cocked her head to one side slightly.

Emeralda raised her hand to Vanilla's forehead, not quite touching but real close. ""Only a short moment... nanobots from me go to you... get info from mind. No worries... will only take important language info.""

Vanilla glanced discreetly at Ranma, who by now was looking at them.  
Seeing her gaze at him, Ranma shrugged noncommittedly. He said, ""What harm could it do? As long as she doesn't take your memories, it's alright, ne?""

Vanilla nodded once. ""As you wish, Ranma-sama.""

Ranma narrowed his brows as he held his hand in the air. ""Stop right there. You should do it only because you decided it for yourself, not for me or anyone else, okay Vanilla? You're not a puppet, you're a.  
well not exactly a human, like me, but you're definitely not a puppet,  
alright?""

Vanilla's expression was memorable. Her first expression of extreme surprise was right now etched on her face, showing to Ranma and Emeralda. Gaining control of her emotions, Vanilla spooled her features once again as she meekly replied, ""H-Hai, Ranma-sama."" Her face was lined with a thin blush.

Ranma smiled. ""Good. Now if you wanna do it, do it then. Just make sure it's safe.""

Emeralda sighed. ""It is safe. No need... to worry.""

Vanilla finally acknowledged Emeralda's explanation as she leaned her head to the dark-skinned girl's hand. Emeralda recognized the gestured and sent a silent thank you to the gods. Her hand glowed as she felt small bits of herself break away from her, entering Vanilla's body through the small wall of skin through her forehead. After nearly ten seconds of contact, the glow finally receded as Emeralda's nanobots retreated back to her body. Vanilla opened her eyes slowly as Emeralda pulled her hand back from the forehead, glancing at it curiously.

Seeing Emeralda's expression, Vanilla asked worriedly, ""Is there something the matter, Miss Emeralda?""

The green haired, dark skinned girl snapped her head to Vanilla. She shook her head slightly and replied, "N-No... no... it's just... first time I use technique... new to me..."

Ranma gasped in shock. "Eh! You're... you're actually speaking Japanese!"

Vanilla nodded, her eyes wide as well. "Amazing. It must be a handy skill, even if it was the first time you used it."

Emeralda shook her head rapidly. "Not going to try again... hard for head. Now I understand... what you say..."

The pigtailed boy directed a dazzling smile to Emeralda, who blushed slightly under the guise of her dark skin. Vanilla however noticed the slight shift of posture from the girl and sighed internally. Another unintentional rival for her. If this continues, she would just have to learn how to share then.

"That's so cool! But I was wondering... why do you speak like that? I mean... no offense, but it's pausing every now and then, like you've been speaking only for a month or so." Ranma asked confusedly.

Emeralda smiled sadly. "I... I am no human... just machine. Still learning speech patterns... much more to learn."

Ranma nodded, his eyes unfocused for a moment as he thought of something. "I see... so that's why you're so silent most of the time.  
maybe that's not so hard... to learn I mean." Seeing Vanilla and Emeralda's curious eyes, he continued, "Washuu's gonna love looking into it for you. She might even manage to upgrade you or something."

Vanilla blinked. "Amazing. You just suggested something worthwhile."

Ranma shot her a mock glare. "Hmph. I can think sometimes, you know."

"Miyah!"

Emeralda gave the cabbit a thoughtful look as Rin-Ohki leapt to Ranma,  
the boy' arms automatically catching her.

"See? Even Rin-Ohki agrees with me." Ranma patted the cabbit on the head, eliciting some purrs from her.

"Miyah, miya-miyah, miyah!" The cabbit looked like she was grinning as she looked up to Ranma, who suddenly coughed.

"What do you mean I usually think of bad ideas! Hmph!" Ranma snorted at the cabbit. Rin-Ohki pointedly ignored his ire. Vanilla couldn't help but giggle a bit under her hand that covered her mouth to hide it.  
Emeralda however looked back and forth between Ranma and Rin-Ohki in confusion. It seemed to her that Ranma understood the weird creature without any problems.

Ranma suddenly glanced at the horizons, seeing the sun had already set minutes ago. Some rays still flickered their last light as the night crept in quickly.

"The sky... beautiful." Emeralda said breathlessly as she gazed at the twinkling luminous dots above them.

The pigtailed boy couldn't help but agree. "Yes. And the view's even better if you're in space."

Emeralda stared at Ranma. "Space? Meaning... out there? Above the sky?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Out there, everywhere you look there would be stars. It's fantastic..." He smirked as he slowly floated to the front of the Yggdrasil, with a now dozing Rin-Ohki in his arms. The cabbit didn't even wake as Ranma leapt off from his seat at the railings. To the onlookers, it would seem like Ranma was ice-skating on the ship's hull, which was weird since Ranma was a bad skater after all.

The dark-skinned girl turned her gaze upwards once again. "I... wish to go... to space."

"You can if you wanted to." Vanilla said as she too stared upwards the starlit night.

"Can... but... why?" Emeralda seemed to have a bit of trouble with her words. Vanilla seemed to understand though.

"You and I both know why." Vanilla calmly retorted as she pointedly looked at Ranma, who was still floating along the hull. Emeralda followed the smaller girl's gaze and blushed lightly.

"I... do not understand... my chest... feels like... pressured"  
Emeralda sighed.

Vanilla smiled softly at Emeralda. "You are feeling an emotion. I can't tell you what though, but you will learn about it as you go on with your life."

Emeralda placed her right palm on her chest as she breathed deeply. She was looking at Ranma, entranced. "I... I wish to know... more."

"I know." Vanilla agreed, glancing at Ranma as well. "I too wish to know more about it."

The stars shone brighter that night, as emotions ran high.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The next day, everyone gathered inside the conference room once again.  
Ranma and Bart both smirked when they saw Fei enter, slightly flushed.

""Good night?"" Bart grinned at his friend Fei, who blushed deeply.

""Shut up, Bart..."" Fei snorted half-heartedly. ""Anyway, we are going to battle in a little while, right?"" Seeing the nods around him, he looked at Ranma and his group, who stood a little ways away from them.  
He however raised his eyebrow a bit as he noticed Emeralda standing a little closer to Ranma than normal. He just shrugged it off as a weird thing. ""Ranma, we will battle soon. We don't really want to rush you,  
but since your supplies are replenished already, might I suggest that you leave as soon as possible. We don't want you to get caught up in this battle. This is our fight, not yours... it would be disrespectful of us if you get in the middle of it.""

Ranma nodded and turned to Magno, who was already hearing the translation from Vanilla.

BC said to Magno, "Commander, we need to return to the Nirvana to make sure the phenomenon did not damage our ship in any way."

Ranpha grumped as she crossed her arms across her chest. "The Galaxy Angels have the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to help those who are in need, but a war is way beyond our capabilities. Especially since they're using those giant robots with weird power sources."

The old woman nodded once as she addressed Ranma, "We will return to the Nirvana. Our job here is done. We do not wish to be in the middle of a war we have no part in."

Ranma felt something inside him hesitate, as something tugged inside his mind. Something in the planet was calling him, beckoning his attention and help. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he agreed reluctantly with Magno. "Yeah... I guess so."

He turned to Fei and said, ""Okay, we'll return once our preparations are complete.""

After an hour and a half, they were all standing at the hangar bay,  
where the different Gears were docked. The transport ship that carried the Nirvana crew was also docked inside temporarily. The Nirvana crew was already inside the ship, as Ranma and Fei stood face to face at the ramp. The others just passed on their thanks and messages to Ranma since he's the only one capable of translating them.

Gascogne sighed as she sat on the pilot seat. "It's nice to be back in civilization again. Their technology is rather outdated, but those robots of theirs beat ours hands down."

BC nodded. "I drew up some designs from their engineers. They were quite happy to share their knowledge in the robot designs, as well as Nirvana's own system."

"What a waste of time." Ranpha slumped into her seat. She couldn't wait to hear Forte's teasing later inside the Nirvana.

Vanilla glanced at her. "It was not a waste of time." she said softly as she clutched at Rin-Ohki tightly.

Ranpha snorted. "For you maybe, because you've been with Ranma all the time!"

"You've been with Ranma since last night!" Meia almost shouted, but she knew it was quite unbecoming of a Dread pilot leader.

She was ignored by Vanilla, whose gaze didn't even waver. "Why didn't you come?"

"Miyah!" Rin-Ohki agreed with Vanilla.

Ranpha opened her mouth to retort, but was silenced since she couldn't think of a comeback for that one.

"Why didn't you call for me?" Meia asked.

"You were unavailable at that time. You were discussing your options with your commander during that time. It was a breach of protocol to disturb something like that." Vanilla droned emotionlessly, but it was the truth since Meia just kept to herself afterwards. Behind them, Magno just chuckled under her cowl. Seeing a lot of women after a man was quite entertaining for her, since she never saw it before. Well, her early memories in the Colonial days were sketchy at best.

Outside, Ranma and Fei were talking as the rest of the Yggdrasil crew looked on. Elly was not present since she hasn't left her room since this morning. Emeralda just looked uncomfortable, it was like she wanted to jump at something but can't.

""Thanks for accommodating us in the middle of this war."" Ranma said as he bowed his head.

Fei was a bit confused at the gesture, but mimicked the move. ""It was our pleasure. It was nice knowing where we really came from. Have a safe journey.""

Ranma smiled. ""Thanks. And good luck in your upcoming battle.""

Fei nodded as he watched Ranma board the ship. Just as the pigtailed boy was about to enter the ship, a shrill voice stopped him, "WAIT!"

Ranma whirled around, his tail whipping at his back as he tried to locate the voice. The rest were surprised to see Emeralda sprinting quickly on the ramp, more so than hearing her speaking the departing group's language.

Emeralda finally reached Ranma. "Wait..."

Ranma's eyes widened when he recalled something. "Oh crap! I forgot to ask Washuu to take a look at you!"

Emeralda shook her head. "It's... okay. I will learn... eventually. But for now..." her voice trailed away as she leaned forward, kissing Ranma's cheek boldly.

Ranma stood shell-shocked when he felt Emeralda's warm lips touch his cheek. In fact, everyone was quite astonished at the display. When Emeralda finally disengaged, she was blushing. Well, so was Ranma anyway.

Ranma chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "U-Uhm.  
y-yeah... uhm... wow. I... I'll miss you, Emeralda."

Emeralda nodded as she backed away from the small ramp. "I will... miss you, Ranma."

Ranma gazed at her for a little while longer, before turning to the ship and entered it. The ship's engine flared to life, and finally left the Yggdrasil through the hangar bay doors.

After a while, Fei and the others left for their mission as well, to go inside the old battleship Mahanon that rose from the sea. While the Yggdrasil flew towards the old wreckage with Fei and the group, Margie,  
Elly and the rest of those who can't fight were left on the town of Nisan. The two young women, Elly and Margie were currently talking about aspects of their lives, like religion and men in general.

""Elly. Are you okay about this? Don't you want to be with him?"" Margie turned to her companion as they stood at an overhead bridge that showed a magnificent view of Nisan from above.

Elly nodded. ""Yes, but it's because I believe in him. Just being close to a person is not in itself an indication of love, is it?""

Margie huffed angrily. ""But... men are selfish... when something big happens, they say... 'It's too dangerous... you can't come!' They treat women like we are weaklings. Although it is true I can't help Bart and friends much anymore...""

Elly shook her head sympathetically. ""That's not true. Everyone, wants someone special waiting for them. Someone who will protect a place they can return to. If you don't have that peace of mind, then you would not be able to get anything done... men try to fight it out as much as they can and then some... they're cute when they do that, aren't they?""

Margie sighed as she agreed. ""Yeah, you're right...""

Elly smiled softly. ""Anyway, we have things we have to do too, now.  
And, while we do them, let's pray that everyone comes back safely.""

Margie looked up to Elly. ""To god?"" she asked.

Elly closed her eyes. ""No... to your own innermost feelings that everyone believed in... what's wrong?"" she asked when she noticed Margie looking at her intently.

""I knew it... yes, that must be it!"" Margie cried out happily.

Elly just looked very confused. ""What?""

Margie looked very excited as she started to explain. ""Elly, it's like everyone says! You must be a reincarnation of Sophia! You have no way of knowing the Nisan Sect's teachings, but what you say... ...well, it's exactly the same as what Sophia always said.""

Elly suddenly had this faraway look in her eyes. ""Yes... that must be it. The first time I visited here I had the most familiar feeling.  
Familiar... sad... like I had visited here many times in my dreams. I know where each room is and what's in them. I just know I must have been here in the distant past. Before, if you had spoken of this I'd have brushed it off with a laugh. But now... Now, I can more or less believe it. The things I couldn't do then... I'm probably trying to do now...""

""Things you couldn't do...?"" Margie asked.

""Yes. Things I couldn't do..."" Elly said sadly.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Nirvana, the rest of the crew were overjoyed when Magno and the rest came back. They were getting restless since there was no news about their situation when they were still on the planet's surface.  
Nevertheless, they stayed in orbit for the moment to continue fixing the damages the Nirvana had since the last battle. The momentary rest period allowed them to concentrate on the repairs, especially on the Dreads as well as the engine.

While Ranma and the others were away, Washuu gave a helping hand in repairing the breached hull of the Nirvana. She also reinforced some of the plating for the areas that were very important, like the engine area and the captain's deck. After nearly sixteen Earth hours of repairs, the repairs were going as planned, and now the repair crews were ready to move on to the Dreads that were severely damaged. Washuu then decided to leave it to Gascogne to supervise those repairs and went on to the engine room, where she spotted Parfait having some problems re-stabilizing the Paeksis core. She saw a flaw in Parfait's method,  
since they were forcing the core to adjust to their settings. She immediately told Parfait that the settings should be the one adjusting to the power surges of the core, not the other way around. The Paeksis core was losing a lot of power before Washuu finally saw the problems.

Washuu had been helping Parfait in monitoring the Paeksis core after pointing out the obvious mistake in her maintenance. They were a bit alert since the core was glowing quite strongly while they were near the planet. Parfait explained to Washuu that this was the first time it glowed at this intensity.

After several hours of re-calibrating the systems to accommodate the huge power flux from the Paeksis, Washuu decided a direct approach on the Paeksis. She entered the holding area for the glowing sphere of energy. When she did, its glow intensified as if reacting to her presence. This made Washuu more interested at the energy source and prompted her to get more data from it.

What she found clearly blew her mind. Now she knew why the energy pattern was very familiar to her, and also why Ranma felt some kinship with it. But before she could go further, the speakers have already announced the arrival of the missing crew. She then decided to pause her experiment for now, since she has to inform Ranma of her discovery.

Washuu easily found Ranma and pulled him away from the crowd. Ignoring Ranma's protests, she dragged him by the ear into the Paeksis core's containment room.

"Hey! Leggo of my ear!" Ranma sputtered as he struggled to pull himself out of the predicament.

Washuu nodded to herself as she let Ranma's ear go. "Here we are." she said as she watched the boy slump down to the ground, clutching at his abused ear.

Ranma glowered at Washuu. "What the heck did you do that for!"

Washuu sighed as she patted Ranma's shoulder. "Nevermind that, just do something for me, please?"

Ranma's irritation suddenly vanished when he noticed Washuu's serious expression. "Hey, is there something the matter?"

Washuu shook her head as she turned her gaze to the glowing Paeksis. The light was much brighter than before. "Nothing's wrong. In fact,  
everything's just peachy." She turned back to Ranma and gazed into his eyes intently before saying, "The Paeksis is alive."

"What?" Poor Ranma just looked confused.

Washuu shrugged. "This huge glowing ball of energy is a sentient being.  
Meaning, it is alive, capable of decisions and has emotions."

"How can that be! I mean... it's just... that, right?" Ranma said frantically, gesturing at the Paeksis. In response, the Paeksis suddenly dimmed a bit, then brightened once again. It freaked Ranma a bit.

"I don't think it likes to be told that, Ranma-chan." Washuu chided him in amusement.

"W-W-Wha...!" The pigtailed boy backed slightly from the glowing Paeksis.

The Paeksis suddenly glowed much brighter, almost blinding the two people inside the room. Washuu immediately sought out her transparent computer as she typed furiously to record the event. A scream made her look to her side, as she spied Ranma down to his knees, clutching at his head tightly. She also noticed that the gems on his forehead flared in silver light, while his body was curiously riddled with darkened lighting as well. At closer inspection, Washuu discovered to her delight that these were crystals as well, and they were underneath Ranma's skin.  
They glowed in a dull dark purple color, illuminating some various parts of Ranma's body with the light. There was one on both the opposite side of the palms, just below the knuckles. There were two more on the upper forearms, on both left and right sides as well. There was one on each lower leg. There was one on his throat, but the last one was bigger than the rest, and it was glowing in the middle of Ranma's chest.

Ranma felt his body flares up in pain, but it was nothing compared to the pounding headache that engulfed his whole head. He struggled to stand, only half-successfully so, and stumbled to balance himself. In his attempts to stabilize his balance, he fell forward, touching the Paeksis' surface with his hand. Suddenly, he felt his whole body warp,  
and everything turned white.

Washuu blinked the spots away from her eyes as she frantically searched for Ranma. After she saw him stumble forwards and touched the Paeksis accidentally, the contact drew a huge energy reaction, where Ranma disappeared all of the sudden. After looking around and found nothing,  
she finally figured that Ranma must've been absorbed by the energy sphere in front of her. She gazed up to the Paeksis, and discovered that it changed from blue to silver, thus further proving that Ranma must've been sucked into it. Washuu didn't part her gaze from the Paeksis as a team of Parfait's engineers, as well as Parfait herself, entered the room in panic.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"This sucks." Ranma groaned to himself as he struggled to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. He saw himself in the middle of blue light, which didn't give him much comfort at all. His senses were tugging at him though, since the energy levels in the place were high enough to give him pause.

His trepidation grew when he noticed at least three shapeless forms gathering in front of him. They were vaguely humanoid, although still too formless for him to make a distinction. So it was natural for him to fall into a defensive stance that he reserved only for those really powerful opponents that he faced before. Right now, he didn't want to take any chances, since he really doesn't know what will happen in the place he was in right now.

"This is not good." Ranma muttered to himself as he watched the shapes solidify slowly.

"What's not good?" One of the forms lit up and was bathed in white glow.  
When it died down, a figure of a young man in his mid 20s with long black hair wearing weird but familiar white robes looked back at him thoughtfully.

"Uhmm..." Ranma backed away slowly from the apparition.

The figure laughed out loud. "Oh relax Ranma will you? Don't you remember who I am? Did old age finally got into your mind? Oh that's right, I heard that you were transported here by mistake."

"How did you know that!" Ranma demanded, then something in his mind clicked as the pieces fell into place. "Wait a minute... YOSHO! Is that you!"

"In the flesh!" Yosho, rather, his apparition lifted his hands to his sides as he presented himself to Ranma, who was blubbering a bit from shock.

"So... this is the adopted cousin I heard about from the stories grampa told me? Man... you really are different, aren't you?" The second figure solidified as well, forming the image of a young boy around Ranma's physical age, with short-cropped hair that has a short ponytail sticking at the back of his head. He wore a black yukata, which seemed to be sticking like a sore thumb against the blue background.

"Oh dear... he really is handsome, isn't he? He has the eyes of Tokimi,  
and the tail of a Saiyajin. Weird color though. Anyway, my heart only belongs to my dear Tenchi." The third figure followed as well, forming a girl with purple hair that seemed to be cut in a helmet style, but it still has twin long narrow ponytails hanging down her back. She was dressed in a dark blue kimono with red obi (belt cloth). She has some tattoos on her face, and her eyes were reddish in color.

"Now now, Tenchi, Ayeka... we need him to be coherent when we explain this to him." Yosho chided the two newly formed figures as they stood on an imaginary floor. Ranma was still frozen in shock as he stared open-mouthed at the trio.

"He's in shock." Ayeka, the purple haired girl, commented wryly as Tenchi, the boy with the short-cropped hair, waved his hand in front of Ranma's eyes. Ranma was still unresponsive as of the moment.

Yosho nodded in amusement. "Apparently."

Ranma suddenly shook himself back to the situation at hand and pointed a shaky finger at the trio. "You... what are you doing here?"

"To tell you the truth..." Yosho began, gesturing to the surroundings,  
"You're in the thing you call the Paeksis. You were summoned here. And as for us... well, Ranma... we've already passed on."

"Absorbed in the Paeksis? Passed on? What..." Ranma squinted his eyes in confusion, but then they widened as comprehension dawned on his face.  
"You mean...?"

Ayeka nodded sadly. "Yes. We are... dead. Passed on... for thousands of years already."

"How!" Ranma asked loudly as his knees threatened to buckle.

Yosho snorted. "It was actually all Tenchi's fault."

"WHAT!" Tenchi turned to his erstwhile young grandfather, who was smirking at him, daring him to say it wasn't so. He relented as he slumped on his shoulders forward. "Y-Yeah... I guess so. I mean, I should've destroyed Kagato when I had the chance. Instead, I let him go."

Ranma sagged as he fell to his knees. "So... it was all true. The Earth's downfall, the wars, the colonization... Kagato's reign.  
damn..."

"We were caught by surprise." Ayeka continued, gazing at the blue light surrounding them. "Kagato attacked us discreetly, kidnapping us one by one, after studying our daily activities. He grabbed us when each of us were left alone. Good thing Sasami has been recalled to Jurai before everything happened."

Tenchi shuddered. "I still remembered how he absorbed our essences and put them in this system he's been developing. Kagato was ecstatic,  
saying that he got everyone who wronged him under his power."

Ranma's eyes widened marginally, staring at Yosho in desperation.

Yosho shook his head at Ranma's gaze. "Yes, even Ryoko. As you might've remembered by now, she was also in his hit list. Both Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki were in another one of the systems he made. He called them Paeksis Plagma, containers of pure energy. Now you should've gotten it... that the Paeksis this old colony ship is using was made out of Juraian energy."

"By the kami..." Ranma winced at the implications. Such a terrible thing to do, for an individual's essence to be trapped helplessly inside these cores, just to be used as weapons of mass destruction. "It's... all my fault. Yosho... Tenchi... Ayeka... everyone... they were all killed because I failed to find a way to come back. Ryoko... oh kami Ryoko"  
A sudden dawn of light made Ranma understand the effects of his disappearance. His eyes suddenly sprang tears as he contemplated on everything. So much pain...

"Ranma." The pigtailed boy's face snapped towards Yosho, who was speaking to him. "It was never your fault. You couldn't have known that the machine Washuu was testing would do that to you. Instead of trying to punish yourself, try to move on and find a way home, so that you may avoid this future."

"But..." Ranma began, but wilted under the combined glares of three Juraian nobles. "A-Alright... but... where do I start? What should I do?  
I don't know what to do!" He absently wiped away the tears that leaked from his eyes.

Tenchi sighed in relief. "First of all, relax. You have the power and the will to overcome this. Don't give up."

Yosho beamed at his grandson's statement. "Yes, also, try not to find a way to recover us. It will never be, since we already have been gone from life for a long long time."

Ayeka smiled at Ranma gently. "There are three Paeksis Plagma in existence. One is our Paeksis Plagma in the Nirvana, where the essences of the Juraian nobles were accumulated. The other Paeksis Plagma is on Earth, which is Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki's essences. The third is an entirely different kind of Paeksis Plagma. This one was a natural born one, not like the one this ship uses. What I mean is... that core is based on something else entirely. It was found somewhere after the Angel Wars I believe, and it was grown naturally."

"Since we approached this planet, we began to hear a voice... we suspect it's the Natural Plagma. It named itself Zohar, and it's inside a being called Deus." Yosho continued the explanation. "Ranma, Zohar is on this planet right now, and it is calling for help."

Tenchi nodded. "We cannot let Zohar fall into the wrong hands. Deus is starting to stir, and it might be too late if we dally. Deus was born out of the spaceship Eldritch, which was a colony ship from Earth. Deus was a weapon being tested from Earth, powered by Zohar, the Paeksis Plagma. Before, we can't understand Zohar's pleas, since it was still too far for us to hear each other. But we have heard some buzzing when Zohar beckoned. Now that we are near each other, the two Plagma's can communicate freely, and Zohar is clearly in danger right now. When Deus reawakens, it might start to attack nearby planets, effectively dooming this entire universe. You have to get Zohar from Deus, and from others trying to control it."

Yosho shook his head. "But getting to the Zohar core is not as easy as it seems. Deus is a divine being. Remember what we said about it being from the Angel Wars? Well, Deus came from the DNA of those things called the Angels. It will not be easy, but we know you can manage."

"We trust you." Ayeka agreed.

"You're stronger than I was." Tenchi admitted ruefully.

Yosho pointed to Ranma. "You are the only one worthy of obtaining Zohar.  
We actually thought of trusting that Hibiki boy, but with you around,  
why settle for anything less? Do you understand?"

Ranma looked at them calmly for a long while. After several moments, he pushed himself up from his kneeling position and replied, "No... not really."

Yosho, Tenchi and Ayeka would've facefaulted, but they thought it was undignified right now. They settled on their jaws falling down on the ground in surprise. But Ranma wasn't nearly finished.

"But... I know this is important. So I will do it. Not because you really asked me to, but because it is the right thing to do." Ranma nodded to himself at his arrived conclusion.

"Good." Yosho said with a soft smile. "Now you must go. Washuu is getting pretty worried about you."

Ranma blanched, then almost immediately sobered. "What about you? What will you do?"

Tenchi shrugged. "We can't really do much, right? Except lend out power to guide all of you to the right path."

Ayeka lifted her hand and settled it on Tenchi's shoulder. "Our time on Life has been over for thousands of years. All we can do now is this, to continue powering up this ship as a Paeksis Plagma. That was one of the reasons why we changed the appearances of those smaller attack ships, as well as that giant robot they have with them. Oh, and also this ship's appearance as well."

Yosho approached Ranma and clapped him on the shoulders. "Do not worry about us, Ranma. We are happy as long as we know there is hope out there. You are our hope, you should know that."

Ranma opened his mouth to say something, but was tongue-tied for the moment. He shook his head in amazement as he muttered, "I'll miss you."

Yosho, Tenchi and Ayeka nodded together as they stepped back, their bodies started to lose their solid figure as they were being reabsorbed into the blue background once again.

"And we'll miss you as well, Ranma. You have to find a way back to your original time, so that you may avoid this catastrophe. But first, save Zohar." Yosho's voice lingered.

Ranma nodded to particularly no one as he was blinded once again by the blue light that encompassed him once again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Washuu was already panicking, because Parfait and the others were also panicking as well. No trace of Ranma has been found, and the Paeksis Plagma was acting strangely after the accident. Suddenly, the whole room was bathed once again in the same blue light a while ago, blinding Washuu and the others.

The light finally died down, revealing Ranma's body laying near the Paeksis Plagma. Ranma's body twitched once, then sat up, surprising the heck on everyone. Washuu quickly made her way to the boy, who was reorienting his senses to his surroundings once again.

"RANMA!" Washuu enveloped the sitting boy in a hug worthy of an amazon.  
She thought she lost Ranma as well, the same with Yosho and the others.  
She still can't forgive herself for being caught off-guard at that time.

Ranma on the other hand squirmed within Washuu's embrace. "Ack! Washuu!  
I'm okay! Geez... lemme breath will ya!"

Washuu blushed as she quickly let go of the boy, who coughed a bit as he drew deep breaths into his lungs. Behind Washuu, Parfait ran towards him as well, while her engineers quickly recorded the energy readings from the Paeksis.

"What happened!" Parfait asked, beating Washuu to the question that plagued everyone's mind since he disappeared.

Ranma scratched his head in embarrassment. "Would you believe that the Paeksis is a whole new living being? That's why the ship became like this."

Parfait backpedaled. "WHAT! You mean... those weird energy fluctuations... those times we got power at the right moment..."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah... it's because of the Paeksis."

Parfait looked at the Plagma in awe. "Whoa..." she mouthed breathlessly.

Ranma turned his gaze to Washuu. "The energy readings from the Paeksis... do you have any idea why they're familiar? I know you can feel it as well."

Washuu looked at Ranma seriously for a moment, then sighed. "I know... I just can't put my finger in it for a while, but now I have a strong hunch."

Ranma closed his eyes. "Yosho, Tenchi and Ayeka are in there,  
Washuu-chan."

A soft sob escaped Washuu's lips. "Damn... and I guess that one I failed to retrieve on Earth..."

Ranma shivered. "That's... Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki."

"Damn it." Washuu said softly as she cursed Kagato in her mind.

"I have to find a way back to my time, Washuu-chan." Ranma said solemnly.

Washuu could only nod. "I know... don't worry. We will find a way to get you back."

Ranma patted her shoulder. "Yeah, but first we have to get the third Paeksis."

Washuu stared at Ranma in surprise. "You know where it is?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Down on the planet... that's why the Paeksis was acting up. They were feeling each other. They called it Zohar or something."

Ranma stood up quickly, pulling Washuu up with him.

"We have to defeat Deus first. It has Zohar." Ranma growled imperceptively.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

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Author Rants:

I had a bit of trouble writing this one. Why? I had to play Xenogears again to figure out the dialogues, as well as the names and places indicated there. So if you notice some of the dialogues vaguely familiar in here, then those are the ones I got from the game themselves.

Why did I choose English as Fei and the others in the game's language?  
Well, it's kinda easier to do so. Also, Japanese won't work since it might've changed through the years. In Vandread, there are still those from the old era alive to teach the old Japanese language, while in Xenogears most of them are dead or reincarnated. Besides, aside from Fei's name, he's probably the only one who's name is near Asian origins.  
The others are either American or German. Even though Chinese is fast approaching as a secondary universal language, it is more likely for them to retain English out there, no offense to the other languages.

Why's Emeralda's speech kinda weird? Well, I noticed she talked less in the game itself, especially after she grew up in that tower (play the game to figure it out, it's a side quest by the way). Her speech patterns are erratic since she's still learning. And what's this about her learning Japanese from doing a mind probe off Vanilla? Her mastery of the nanobots (heck, she can reform her own body in any way she wants to by thought, why can't she use them this way?) allowed her to access certain information from her target by command. She could've read Vanilla's mind, but it would've been invasion of privacy. Besides, who'd want to get into the mind of Vanilla Ash, AKA Rei Ayanami, anyway?

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	14. Chapter 7d

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Remember... the Vandread Universe is gonna be one huge Alternate Universe. I'm gonna rewrite most of the episodes, maybe even skip some unimportant ones, but some will still be used.

Xenogears likewise will be an alternate world. But of course, you knew that already, right?

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus (former email was now pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 7D - THE NEXT FRONTIER: THE PATH THAT LAY BEFORE US

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Up in the plane of Heaven, Asgard, or whatever mortals called the place...

Kami-sama's office was strangely isolated lately, since His declaration of an emergency that was led to the announcement of the manhunt for three individuals. On the huge door was an equally huge sign that said,  
"To be left alone for a while until further notice."

"Are you sure about this? Are you really going to let them meet?" A green-eyed woman with a lush figure and a long curly blond hair sat across the huge darkened oak desk that decorated the room. Her face was decorated with tattoos, but the most prominent was the star-shaped tattoo most of all. On her forehead were two gems that glowed in a dull black color.

Plants and animals were fluttering about the room, which was bathed in a soft white glow.

The object of her current irritation, the figure in front of her,  
stretched his arms a bit as he lay back on the special comfy chair he had accustomed, the perks of the job, after all.

The mist of disguise slowly melted away from the figure, which before had the face of a burly man with a beard and mustache, with an eyepatch over one eye. As the clouds of deception finally receded, he was changed into a young man with long, pale blue hair that reached up to his lower back. His ice-blue eyes were soft and inviting. His forehead was decked with two golden gems. With his transformation complete, he turned to the woman in front of his desk and smiled, "To tell you the truth Hild-chan,  
I hadn't expected this at all."

To say that Hild, grand demon of the forces of Nifelheim, was surprised would be an understatement. The person in front of her was Kami-sama,  
the grand schemer and mastermind of countless unprecedented phenomena in the universe at large! Surely He would have an inkling of why this has to happen! Looking into those blue eyes, Hild was taken aback at what she saw. While outside, Kami-sama, no... Deus was smiling slightly, his eyes told another thing. There were too many questions in those eyes of his, and he was as much in the dark as she was regarding the matter.

Clearing her throat, Hild sighed as she said, "I can't believe you,  
Deus-chan. What happened to the 'amazing powers' that I hear you use most of the time?"

Deus, otherwise known as the ultimate Kami of all the multiverses combined, looked at Hild in exasperation. "Have you forgotten? Ranma IS Chaos, you know. Even my so-called 'amazing powers' are useless against someone like him. I can only catch glimpses of what is to come, but the rest is in his hands."

Hild shook her head. "And to think, Ranma has no idea how his actions could very well dictate certain futures. I for one would like to see Chaos-chan again, but do you think his reincarnation's reawakening is worth it? You even declared Ranma a heretic and a rebel of the forces in the Universe, right? Along with Belldandy and Luna Inverse... what a mess..."

Deus stapled his hands in front of his face as he set his elbows on the table. "I wanted my children to exercise their Free Will. They would have to choose their own paths by themselves, besides... it is needed.  
badly."

The blond-haired woman looked at the Lord of all Creation curiously.  
"It's the Titans, right?"

Deus snorted. "If it were only that simple. Sure, the Titans stirred once again, but did you know that the Shadows are on the move as well?"

"The Shadows!" Hild all but screamed as she stared at Deus incredulously. "I thought all these was just to get Chaos back!"

There was something that happened in between the time of the Titan's defeat in the hands of the unified group of the gods and the creation of the current universal system they were all in. It was a time where Deus and Hild were still new at their posts as the foundations of the newly formed universe. Due to lack of experience in using their powers, Deus and Hild inadvertly created an altaverse, a world of Shadows where they existed in pure twisted idealistic thoughts.

Without the Balance to keep everything in check, Deus and Hild's powers mingled and formed a new universe... one which had a darker theme in it,  
not to be confused with dark powers or so. So there it was… a Shadow universe with its own set of Deus and Hild. It was good that the new universe was too weak to establish its foothold on anything, as the kami gathered once again and sealed the two Dark Gods and the whole plane into another dimension. From then on, they called the two banished Dark Gods the Shadows, alternate versions of the two prominent figures of the universe at large.

"That sounds serious." Hild replied a moment after recovering her composure.

Deus nodded. "It is. Also, I know that you still love him, Hild-chan."

The grand demoness of Nifelheim sputtered and was about to retort when Deus raised his hand to forestall any replies. Shaking his head, Deus continued, "You cannot hide your feelings from me. I know you got over the fact the he died, Hild-chan, but I also could feel the flame inside your heart that you kept alive for him all these millennia."

"Deus-chan." The Almighty paused in his ranting at Hild's serious voice.  
Hild breathed deeply and said, "He's gone, but that doesn't mean that I forgot about him. I know that you love him as well, although not in so many similarities with my own feelings. I am with you now, Deus-chan,  
and I will never leave you. You know that, right?"

Deus smiled warmly. "Yes, I do. I'm not really angry with that... I just felt you should know that I know about how you feel, and that it's alright with me."

Hild sighed. "He will not be the same Chaos we knew. Even if, take note of the IF, I try to start things up with him again, my feelings wouldn't be the same for his reincarnated body. He's not really Chaos, he's Ranma, son of Tokimi. Besides, there is already a long line of powerful women after his sorry ass, I wouldn't want to be in the way IF ever."

Deus looked at Hild and chuckled. "Isn't that right, huh?"

Hild joined Deus in the mirth as they continued to look into the foggy scene of Ranma's life.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Nirvana...

"What? You will go back to the planet's surface? Why?" Magno asked the pigtailed boy in front of him as he asked permission to go back to the planet.

Ranma fidgeted nervously as everyone's attention was riveted on him. He breathed in deeply as he replied, "There is something left for me to do in that planet. There's something that was calling me... and it needed my help. At least that's what the Paeksis told me."

"I still can't believe it's alive." Parfait mumbled loudly. She was still recovering from the experience of a fiercely glowing Paeksis when she loudly declared her disbelief on the theory Washuu and Ranma explained to her. The Paeksis seemed to have taken the statement personally and has somehow showed its displeasure. Parfait and the rest of her engineers were forced to agree on the notion, though.

"I'll go with him." Washuu added to the side as she stood behind Ranma.

Vanilla stepped forward. "I will go as well." This caused the other members of the Galaxy Angels to react.

"Vanilla-san! You don't have to do that! This is already beyond our contract!" Mint said despairingly.

Ranpha looked at Vanilla incredulously. "You still want to go down to that down-trodden planet? Don't you think it's too much just to get to your man?"

Everyone looked at Ranpha curiously, who blushed and waved the comment off.

"How romantic!" Milfeuille said giddily, with hearts forming in her eyes as she clasped her hands together underneath her chin. "It's like the love story I watched in Channel 128!"

Ranpha glanced at Milfeuille. "You mean to tell me you've been watching that soap opera as well?"

The pink haired girl nodded vigorously. "Of course!"

"Ahem. Anyway, are you sure about this, Vanilla?" Forte asked Vanilla seriously.

Vanilla wordlessly handed a rolled up piece of paper to Mint, which came from one of the pockets in Vanilla's white uniform. Mint just looked confused as she stared at the parchment handed to her. She unrolled it and read the whole thing, her face slowly contorting into surprise as she read on. When she finished, she nailed her horrified expression on Vanilla, who just looked back at her steadily.

Getting impatient at the pause, Forte grabbed the piece of parchment from Mint's nerveless fingers. Her own eyes widened when she finally read the entire contents of the letter. She read it again just to be sure, since whatever was written in that piece of paper was a severe case.

"Y-You... you're going to r-resign your post in... the Galaxy Angels"  
Mint all but shouted as she stood up frantically. The people around them gasped, as the rest of the Galaxy Angels blanched at the news. Even Milfeuille's face screwed up in shock as she heard the news.

The pale cyan-haired girl with red eyes did not even bat an eyelash.  
"Yes, I am going to resign." she said seriously. Her white headset was already removed, her ponytail was still tied up high though.

"But... WHY! Don't tell me it's God's will or something... because it's just not logical!" Mint demanded.

Vanilla just stared at her. "Because... this is what I want. I want to resign, not because someone told me to do so, but because it is MY will."

Mint slumped down to her seat in defeat. Forte leaned forward wearily and said, "Are you sure this is what you want? The order may be delayed for a while, since we're too far away from Headquarters. There can only be two choices here, first they might let you go freely, the second they might demand you make an appearance to make it official. I feel that you won't come back with us, right?"

Vanilla nodded at Forte's assumption. "That is correct, Forte-san. I will remain Ranma-sam... -san from now on."

Forte raised an eyebrow at the slip.

Mint shook her head tiredly. "We will talk about this after you get back from the surface, alright?"

Vanilla only nodded.

"AHEM!" Everyone turned to BC, who was glowering on her seat as she furiously tapped her fingers on the table. "You talk about that later,  
right now we have to deal with Ranma's request first!"

"You have my permission." Magno rubbed her temples in askance. All the shouting was grating her nerves.

Ranma nodded in appreciation, while Washuu beamed a dazzling smile,  
happy that she will be able to go down and gather data from that third Paeksis Plagma that has escaped her grasp.

"I want to go as well." Meia announced as she looked at Magno seriously.

Barnette was first to comment about it. "What! Why would you want to go too, Meia!"

"I'm rather curious as well." Magno said off-handedly, bit inwardly she was laughing real hard at the implications. It seems that the old teachings of the old women from Mejer were slowly melting away from her crew's mentality.

Meia tried to say something, but was rather surprised when no sounds came out of her mouth. Frankly speaking, she has no idea why she wanted to go down the planet with Ranma and the others. She paused to think about everything, as to why she was feeling this way, while Magno patiently waited for her explanation. Actually, Magno was more of waiting for Meia to figure out what she really was feeling and if she will follow through it.

After an awkward silence fell to the room, Magno finally nodded and replied, "You can go, Meia."

"WHAT!" The rest of the crew that were present shouted as they started to ask questions at the same time. It all stopped when Magno raised her hand in the air to get their attention.

Magno shrugged nonchalantly. "We need to keep an eye on them, and who to send better than Meia? Okay, maybe BC, but I need the subcommander here.  
So go already."

Meia smiled brightly while Ranma sighed behind her. Vanilla's brow was twitching slightly and Washuu's smirk was more pronounced.

"By the way..." Washuu commented, walking over to Meia and handing her a small earplug-like device, "Put this in your ear later when we land in the planet's surface. This will help will you with the language barrier.  
You may not talk much with it, but at least you will understand what everyone's talking about right?"

Meia just nodded gratefully at the redhead.

Yes, this is going to be very interesting.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

While Ranma and his four man (uhmm... okay... they're one-man-three-women actually) team prepared themselves for their descent on the planet's surface once again, a lot has already happened to Fei and his group when they entered Mahanon.

Soon as they entered the newly surfaced colony ship, they encountered a life form that nearly regenerates every damage it gets. It took their team a long time before defeating the large insectoid monster, which seemed to radiate authority over the whole Mahanon. When they finally finished it and went forward, they came upon a grove of some sort.

It was Razael Tree, home to the cache of ancient wisdom created by god.  
Citan went out of his Gear and carefully examined the whole thing. It was huge, and it was real obvious that it had a lot of information regarding who they were and what they were supposed to do. Citan sighed to himself, remembering Ranma's words about them being not resident in this world. It seems that the Chu-Chu were the actual residents of the planet, and the humans stole it from them.

They haven't been long there before multitudes of Gears clearly not their own apparently encountered them. It was... THEM.

""Ah, the hidden data from Razael's Tree. Move away from there. This matter is too weighty for the likes of you."" The dirty white-haired man slowly walked towards the area, being followed by the procession of Gears that protected him. It was Krelian, and Fei remembered him from the Solaris Headquarters before.

It was understandable that Fei was visibly agitated. ""We must protect it with our lives! We can't let them have the Razael data!""

Citan shouted to Fei. ""You handle them! I will try and extract as much data as I am able to! If anything goes wrong, I will destroy this place!""

Fei grunts his affirmative as he willed his Gear to fight, but someone suddenly appeared in front of them, the odds of the battle looked bleak as the figure manifested himself.

It was a menacing-looking Alpha Weltall.

Knowing the Gear by heart, Fei figured who they were about to battle next.

Inside his own Omnigear, Grahf smirked as Fei and his group all jumped on him. He was going to have some fun.

It was a brutal and short battle, with Fei and the rest being the underdogs. The power the Alpha Weltall wielded as of the moment was decimating them utterly.

In the end, they all fell in the hands of Grahf.

After the short fight, Grahf came out of his Omnigear and walked up to the downed Weltall 2 and snorted, ""I guess that's all you can take for now. Are you frustrated? But that is... 'only natural'. After all, you are imperfect.""

Fei groused from his near-unconsciousness. ""Imperfect!""

Grahf chuckled a bit. ""Yes. You are lacking now. The absence of wrath is an impediment to you utilizing your true strength!""

Fei blanched within his Gear. ""W-Wrath...?""

Grahf nodded. ""The drive to massacre and annihilate, the compulsion to destroy your opponent... Such wrath is power for the soul! By eliminating your foe, you attain your first sublimation of that drive.  
It is this very sublimation that draws out the hidden powers within oneself! But, clinging to reason... suppressing your wrath and desire makes releasing your true power a dream within a dream for you. You already know this. When wrath appeared in your heart, the machine responded, did it not? What drew out such power from your machine was truly the drive of your soul... it was your 'Id'. The sign of the purpose you've been seeking... the mark of a natural born assassin!""

""You're wrong! That's absolutely untrue! I... I am not 'Id'! I..."" Fei shook his head at the numbing feeling of helplessness.

Grahf glowed red a bit as he said morosely. ""The time has come... I'll take your soul, and draw its power out to the limit!""

""Enough!""

Grahf turned to the approaching figures of Krelian and someone in executioner-type clothing. ""Huh? What are you stopping me for?""

Krelian shook his head. ""He is bait. If you kill the bait, the precious bird we wish to capture will fly away. You know... a very important bird... 'Needed to fulfill my earnest desire'... You understand don't you, Lacan...?""

Grahf was silent for a bit before answering, ""Suit yourself."" He quickly disappeared as the Alpha Weltall reactivated once again, leaving the area to Krelian, the figure, and the downed Gears.

Krelian looked at the damaged Gears impassively. ""We shall crucify them… in the land of Golgoda, to the west of here. Collect all the broken Gears!""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

When Fei and the others arrived at the deepest part of Mahanon, Elly was looking after the newly mutating people in Nisan. It was a really grueling day, and it seemed that they were fighting a losing battle. But hope flared still in the hearts of Elly and Margie as they waited for their friends and beloved to return from their quest. It was then that a familiar ship reappeared from the sky and landed in a nearby patch of green land beside the town.

Elly and Margie led their entourage of some soldiers as they traveled to the landing site. Sure enough, it was the same ship that had docked in the Yggdrasil only a few hours ago, or was it days already? Elly had no idea, since she was so busy trying to comfort those who were turned into mutants that she had forgotten about the time that passed.

Her musings were broken when the outer door of the craft slowly opened,  
revealing four figures. The guards tightened the holds on their respective weapons as the figures descended from the ship.

Margie squinted her eyes as she decided to get a better look by strutting nearer to the transport. As she got in the vicinity where she could recognize the faces of the newcomers, she gasped.

""R-Ranma-san!"" Margie said out loud as her pace slowly quickened.

Elly was understandably surprised as well. She hadn't expected the extra-terrestrials to come back to the planet after they left some time ago.

A familiar pigtailed boy in a dark blue long-sleeved ensemble with a matching dark blue pants that was tied with red ribbons at the ankle area glided out of the entrance of the ship. His red tail was already unfurled from his waist and was waving side to side behind him. On his arms was that weird animal that was always near the boy, a sleeping Rin-Ohki. Following the young man were three other girls, two were quite young around twelve years of age or so while the other was in her teens.

One of the younger girls was the one they already met… the red-eyed Vanilla. The other was a mystery to them, one who has fiery red hair that seem to stick out all over the place and has a pattern of a crab.  
Her green eyes were sparkling as she looked around the area they have landed in with glee. Her childish clothes were almost similar to Margie's, oversized shorts and all. The older girl was also met with already, the one named Meia. Ranma had introduced her as a battle tactician. Elly shook off her thoughts as she started to follow Margie closely.

Ranma smiled a bit as he recognized two of the people coming towards them. He was worried that all of them went to whatever place they had to investigate. Ranma just knew misinterpretations would lead them to trouble if no one vouched for them.

""Elly, Margie..."" Ranma called out as he led his small group to the ground.

""Ranma! What are you doing back here? I thought..."" Elly began as she approached the group.

Ranma chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. ""Well.  
uhm... would you believe it's unfinished business? Vanilla and Meia insisted that they come..."" Brief nods came from behind Ranma. He was interrupted when a nudge from his side distracted him. He glanced back and saw Washuu's pouting face.

The pigtailed boy sweated, his tail twitched ever so slightly, ""Oh! You haven't met this one yet. Uhmm... Margie, Elly, meet Washuu, a scientist. Washuu... errr chan, meet Elly and Margie, members of the group that helped us before with the supplies.""

Washuu smiled widely. ""You forgot the greatest scientist in the universe, Ranma-chan!"" Two puppets appeared on her shoulders showering confetti everywhere, much to Ranma's dismay and the others' surprise.

Elly shook her head. ""Okay. Anyway, let's continue this discussion in the town, shall we?""

With nods of agreement, everyone was led back into the town of Nisan.  
When they entered the overpopulated town, Ranma and his group, Washuu in particular, was awed and at the same time horrified at the sight before them. The transformations were instantaneous even as they stood there,  
since several of the people crowding themselves inside Nisan were transforming into mutants. Washuu quickly transversed to the group before anyone could stop her, not minding the fact that the mutants smelled her flesh as they staggered towards her. Elly and Margie were about to call out to her when one of the mutants leapt to Washuu. The green-eyed redhead paid no attention to the scene, since a red bubble-like shield flickered into life as the mutant neared her body with its outstretched claws. The mutant that got into contact with Washuu's shield was surprised when the red wall did not even relent to its powerful lunge as it was flung back after it was shocked with a decent amount of electricity.

Ranma smacked his forehead and groaned. ""I kinda forgot to tell everyone. Washuu has special abilities as well, so we don't have to worry about her much, just take note of her because she might go overboard with her tests."" he said loudly, looking at the crouching form of Washuu as she silently reassured one of the mutants that she meant no harm. Maybe she wanted to test the phenomenon and make some antidotes for it, Ranma had no idea. But as of now, he trusted her enough when it comes to science, since she IS one of the best in the area.

Seeing her friends' bewildered looks, Elly sighed sadly as she explained, ""I'm sorry that you have to witness this. As you can see,  
something is definitely happening to cause this drastic change among the populace. The removal of the limiters should've just let humans reach their full potentials, but this was unprecedented. The others not affected by this change were helping Margie and me placate the people that changed. But as time passed, a lot more people that were changed were still coming into Nisan.""

Vanilla nodded understandingly. ""That is bad.""

Elly just shrugged and winced as she stretched her back a bit.

Margie looked at the older woman worriedly. ""Are you okay? You haven't had any rest, have you? I can handle things on my own for a while. Why don't you go out for a walk?""

Elly shook her head gently. ""Thank you. But I'll be alright. I'd rather keep busy, so that I won't worry about things too much.""

Margie nodded. Her eyes widened when she spotted something familiar on Elly's chest. ""Is that it? Hey! Elly, what's that?"" she asked,  
pointing to the redhead's chest.

""This?"" Elly asked as she fingered the silvery crucifix dangling on her neck.

""Nice necklace, although I saw it on Fei's neck before..."" Ranma said thoughtfully.

""Can I see it? Just as I thought. It's the Pendant of Nisan. But, why do you have it, Elly?"" Margie asked as she let go of the cross.

Elly smiled slightly at Ranma. ""You're right, it's Fei's. I'm holding on to it for him, but it feels as if I have always worn it...""

Margie eyed the jewelry a lot more. ""Hmm... when you wear that, you look even more like Sophia!"" she triumphantly declared.

""Sophia?"" Vanilla asked plainly as she looked at Margie.

""Sophia's a former Mother Superior of Nisan. She's a heroine in most legends, and some rumors says that I'm her reincarnation."" Elly told Vanilla. She turned slightly to regard Margie. ""Really? Hmm... flattery won't get you anything, you know? Anyway, we need to hurry up and test the new mutation suppressant assemblers on those other people there. We can't afford to have them change any further. Ah!""

The others watched fascinated as the pendant was detached from its chain and falls down on the ground. Before it came to contact with the hard surface, Ranma grabbed it in midair. He held the thorny cross to Elly's shivering hands.

""Oh no..."" Elly paled, eyeing the damaged pendant in her hand,  
""Something has happened to Fei and the others!""

Before she could turn and run out of the area, Ranma held her back with his hand on her shoulder and urged her to calm down.

""But..."" Elly tried to protest but the look on Ranma's face shot her down.

""You need to calm down first."" Margie implored Elly as she stood beside Ranma.

Elly slumped into Ranma's lone outstretched arm and shuddered. ""I...""

Ranma sighed as he held the distraught girl into his arm, careful not to disturb Rin-Ohki's rest. ""Where do you need to go?""

Elly looked up to his face, her eyes full of seriousness and determination. ""We have to go to Shevat. If anyone can help us, Queen Zephyr can.""

""Shevat?"" Washuu asked curiously as she and Meia followed the departing group. Vanilla was already in front chatting with Margie about certain things regarding their world.

Elly nodded. ""Shevat has a highly advanced civilization that recently made contact with us. It's a whole flying city, complete with docks and everything. The people there are very intelligent and their queen was said to be hundreds of years old. One of the members of our group came from that town.""

Washuu smile appreciatively. ""I see. That's good, since I need to examine the technology here before we go about our business. I also found some interesting things from the mutant outbreak. Don't worry,  
I'll figure out a way to fix the damages and hope that the transformed people can be reverted back to their normal selves.""

After boarding the shuttle Ranma's small group used to descend from space, Elly told Meia the exact coordinates of where Shevat will pass by so that they can dock with it. Elly's own small group consisted of Margie and Primera, since the rest were either left to fend for themselves in Nisan or they were with Fei. Right now the focus of her mind was to make contact with Queen Zephyr and ask for her counsel,  
since her instincts were telling her something went wrong with the operation Fei was in.

"Would you look at that!" Meia exclaimed as a gigantic looming saucer-shaped ship was spotted on the horizon. She was so surprised that she asked the question in her native tongue, therefore none of Elly's group understood her question.

Vanilla looked back to Elly and her companions, translating, ""She was surprised to see the city.""

Elly's face visibly brightened. ""I see! Yes... Shevat is amazing isn't it?""

""Yes... truly amazing. I can see four field generators all over the place, and if I guessed right it's for the massive shield."" Washuu's eyes twinkled in glee as she watched the large shape approach their craft.

A rather loud growl was heard behind them, making them jump slightly in surprise. They looked behind them and saw Ranma clutching at his stomach with one hand, a pitiful look was on his face. On his other arm,  
Rin-Ohki was awake and was staring at the noisemaker that managed to scare her.

""I'm hungry."" Ranma whined. Meia smacked her forehead with her palm while Washuu and Vanilla giggled. Elly, Margie and even Primera sweatdropped heavily.

""Miyah."" Rin-Ohki sighed.

Ranma bristled. ""Hey! I haven't eaten lately you know!""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The welcome in Shevat was warm and friendly, although most of the citizens were eyeing Ranma and his companions with a little bit of suspicion. It wasn't everyday that some outsiders would come and visit their floating city fortress just like that. But they were quite placated once they heard they were in good terms with Bart and his crew.

Washuu visibly restrained herself from frolicking all over the place and flutter around the technology present around her like a hyperactive butterfly on sugar-high. It just wouldn't do if she'd get thrown out before she got to examine the machinery.

Meia was a bit impressed at what she saw. For something this big to generate a shield for this long was something short of extraordinary.  
According to what Elly explained earlier back in the ship, the city of Shevat always had their shields on, circling all over the skies of this planet like a wanderer. The energy needed for that would be huge, and the people of Shevat being able to achieve it are amazing.

Vanilla on the other hand was non-plussed. Her travels all over the quadrants of galaxies exposed her to the more advanced technology anyway. It was no big deal at all.

Rin-Ohki was still asleep, who for some reason was trying to gather enough energy to transform. She had told Ranma telepathically that they might need her ship form soon, even if she still hasn't finished constructing it. Even for a little while, she wanted to transform if the need arose.

Their combined group was finally led to the uppermost part of the city,  
after their ship had landed on the bottom floors within Shevat's docking bay. They came upon two huge doors, which was to be connected to the chambers of Shevat's queen. With a loud groan, their escorts, allowing them to transverse the short hallway that led to the audience room opened the large doors to them.

The huge chamber that was said to be where they will meet the queen entranced them. Huge semi-transparent films covered the area in front of them. Ranma narrowed his brows a bit as he felt some weird power vibes beyond the covers. He glanced at his side, and saw Washuu's own intense expression as she tried to penetrate the covers with her stare.

Slowly, the flimsy cover separated from each other, exposing a small child in white robes. Her headdress was complicated in design, and even though her body was of a small child's her eyes reflected age and experience.

""Queen Zephyr..."" Elly stepped forward and bowed slightly, followed by Margie and Primera. Ranma, Washuu, Meia and Vanilla just looked on.

""Be at ease, Elhaym. You are among friends."" Zephyr's childish voice echoed across the huge room. The queen beckoned them to approach her throne, to which they complied. Once they have stepped up to the throne area, Zephyr nodded her head as she gazed on Elly, giving the strangers a passive glance. ""What do you need from me, Elhaym?""

Elly bowed her head once again. ""Your majesty, as you may have known,  
Fei and the others went into newly resurfaced Mahanon...""

Queen Zephyr sighed. ""Yes, I know. I saw their flagship, the refurbished Yggdrasil, fly towards the old ship. Tell me, have you had any word from them?""

Elly shook her head slightly. ""No, your majesty. And I fear that something bad happened to them. Call it, women's intuition, but my insides are aching right now because of that feeling.""

""I see."" Queen Zephyr's eyes flicked towards Ranma, who was looking around in boredom. A small redhead was typing at something that was floating out of thin air, while the blue-haired girl was looking at her curiously. The cyan haired girl was indifferent at the proceedings,  
however. ""Are these your friends, Elhaym?"" the queen gestured to the lot.

Alarmed, Elly straightened as she shot Ranma and his group a look of apology before turning back to Queen Zephyr. ""It must've slipped my mind to introduce them, your majesty, please forgive me.""

Zephyr raised her hand in the air to forestall any more apologies from Elly. ""I understand your worries, Elhaym.""

Elly smiled gratefully. ""They say they're from the off-world. We accidentally ran into them after they landed in the forest near Nisan.""

""Off-world? Do you mean from beyond the skies? As in outer space"  
Zephyr asked in interest.

Elly and her group took on a surprised look. Washuu on the other hand became curious. ""You know about it?""

Zephyr nodded. ""Somehow, I knew that this planet wasn't our original home world. The presence of the old ship that just resurfaced proved that. Besides, there are also the original inhabitants of this planet,  
the Chu-Chu, to take account into."" Her face turned to a serious expression. ""Now tell me, who are you people?""

Little Washuu's gaze made Zephyr a bit nervous, but she took it in stride.  
The smaller redhead finally responded, ""I am Washuu Hakubi, the greatest scientist in the Universe!"" This statement was followed by the puppet show, the paper confetti thingies, then the cackling. After realizing that everyone was now sweatdropping at her performance, Washuu coughed in her hand to disguise the exasperation in her tone. ""Well,  
anyway... you can call me Washuu-chan. The small girl at my side is Vanilla Ash, a member... oh pardon me. She was a former member of the Galaxy Angels group. The young lady on my right is Meia Gisborn, leader of a pilot team from our ship."" She glanced at the queen, who to her dismay was already ignoring her. Instead, the child was staring intently at Ranma, who already started to fidget a bit as his tail lashed a bit at his back.

""You! Who are you, young man!"" Queen Zephyr asked urgently as she stared at Ranma, particularly the gems that was imbedded on his forehead. On his arms was a weird looking animal that seemed to ignore everything around it as its ears flicked a bit for a moment.

""Uhhmm..."" Ranma was taken aback by the sudden outburst from the seemingly stoic queen. Behind him, it seemed that he was not the only one, since the others, even Elly and her companions, had a shocked look on their faces as they stared alternately between Ranma and Queen Zephyr. Ranma swallowed as he replied, ""Uh... Ranma Saotome... and.  
this is my partner, Rin-Ohki."" He finished lamely, mentally smacking himself for reacting that way.

""You're... you... you should not exist! Your whole existence is"  
Zephyr stuttered. ""You're not human!""

""Oh... THAT."" Ranma sweated as Washuu, Vanilla and Meia gave him alarmed looks.

Margie on the other hand was confused. ""So what if he's not human? He's a mutant, so what?""

Zephyr's gaze snapped to Margie, eyeing the small girl with seriousness as well as a tinge of fear in them. ""You don't understand. He's not human, nor a mutant. He's a higher entity than that!""

""Ranma."" The clear but firm voice of Washuu broke the trail of conversation, as it escalated into the line of questioning Ranma would've been nervous of. Intent on relieving his unknowing nephew,  
Washuu continued, ""Please get some fresh air. You look... pale.""

Ranma was about to complain, but stopped himself in time. Sure, he can be so dense at times that Ryoko threatened to throttle him each time she took the pleasure of sleeping inside his sleeping bag whenever she can during those trips they took. Washuu's intent was clear in her eyes as she gazed at him pleadingly. With a nod, Ranma quietly turned and went out of the same huge doors he went into.

""Vanilla-chan, Meia-chan, please follow Ranma and keep him company,  
will you? I need to clarify a few things with our... hosts."" Washuu went on after watching Ranma disappear from the doors. Without another word, the two aforementioned retraced Ranma's steps briskly, leaving the room in the same fashion as Ranma did before.

""Miss Washuu? Why did you make Ranma leave this room?"" Elly asked nervously as she glanced at the suddenly serious redhead. The scientist was in child form, but the intense fire in her eyes seemed to be complimenting the fiery color her hair had.

If possible, Queen Zephyr looked more panicked than before. ""I was right, wasn't I? Not only do we have the Godslayer, but that boy... that boy is...""

""But of course he is."" Washuu calmly retorted as everyone's attention went to her. ""Ranma is the son of a Choushin Megami, a goddess.""

Elly was shocked to say the least. ""W-W-What!""

Margie boggled at the thought. ""A... goddess? You're kidding right?""

""Goddess..."" Zephyr breathed out of her mouth as her eyes widened.  
""And... and I...""

Primera just looked confused. Her brother didn't mention anything about goddesses having children before.

Washuu snorted slightly, glaring at the now sullen Queen Zephyr. ""I have no idea how you can detect it, but that young man over there hasn't been trained to hide it yet. But it shouldn't be that obvious. How did you detect it?""

Zephyr sighed. ""I'm... really not that young. I'm really five hundred and twenty-two years old. Through the years I've seen hardships and pains that most humans shudder to think about. I know how to read people's life forces. That's how I came to know of Fei's heritage even before he spoke. You do know of him, don't you? He's the Godslayer...""

Washuu shook her head. ""Ranma met him, as well as the others, but I didn't yet. Anyway, I'm a LOT older than you, and know much more about pain than you can ever imagine.""

""But..."" Elly gestured lamely to Washuu's body. ""You're... at least twelve or something.""

""What? This?"" Washuu's body suddenly grew along with her clothes,  
gaining height and curves in her body until she reached the approximate age of twenty. ""Things do not appear what they seem. Besides, your queen is in a child's body as well, so why does this get you into shock?""

""Amazing..."" Zephyr gaped at the sight.

Elly and Primera just stared hard at the now adult Washuu, while Margie sulked as she looked between Washuu's grown body and hers in jealousy.

Washuu banished her adult body as she shrank back to the twelve-year-old redhead earlier. ""It may not look like it, but Ranma's my nephew. And before you ask, his mother is my sister, Tokimi.""

Zephyr stood from her throne. ""You mean...!""

Washuu nodded nonchalantly. ""Former goddess... until I decided to go mortal nearly twenty-five thousand years ago. Yes, I'm more than a drop of the age you claim to be really old. Ranma is somewhere in five thousand I think, if temporal mechanics is applied. But he doesn't know that yet. All he knows is that he's somewhere in his forties or something.""

""Y-You mean..."" Elly began as she stuttered, ""We've been in the presence of gods and goddesses?""

Washuu laughed lightly. ""Ranma is mortal like me. His father was a mortal I believe, according to what I gather from his story when he was flung into our time. His father was one of the species that was depicted as planet destroyers.""

Zephyr finally got her bearings back and slumped down her throne. ""I.  
I don't know what to say. Gods? Goddesses? Time-travel?""

Elly's eyes glazed. ""Ranma... a divine...""

Washuu just glared at them. ""Don't treat Ranma any different just because of this. He doesn't want to be treated like that. Instead, treat him normally like how you'd have treated your friends. Friendship is important for him, since his own past was filled with betrayals and lies. He's lonely enough as it is, would you aggravate that with this?""

Zephyr slowly shook her head. ""No... that is most unfortunate. Such a burden for someone as innocent as him. I... I'm sorry if I reacted badly to the news... I...""

""Me too..."" Elly smiled sadly. ""I know what it feels like to be lonely. I don't want any of my friends to feel that way.""

""I want to be his friend."" Margie said with determination. Primera nodded in agreement with the Holy Mother of Nisan.

A knock broke their conversation as Ranma tentatively peeked through the small opening of the door when he pushed it open. ""Uhhmmm... excuse me, but there's some news.""

Washuu smiled warmly at him. ""What is it, Ranma-chan?""

Ranma gulped as he saw the varying looks he received from the females at present, especially Queen Zephyr. The child queen was almost ready to cry. ""A transmission arrived from someone named Krelian, and..."" Ranma trailed off as he winced at what he was about to report.

""Krelian? Fei! Are they alright!"" Elly asked frantically as she almost ran towards Ranma.

""Eeep!"" Ranma almost backpedaled, but stood firm as he pushed the door open all the way. ""W-Wait! Yes, this is about Fei and the others, but it's not good...""

""Quit stalling, Ranma-chan."" Washuu deadpanned.

Ranma nodded frantically. ""Okay... ah... Fei and the others have been captured, and were taken in this place called Golgoda in Mahanon.  
They're waiting for Elhaym Van Houten to... uhm... go there in exchange for their lives. That's it."" He breathed out as he was done in his narrative.

""This is... dire news."" Zephyr said sadly as she watched the emotions playing on Elly's face.

The former Solarian operative firmed her resolve as she said, ""Queen Zephyr, I need permission to go and use the last Omnigear in Shevat, the El-Regrs.""

The others were quite surprised at her request. ""Are you sure about this, Elhaym?"" Zephyr asked plaintively.

""Yes."" Elly's face was firmed with determination.

Ranma shot Washuu with a look, and the redhead nodded empathetically at the hidden message in that stare.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Elhaym Van Houten, former Solaris operative and now a member of the rebel militia that toppled the Solaris nation itself, supervised her Gears final check-up as she prepared to go after Fei. Footsteps from behind caused her to swivel around. She watched expectantly as her former subordinates from the elite group in Solaris approached her with pensive looks.

""Are you serious about going it alone?"" Renk asked his former superior officer as he eyed the magnificent Gear being refueled.

Elly nodded as she looked back to the El-Regrs. ""Krelian told me to come by myself. I can't afford to break the agreement. So, please, stay behind and protect everyone here.""

Helmholz looked pleadingly at Elly. ""But it's a trap!""

Elly sighed and closed her eyes when she replied, ""I know.""

Stratski was boggled at the logic. ""Then why?""

""If I do not go, Fei and them will be executed for sure... Krelian isn't concerned with anyone else but me."" The red-haired woman explained patiently.

""So what makes you think he's going to hold his part of the bargain? Do you have any way of knowing that you will definitely save your friends by doing this?"" Renk pointed out.

Elly shook her head in a negative. ""No...""

""Then it's suicide!"" Vance shouted in indignation, furious at the lack of concern of Elly's face.

Elly on the other hand just shrugged slightly. ""It might be. But, I've made it this far because of Fei and the others... because they accepted me as their friend.""

Renk gestured around him. ""If you go away... what about us...? What about all the people who have assembled in Nisan that you leave behind?  
Everyone's depending on you for their spiritual support.""

Elly smiled wistfully. ""The people in Nisan will be fine. They can stand on their own feet without any support from me... this is also true of you all, right?""

Broyer was infuriated. ""But why do you do so much for him...?""

""I don't know... I guess it's a woman's prerogative to be selfish.  
perhaps."" Elly placed her hand on her chest, just where the heart should be.

Helmholz looked skeptical. ""A woman's prerogative...?""

Elly nodded. ""I'm not a holy woman of any sort. I'm just a regular woman. I get angry... I cry... I laugh... Although at times I can resent others, I also know how to love others... Loving whole masses of people at times... and loving just one person the rest of the time... I am in supreme bliss when the man that I love embraces me. Giving what I have to him, and receiving what he gives to me, we become one flesh... That is the moment when I am most at piece. It is my prerogative as a woman to simply want to save the man that I love!""

Her subordinates' faces softened.

""Boss..."" Vance whispered under his breath.

Elly's eyes watered as she looked at her former teammates. They are now her friends. ""I'm sorry ... for saying such selfish things... I'll go and do all that I can do for my friends. So I want you all to do whatever it is you can do for our friends here.""

Everyone fell silent afterwards.

Elly was finally informed by one of the engineers that the repairs and refueling of the El-Regrs was finished. She nodded back to her group and declared, ""Well, I had better get going now...""

Without looking back, Elhaym Van Houten boarded the El-Regrs and went out of the Shevat Hangar at full speed.

As Elly's former troop members stared helplessly at the departing Gear,  
a voice suddenly said, ""Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her.""

The men turned around and saw a young boy with a red tail looking at the departing Gear warily. In his arms was a small rabbit-like animal that seemed to be glancing at the departure as well.

""How will you be able to do that? But more importantly, who the hell are you!"" Renk demanded as he closed in on the boy. He stopped however when the boy leveled him with a gaze.

""I'm a friend."" He said enigmatically. ""You just have to trust me.""

With those words, he disappeared suddenly, catching the group off-guard.

Elly piloted El-Regrs to Golgoda. She hadn't noticed the shadow that was following her from behind the Gear. Inside the ominous cavern, she found all her friends' Gears on crucifixes. She walked up to Krelian and Miang, who were in their Omnigears, Amphysvena and Opiomorph.

Citan, who was currently in his own Omnigear Fenris, stared incredulously at the beautiful Gear the he knew Sophia of the old times piloted before she died. ""Elly!""

Fei however was livid in apprehension. ""You idiot! Why did you come here! Krelian's after you! Forget about us! Run and save yourself!""

Elly cleared her throat as she spoke calmly. ""I came as I was told. I'm the only one you need... they have nothing to do with this. So let Fei and the others go!""

Krelian laughed with glee as he listened to Elly's demand. ""How gallant you are, Elhaym. It's as if 'that scene from the past has been brought back to life in the present'. So, you came in an Omnigear. That to is.  
'her Gear'. Hmm... allow me to confirm something.""

Out of the shadows came two Executioner Gown-type Gears. They both stepped forward until they were in front of the outnumbered El-Regrs.

""I'll consider what kind of treatment your friends will receive... on one condition! That you first defeat these two men here with that Gear you came in... how about it, Elhaym?"" Krelian explained.

Fei paled inside the Weltall as he took stock of the odds. ""Forget it,  
Elly! He's up to something! Don't accept it!""

Citan was in agreement as he followed up. ""Fei is right! Krelian is not a man of his word. He always has ulterior motives when he sweet-talks someone! What's more, those men are fighting machines created by Krelian. Their combat skills are immeasurable! They are not opponents you can handle by yourself! Do not take him up on his offer! Escape while you can!""

Krelian smirked visibly. ""My my... such harsh criticism. I am not that brutal. So, what will it be Elhaym? Even if you were to try to flee now,  
it is not likely you would be able to. You see... I have this whole area surrounded by my guards! Wouldn't it be logical to take the choice where you may still stand a chance... no matter how slight it may be?""

""Don't do it, Elly!" Fei pleaded.

Elly breathed in deeply as she replied, ""Alright then... I'll do what you say.""

Krelian chuckled a bit in glee. ""Good. You are indeed my precious little bird. Now, get on with it!""

Elly's Gear was stalked over by the two Gears, one was the one they already encountered in Sargasso. The other is a green bird-like Gear.

Elly narrowed her eyes as she gripped the controls tightly. ""If it gives Fei and them even the slightest chance of escape... then I will fight! I don't care if it even costs me my life!""

The Gears simultaneously attacked her. One Gear flew high up in the air while the other settled on ground battle. While Elly was busy with the one on the ground, the Gear on the air waited for the right moment until Elly's attention was focused fully on his partner. Finally spotting a chance, the bird-like Gear dove quickly from the air, hitting Elly's Gear squarely on the back, making her fall down the ground face-first.

Elly panted as she winced from the pain on her back. ""Outmatched.  
even in my Omnigear. But... I can't just... no... not like this... I can't lose!""

She quickly willed her Omnigear to its feet and lunged at one of the Gears. The bird-like Gear slammed down the ground when Elly's attack hit its target.

Elly backed her Gear up. ""Did I do it?"" she asked herself as she stared at the down Gear. Much to her despair, the Gear gets up.

""H-how could that...? I thought it had some sort of effect..."" Elly slowly backed her Gear from her enemies' reaches.

The pilot of the Gear she hit however was quite angry. ""Girl, that hurt! I'll get you back! It was wrong of you to underestimate our power!"" Mugworth growled out angrily.

The two modified Gears attack Elly relentlessly. Not surprisingly, she fell over as the attacks ceased.

""Auuggghhh!"" Elly screamed as she felt her muscles tear from the assault. Her vision was impaired by something red that seemed to flow from her head. But she didn't pay any attention to it. Not wanting to give her opponents the edge, Elly wills El-Regrs to get up. She looked very weak from the strain.

The pilot of the other Gear shook his head in disgust. ""Hmm, I'm getting no results. It can't be helped, Mugwort. It's about time to finish the job."" Rattan suggested as he prepared to finish the fight.

Mugwort complied with his partner's suggestion and attacked Elly. Rattan followed suit with a major attack of his own.

Rattan laughed out loud. ""Hahahahahaha! Downed yet? It's to be expected. Multiple fractures, major blood loss. I wouldn't be surprised if the cockpit is a sea of blood, at worst death! Hah hah hah hah!""

The El-Regrs suddenly got up, surprising everyone that was watching,  
especially Rattan and Mugwort.

Mugwort gaped at the damaged Omnigear, which was ready to fall down to the ground because of the massive damages evident on its outer hull.  
""What the...? There's no way you could stand after taking that much damage...""

Elly attacks Mugwort in response, successfully smashing the enemy with the El-Regrs club.

Rattan stared at the smoking ruins of his partner's Gear. ""M-Mugwort?  
Why you! How dare you do that to my partner!""

Elly directed her Omnigear to the other Gear left. With a hard thrust into its chest, it finally went offline and came down with a loud crash.  
However, the strain of the battle was too much as Elly's Gear tipped forwards, coming down to the ground as well. The Gear did not get up.

Fei felt really helpless as he was immobile while his loved one was in trouble. ""No way...! Elly...!""

Krelian grinned as he eyed the fallen El-Regrs hungrily. ""Her true awakening...? Or just merely... 'protecting her master'...? Either way,  
it does not alter the fact that she is the -Mother- existence that I have been searching for! Now men... recover that machine. Place priority on the safety of the pilot. Do whatever it takes to preserve her life!  
Well then, I shall be taking this girl with me! As for the rest of you... why don't you just wallow there pathetically while you meditate on your own lack of any real power?"" He laughed darkly as he turned to leave the Golgoda.

""I don't think so."" A loud booming voice resonated all over the cavern they were in, stopping Krelian from exiting the area, as the Gears were about to collect Elly and her gear.

Everyone looked around them, trying to spot where the voice came from.

""Who are you! Show yourself!"" Krelian cried out as he signaled the Gears fetching Elly to hurry their task. Suddenly, a bright glow blinded everyone momentarily, followed by a huge explosion that rocked the old spacecraft all over. When the light show receded, the Gears that were to get Elly out of machine were scattered in smaller pieces, parts strewn all over the floor around the downed El-Regrs. In the chest area of the fallen Omnigear of Elly, a figure of a young boy wearing dark blue long sleeved buttoned shirt and dark blue pants stood with his arms crossed across his chest. His forehead was decorated with three gems that shone menacingly, his hair was done in a tight pigtail. At his back, a reddish appendage hung down freely.

""RANMA!"" Fei and the others yelled out as they stared at the scene with growing surprise. They thought it was the end for them, and also they thought that Elly would be lost to them while they were helplessly crucified on the crosses in Golgoda.

""You guys don't look too hot."" The boy said loudly as he bent down to the hatch below him, prying the steel open with his bear hands. Half of his body disappeared momentarily into the hatch before reappearing once again, and in his arms was the unconscious redhead Elhaym Van Houten.

Fei was really glad that Ranma appeared, but was skeptic as to how he got in there in the first place. Shoving his questions aside for later,  
he spoke through the external speakers of his Gear, shouting, ""Ranma!  
Take Elly and run! Leave us here but don't let Elly fall into their hands!""

Ranma shrugged. ""Can't. This lady's real worried 'bout you, pal. I'm not gonna leave you here with these idiots while she worries about you some more. She'll just run off again to save you, repeating the same cycle all over again.""

Fei was flabbergasted. ""B-But...""

""How dare you!"" Krelian growled out as he signaled some more of his Gears to appear. Sure enough, several more Gears appeared and surrounded the miniature form of Ranma. ""Get the girl and kill the boy!""

Just as the Gears were about to explode in motion, Ranma re-adjusted Elly and draped her over his shoulder. Using his right hand, Ranma aimed his palm to the Gears, much to the pilots' confusion. With a smirk, the pigtailed boy suddenly fired three silver balls of energy, hitting some of the Gears at their foot gyros. Without the necessary traction, the hapless Gears toppled over and fell to the ground, unmoving. Ranma turned and fired some more shots to the other Gears, laying them down in the same way.

Krelian just gaped at the sight. It was one thing to see Fei, Id and Grahf use their energies in somehow the same manner, but the boy seemed to be not tiring to say the least at expending his energies like that.  
When the dust cleared, more clumps of twisted metal were scattered all over the floor.

""By what manner of creation are you, abomination!"" Krelian cried out as he slowly backed his Gear away from the carnage. Following him closely was Miang, who was just as shocked as he was.

The boy snorted as he hefted Elly into his arms once again, to make her comfortable in her unconscious state. ""The name's Ranma Saotome, or.  
wait. No... I'm not really a Saotome... so what's my last name then? He said as he looked up thoughtfully as he pondered on the unexpected question to himself.

Suddenly, the boy named Ranma shrugged all the queries into consideration later on. Instead, he realized he had to focus on the task at hand first. ""Anyway, as for what I am... no, I'm not a human being,  
nor a mutant either."" Ranma's feet lifted off from the ground, freaking Fei and the others momentarily. Ranma still has Elly in his arms you know.

The whole area was silenced as all eyes tracked Ranma's flight movements, who flew towards the crucifixes where Fei and his friends'  
Gears were hanging down. Darting to the metal chords that held the Gears up on the crosses, Ranma snapped the strong bindings and let the Gears fall down the ground with a thud. He remained floating in the air with Elly in his arms as he watched the Gears struggle to stand up. Fei's determination won out as he was the first to stand. He turned Weltall II towards Ranma.

""R-Ranma..."" Fei swallowed as he eyed the floating boy in front of his scopes. ""I... w-what... how did you do that? The chi attacks I can understand, sudden bursts of power too... but you're... you're flying!""

Ranma looked over Elly's body to look at his floor-less perch in the air. ""Yeah, the first time I did this, it was pretty interesting too.  
By the way, it's not 'chi', what I'm using is 'ki'..."" he smirked as he held out Elly's unconscious body. ""Here, you better hang on to this girl, Fei. She really loves you, so much that she was willing to sacrifice herself just to buy you time to escape. I knew what she was going to do, so I followed her just in case she gets into too much trouble.""

Fei automatically willed Weltall II to lift one open hand towards Ranma.  
The pigtailed boy settled Elly down on the hand and turned back to the battle, eyeing Krelian's Gear warily. ""Now if you don't mind, I'll take care of some unfinished business. Later then!"" With a slight wave,  
Ranma blasted towards the enemy Gears.

Krelian was ready this time as he had his guards surround him while he finds a way to escape. He was about to turn to the exit while that weird flying boy and the Godslayer were talking. Krelian was very much dismayed to find the entrance somehow destroyed, probably by the flying boy. Now, all he had to do was buy some time and dig his way out with Miang's help. He grinned as he remembered that Grahf was still in the area. He clicked the Gear's communications system on and signal Grahf for a save.

Meanwhile, Ranma was busy dodging and weaving through arcs of laser fire, as well as projectiles from various Gears that suddenly surrounded him as he approached Krelian's position. It didn't help that the other Gear beside Krelian's was quite stronger than normal, and for some reason it can actually regenerate a bit the damages it received from Ranma's stray ki balls. What these enemies lose when using Gears, they make up in their numbers.

Ranma wouldn't dare use stronger techniques while he's inside that confined place. It might collapse the entire ceiling and bury his friends as well. So the boy settled on picking at those things marginally larger than he was from a distance with smaller but more rapid bolts of silver energy. Sure, it may take some time, but it is better and safer than the alternative.

The pigtail boy stopped in midair, barely twisting away from the incoming missile that was launched at him, and concentrated. Ranma felt a new power appearing inside the cavern. His suspicions grew as his enemies stopped attacking and slowly backed away. Unknown to him,  
Krelian had ordered the retreat, or rather, ordered the troops left to back away. Miang's Gear stumbled towards Krelian, its arm servos were thoroughly incapacitated. While it has the ability to repair itself because of the nanobots present in its body, the Gear's capabilities were still too slow for Ranma's rapid attacks.

Citan was helping Bart's Aadvari with his Gear back at the main Golgoda site. The nanomachines were doing their job as the damaged parts of their Gears slowly disappeared. They suddenly felt a sense of foreboding as they stopped in their work. They looked up to Fei, who was out of his own Gear and was sitting on Weltall's hand, with Elly in his arms. The martial artist was looking at the shadows seriously.

""Fei, do you feel that?"" Citan asked seriously as he himself went out of the hatch to stand on Fenris' shoulder.

Fei nodded. ""I do. It's... him. It's Grahf again..."" he almost growled out as he shuffled both himself and Elly into Weltall's cockpit once again.

Bart groaned into Aadvari's external speakers. ""We really can't catch a break, can't we?""

Citan sighed, jumping back into the open cockpit of his own Gear. ""No,  
I think not.""

Back at Ranma, he was currently looking up at the magnificent gear that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Also, the amount of power Ranma felt from the gear was awesome!

""So, you are the child that was disturbing our progress?"" The Alpha Weltall's speakers emulated Grahf's rough voice. The powerful mecha was floating a few feet above the ground, its whole body glowing red.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. ""Child?"" he mouthed almost silently. Shaking the thoughts of attacking the gigantic robot half-cocked out of rage, he looked up to the mecha and saw something silver streaking towards it. It would seem that he was the only one to notice it. In his mind, something was humming the tune of the 'Ride of the Valkyries'. Somehow, the shiver that ran up and down his spine was easily recognizable. That and also the images of dark colored metal served in a plate clued him in. The metals were suspiciously of the same tone and color of that on the mecha's own. Ranma sweatdropped when he noticed one of the 'wings' of the mecha started to move involuntarily, finally shrinking into itself as this voice continued to drone on and on about God's Divine Breath or something. Not that he really cared about it.

""God's Divine Breath? What an awful-sounding technique… like some kind of bad breath or something."" Ranma mutters to himself as he ignored the ranting man inside the giant robot. ((Okay, now two of those wing thingies disappeared. Man, Rin-Ohki works fast for her size. Where does she put all that mass!)) he thought to himself as he stared stupefied at the rapidly shrinking wing attachments. He was also wondering why the pilot hadn't noticed the apparent imbalance of the weight distribution.  
Ah well, it's not his problem anymore.

Ranma blinked when he noticed the ranting stopped. He looked up and saw a figure materialize at the mecha's shoulder. Jumping down from the shoulder, the cloaked figure landed near Ranma. The pigtailed boy found that the figure has a mask on, which covered most of his face, as well as a cowl that covered his hair as well.

Inside his mask, Grahf was glaring at the boy in front of him. A red tail, which probably was caused by a mutation of some sort, dark tinted glasses that covered most of his eyes that left Grahf to wonder what the heck did this kid wanted to hide that he was ready to sacrifice his perfect vision in a fight to hide it? It's quite dark in the cave. Also,  
those small gems on the child's forehead were emitting low level energy that seemed to force Grahf's probing mind to pay no heed to them, like something was cloaking Grahf's senses from making anything out of the meager info he got from them anyway. The boy's clothes were weird as well, unlike anything he had ever seen before. The boy showed no signs of fear for some reason. Grahf knew that the boy should feel his power,  
since he moves like a martial artist. He stood there face to face with the boy, seemingly gauging his strength. That's one thing that bothered the masked man the most... it is the lack of adequate power from the person. It could either be two things, one is that the boy has no special power whatsoever, and that the abilities he showed earlier were just show. Second was that the boy has probably more skill than he can anticipate, since the mystery of the boy's real power still plagued Grahf.

Grahf saw in the corner of his eyes the arrival of Weltall and the Omnigears in Fei's group. ((So... they've arrived.)) he chuckled internally as he assessed his situation. He could handle Fei and his friends easily, it's the boy in front of him that's the problem. Not only did he not know a thing about him, but his power readings are weird. So, the both of them were there, staring at one another in a stalemate. Or was it him that was making an assumption? That boy had that smirk again, and it was infuriating Grahf. In some ways, it is scarier than what Id usually decorated his face with when the psychopath fought. It was unreal...

What? THERE! Grahf stiffened a bit as he felt a small spike of power from the figure in front of him. It was a split second thing, the boy probably didn't even know he did it, but Grahf DID feel it.

The scourge of Fei's life digested the energy he felt from the boy. The feeling was distinctive, and it left an impression on him. Memories of old techniques were dug up inside Grahf's mind as he tried to decipher the mystery in front of him. For probably the first time in his existence as Grahf, the masked man winced. He hadn't expected such weird emanations from one small package before. And all of that just from a small burst he felt. But this must be a trick! Nothing is stronger than he is! Nothing!

""Ranma!""

Grahf and Ranma turned slightly to the footsteps of the approaching Fei,  
Citan and Bart. Emeralda and the others stayed back a bit as they watched from a distance, but the green-haired girl was visually glad to see Ranma again.

The masked man turned to Ranma. ""So, your name is Ranma."" he said simply.

Ranma nodded. ""Yeah.""

Grahf snorted. ""Boy, you really don't have any idea who you're facing.  
I have the greatest strength...""

""So you say."" Ranma interrupted. ""Also, those who wanted strength are those who are insecure about themselves.""

Grahf fumed at the insinuation. But before he could say anything, Fei finally caught up to them and was talking.

""Ranma? What are you doing back here?"" Fei asked curiously as he ignored Grahf's presence for a while.

""Unfinished business."" Ranma replied grimly as he never took his stare off Grahf. ""Stand back and let me do this, Fei. Go and watch Elly instead.""

""WHAT!"" Fei asked, enraged. ""I can't just leave you to fight him!  
Even with all of us, Grahf can still win! Besides, he's my enemy... and I am the one who needs to...""

Ranma interrupted Fei, ""This isn't about your pride, Fei. You have someone to protect back there who needs you as much as you need her.  
This person is challenging me, so leave us to our duel.""

The masked man started to feel his patience running thin as countless distractions kept on popping out of woodwork. Turning slightly to Fei,  
Grahf growled out, ""Go away, little boy. Without Id, you can never win against me.""

Fei glared at Grahf, shouting, ""Why you...!""

""Fei!"" Ranma called out to him, making the Godslayer pause in his steps, ""There is no dishonor in allowing me to fight him. This is the moment where you needed to decide which was more important to you, pride or love. If I were you, I'd go and protect my loved one instead, with the choices you have now.""

Fei was filled with turmoil as he gazed back and forth between his Gear,  
where the woman that captured his heart lay unconscious, and the masked man who constantly made his life hell. Strengthening his resolve, he finally turned back and headed towards Weltall II, where Elly lay waiting for his return. Citan, Bart, Chu-Chu and Rico turned to leave with Fei, but noticed that the others not following. Emeralda and Maria watched the unfolding scene in front of them. Emeralda was visibly worried about Ranma, because she knew how powerful Grahf was. But right now she was powerless to stop it, since it was Ranma's own decision to fight the masked man.

Ranma smiled as he watched Fei walking back to his Gear without turning back. ((That's right...)) Ranma thought to himself, ((You have someone to protect... she loves you so much that she wanted to protect you as well.  
Don't ever let her down by setting her aside because of your pride.)) The pigtailed boy saddened a bit, still thinking, ((Don't worry, Ryoko. I'm coming back to save you.))

""You are too idealistic, boy."" Ranma's thoughts were broken when Grahf talked calmly in front of him. Grahf chuckled hoarsely as he continued,  
""Protecting someone is the source of strength for you? Power is something gained by fighting, and is amplified by emotions to a thousand degree, am I not right?""

""Maybe it's true for you."" Ranma replied calmly, fingering the black shades covering his eyes. ""Fighting can be a lot of things, but sometimes most people use fighting to reassert their own prowess, to run away from something, or trying to forget."" Sighing, he muttered, ""I should know about it real well.""

Inside his mask, Grahf sneered angrily. He felt a stab of self-doubt in the pigtailed boy's words, and it fitted his reasons as well. Mentally shaking off the feeling, he pulled back his emotions as he answered,  
""You don't know anything."" Shaking his head, he continued, ""Enough of this, let us begin.""

Slowly, Grahf released the control he exerted to keep his power in check. His body was bathed in menacing red aura as he let out the power that spawned countless of powerful warriors throughout the planet. This same power gave countless Gears the ability to go beyond their limits.

God's Divine Breath... the ultimate source of Grahf's power... and his curse.

Ranma was momentarily awed by the power he felt Grahf released. He grinned as he took hold of his glasses, and calmly removed them from his face. Pocketing the eyewear, he opened his eyes and exposed his solid blue-gray eyes with golden pupils. His red tail lashed at his back in anticipation of the fight.

Fei finally reached his Gear, and saw that three of his companions came with him. With a questioning look towards them, his companions all gave the other half of the group pointed looks. Fei looked over behind them and saw Bart, Emeralda and Maria watching the upcoming fight between Ranma and Grahf.

""Emeralda and Maria opted to stay behind. Bart volunteered to watch over them."" Citan answered Fei's unasked question as he followed the younger man's gaze.

""Hey, look! Krelian's escaping!"" Rico growled out as he pointed towards one side of the cavern that now has a hole large enough for a Gear to pass through. Krelian had his subordinates plow their way into the debris to dig a hole for escaping. Without another word Krelian's Gear, followed by Miang's Gear, exited through the hole tailed by several of his subordinates' Gears.

Fei looked at the hole crossly. ""Dammit!"" he muttered, looking back helplessly at those who were left. ""We can't let him escape!""

Citan nodded. ""You are right. We should get going then.""

Rico grinned. ""Finally, some action!""

""But..."" Fei asked hesitantly as he continued to gaze at Bart and the others. ""What about...""

""Don't worry about them. Ranma and Bart are with them. Besides, do you really want them to fight against Krelian and his army?"" Billy asked with an eyebrow raised.

Fei stood dumbfounded at the open canopy of Weltall's cockpit. ""I.  
you're right. We should go... and chase Krelian before he does any irreparable damage.""

Nodding in agreement, Citan, Billy and Rico boarded their own Gears and left with Fei, but not before giving Golgoda one last look of disgust.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Fei and his small group didn't know this, but Krelian already began his masterplan to rebuild God's Ark 'Merkava', using the data obtained from Razael and his own nanomachine technology. It seems that the process was accelerated due to Krelian's failure to kidnap Elly. Along with this,  
Krelian also destroyed the three leaders of the fallen group of the Ministry and took over God's Resurrection process. Krelian's mad dash to control the power and knowledge of God overshadowed his anger over failing to keep Elly for his own as he worked doubly hard to achieve this one project he sacrificed his life into.

Citan informed Fei of the unusual readings from a strange place that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Curious, Fei then followed the path towards Merkava, where he spotted some stray Gears entering the area. But before they could enter, the group encountered the Elements,  
Jugend's estranged Elite force.

Fei frowned as he recognized the Gears that suddenly appeared in his scope. ""You again...? Are you girls thinking of going in there too?""

Dominia, the leader of the group, sneered as she leveled her Gear eye to eye with Fei's own. ""Don't get any wrong ideas there. We are here to help our commander. Miang and Krelian have been manipulating his emotions for the sole purpose of eliminating the Emperor. We simply want to free the commander from those bonds so that he may be saved! This is not for the sake of the world, or something as trivial as that. We are not as idealistic as you and Elhaym were! We have no intentions of fighting on the same side as you!""

Fei nodded. ""Fine. You have your own battles to fight. And we have ours, let's leave it at that. But... if things get out of hand, you head back. We'll handle it.""

Dominia snorted angrily. ""Hmph... we'll make you eat those words. You wait and see!""

Fei's group and the Elements split up and entered inside of Merkava,  
while fighting back units of weapons that self-regenerated through the use of nanomachines, they headed for the central core. Citan, Fei and Rico head down a hall in Merkava. Suddenly, they reach a small room and hear a familiar voice. Once again, Ramsus appeared before them.

""I've been waiting for you, Fei!"" Ramsus said loudly as he appeared in a powerful-looking blue Gear. He stood on a balcony that overlooked Fei and his companions' position.

""Ramsus!"" Fei asked incredulously.

Ramsus gritted his teeth as he said, ""Fei. If only you hadn't been born... I... I... we're going to settle this now!""

Fei boggled at Ramsus' statement. ""Stop it Ramsus! What reason is there to continue fighting me! Who are you fighting for! Why do you always have a bone to pick with me! Tell me why!""

Ramsus closed his eyes. ""It is all because of you. If only you hadn't come in and destroyed my prospects in life...""

- FLASHBACK -

Krelian stands in his lab, staring at a fetus in a large tube. He turned around when a young black haired lady approached him from behind.

Krelian smirked, as he looked the woman over. ""Hmm... 'this time' your body is young.""

The woman smiled back menacingly. ""The previous one got too old.""

Krelian nodded. ""And the name?""

The woman snorted. ""Karen... but individual names have no meaning to me.""

""So... what brings you here?"" Krelian asked as he turned to the tube,  
examining the growing thing inside it. He noticed that Karen walked up beside him to look into the tube herself.

""Is that thing inside the Nanoreactor there... the one?"" Karen asked with a slight trace of disgust in her voice.

Krelian blinked, then his face brightened, as he finally understood.  
""Huh? Oh... recognition code 0808191-'Ramses'. The Emperor's been told it's a prototype for an artificial 'Contact'.""

Karen cocked her head to one side. ""What's its status?""

The scientist sighed as he looked at the fetus intently. ""It has entered the so-called first growth stage. From now until the binding,  
its growth will be several times faster than that of an ordinary human.  
But its psychological development will be a little difficult to control.  
It is a replica, so that is to be expected.""

Karen's eyes widened as she saw a twitch from the fetus. ""It is moving.  
Can it hear us?""

Krelian smiled smugly. ""Yes. It already has a will of its own.""

Karen shook her head. ""Then, I have a better way. Let us dispose of it.  
We do not need this. We have my child. My child will be four this year.""

Krelian stared at Karen in irritation. ""Your having a child is.  
significant?""

Karen rolled her eyes up. ""Yes, I checked it out. There is no mistake,  
it's a contact.""

Krelian felt excitement course in his veins. ""What's its name?""

Karen looked thoughtful for a moment. ""My child's name is... 'Fei.  
So... you understand what this means?""

""A corresponding 'Anti-type' is..."" Krelian adopted a faraway look on his face.

""Yes..."" Karen nodded. ""Probably already born somewhere. The final one!""

Krelian grimaced as he stared at the fetus in front of him. ""Then .  
this thing is... worthless.""

Karen smirked. ""Yes, totally useless. Haha..."" She turns to the tube and stares at the growing thing inside it.

""Chase after it, 'boy'. A love that's unattainable for you, no matter how hard you try to pursue it."" Karen's voice echoed within the fetus'  
small but developing brain as everything darkened.

- END OF FLASHBACK -

Ramsus voice turned bitter. ""My life... was given to me within a Nanoreactor in Krelian's laboratory. To be born as the superior being,  
above all humans. But then...""

The platinum haired man shook his head as he continued, ""Because of your existence, I was discarded! I was determined to be the representative of god, having the might of the Emperor. I was destined to be the ultimate existence, having the power to exercise absolute control over all! But... I lost it all... because of you!""

Fei gaped at the information. ""M-My mother? How... do you know her.  
Ramsus!""

Before anyone could do anything, Dominia appears in Bladegash from another entrance.

""Commander! Please stop this! Commander, if what you say is true, then that is even more of a reason to fight! You were just used by Krelian and..."" Dominia's voice emanated from the Gear with a huge sword, but was interrupted by her former superior.

""Silence! You... even you... dare to censure me! I saved you from nearly becoming a test subject and now you turn on me!"" Ramsus all but screamed as he berated his former subordinates.

Dominia tried reasoning out, ""You are mistaken! We are only thinking of your best interests...""

But Ramsus interrupted her once again. ""Silence! Ultimately, only I can help myself! I am the only one that can correct this! This is the end for you! En garde! Because here I come, Fei!""

Ramsus' Gear launched itself from the platform. The battle lines were drawn, and the fight was well on its way.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Still in the Golgoda, Ranma and Grahf stood in front of each other,  
assessing their strengths and weaknesses.

""Well, boy? Are you going to attack or am I?"" Grahf sneered under his mask as he taunted the boy in front of him.

Ranma just looked at him impassively, but internally he was boiling.  
This character kept on calling him 'boy', an insult especially since it was what his foster father, Genma, used to call him. It was degrading to one's self-worth.

Grahf sighed and said, ""Very well then, I will start!"" And with that,  
Grahf leapt towards Ranma, who was still standing in a relaxed stance.

""Deathblow: RAIJIN!"" Grahf screamed as his hand blazed with energy.

Suddenly, the masked man felt his fist impact against flesh, and the unresponsive body he hit flew backwards into the cavern wall, decimating it and burying the body in it. Grahf stopped his momentum and goggled.  
Was that it? Had he overestimated his foe that he put off all of the stops in his attack, resulting in this unsatisfying finish? He brought his hand to his face, and saw it glowing blood red, cackling with the familiar energy that he claimed all those years ago.

""Ranma!"" Emeralda screamed and was about to run to him but an outstretched hand stopped her. Bart shook his head as he stared at her with pitying eyes, asking her to stop and just be the spectator in this fight. After staring back din a defying manner for a few moments,  
Emeralda slumped down and let her tears flow. She can't do anything! Her heart shattered when she saw Ranma getting hit. But why? Because she was afraid of retaliation from Grahf now that he has no foe left, and might turn against them? She knew they couldn't beat him even if Bart and Maria joined the fray, but it wasn't because of that. Her eyes widened as she felt her chest constrict, feeling her heart rate grow thrice the normal beats it used to have before. No, she wasn't afraid of retaliation. She was afraid Ranma was hurt badly. Yes, that was it! Her heart felt light when she thought of him. But now it was hurting.  
hurting for him...

All further thoughts went away when the debris burying Ranma exploded outwards. A loud crinkling sound of his bracers impacting against rock loudly echoed across the cavern. Grahf jumped back and stared at the rising figure with trepidation.

""I knew you wouldn't be that easy to defeat."" Grahf commented as he let his aura blossom once again, bathing the whole room with a red glow.  
""But this time I will finish you for sure.""

When the dust settled from the debris, it revealed Ranma standing up atop the haphazard rocks that littered the area. He absently brushed his torned tunic as he started walking towards Grahf once again. The masked man stifled a gasp when he finally got a good look at Ranma's face. His forehead was glowing silver as the trio of gems glared fiercely with silver light. His eyes were glowing gold against the background of blue-gray, which elicited a shiver from Grahf.

""That was a strong punch."" Ranma said as he grasped at his throbbing jaw. It was true... he was supposed to test Grahf's strength with that punch, and he was pleased to know that the man wasn't just bragging about his powers. His face slowly screwed into a grin. ""Now I can fight seriously.""

Grahf just responded by moving into a defensive stance. Ranma nodded understandingly as he flared his aura, his body glowing bright silver.

""Let's go."" Ranma said grimly as he disappeared from his position.

Grahf was caught flatfooted when Ranma's face suddenly materialized mere inches in front of his face. His fist automatically punched towards the face, but he was surprised when it met nothing but air. He quickly turned around and instinctively tilted his head sideways, barely avoiding the lightning fast fist that slid by his head. A slight sting on his cheek signified him getting hit, despite his early dodge, which made him wearier than normal. Grahf quickly pushed off the ground and took to the air to get some breathing room.

Imagine his shock when he saw Ranma keeping pace with him in the air. A well placed kick from him was dodged when the pigtailed boy twisted in an impossible angle that made Grahf wonder what the heck the kid was made of (if he only knew).

Emeralda and the others watched at the sidelines a bit further away from the conflict. She was elated when she saw Ranma reappear unharmed, but was a bit dismayed when the pigtailed boy decided to fight. Then that dismay turned into surprise when she saw Ranma fighting with Grahf toe-to-toe. And with Grahf having a hard time at that.

""W-Wow..."" Bart stammered as he locked his eyes on the battle. Beside him, Maria could only nod in agreement. They were trying hard to actually see the fight, but it was a bit too fast for their tastes. All they could see were blurs and stationary images that seemed to pop out every now and then at random places.

In the battle itself, Grahf was becoming irritated at the lack of results from his attacks. Every time he threw a punch, it was either deflected cleanly or dodged. It seemed to him that his blows didn't reach Ranma, and in return the pigtailed boy threw an occasional lazy punch or two without much further effort. It infuriated Grahf that Ranma didn't take the fight as seriously as he hoped. He suddenly had an idea.

Ranma sighed internally as he dodged a punch and kick combo from Grahf again, hanging unto the air longer than possible. He noticed a mistake in Grahf's fighting style, mainly because the man's battle aura was raging all the time as they were battling. Ranma learned a long time ago that wasting that much energy is futile. Also, it would seem that he was telegraphing all his moves if he had done it that way. When one's battle aura is raised all the time while fighting, power blows were easily seen by an experienced fighter's critical eye. It was like waving a lit flashlight all over a darkened room. Ranma used his aura in bursts,  
where he pushed his ki into his arm or another appropriate part of his body just when he was about to use it. In that manner, his blows would have the element of surprise, and that if his foe were experienced he would 'see' the blow a little too late. Unless his opponent was faster than him, Ranma's blow would land, or graze and cause damage nonetheless. Right now, Grahf's attacks were painfully obvious to Ranma,  
which saddened the pigtailed boy a bit. Ranma suddenly snapped into attention when he felt Grahf's power level rise up dramatically. Dodging a leg sweep that threatened to topple him over, Ranma jumped back and waited for whatever Grahf was up to.

The masked man grinned in his mask as he felt power course into his being. He suddenly glowed bright red as his energy was gathered all over his body. Jumping high up in the air, Grahf hung in there as he screamed, ""Hyper Deathblow: FUKEI!""

Ranma's eyes widened as he watched the floating form of Grahf flare up in red spectrum. His jaw dropped as well when he saw the masked man's hands glow brighter than the rest of his body. Grahf gripped something in his glowing hands, which turned out to be red balls of energy. Grahf started throwing red balls of energy towards Ranma, who was still rooted at his position. When Ranma saw the incoming projectiles of high level energy, he cursed to himself.

""Oh crap."" Ranma muttered to himself, his forehead flaring bright silver before he was enveloped in large explosions due to the attack Grahf made.

The peanut gallery fell silent in shock then grimaced as they watched Ranma being pummeled by multitudes of miniature red meteors that came from Grahf. The ground shook with the concussive force the violent explosions made as the energy balls impacted to the earth.

Grahf himself smirked as he fell down to the ground with a thud, landing in a crouching position. He was panting a bit after the exertion of energy he managed to throw into that special attack, though he can still throw it again once he recovered a bit after a few seconds of reprieve.  
His smirk melted into a scowl after the dust cleared. Out from the blast zone stood Ranma with his bracer decorated arms crossed out in front of his face, his clothes already in tatters, but alive. The obliterated clothes revealed a black flimsy suit that clung into Ranma's body. For some reason, it didn't have any scratches at all. Grahf suspected that the thin material possessed more resilience to damage than normal.

""Dammit! Grahf growled out angrily. ""Why don't you just lay down and die!""

Ranma lowered his still smoking arms and grinned. He didn't bother to put up his defense shield since he was testing his body's innate resistance to damage. So far, the results were astounding for him.  
Hearing Grahf's frustrated mumbling, he replied, ""That would be stupid.  
As long as I'm alive, I'm gonna keep on coming back to beat the hell out of you.""

Gritting his teeth, Grahf's aura flared once again as he dashed towards Ranma head-on, who didn't bother to move at all. ""Deathblow:  
RYUJIN!"" Grahf shouted out as he was in front of Ranma. His head flew forwards, catching the pigtailed boy in the head as well, which was followed by a wicked left uppercut.

Ranma felt pain on his jaw as he was carried by Grahf's punch upwards,  
which was followed by a sudden lower punch, then another right uppercut.  
While suspended in the air, Grahf held his hands close and delivered a double open-palm punch on Ranma's sternum, catapulting the boy to the stone wall. Once again, the area was rocked with a small quake as Ranma's body smashed into the wall.

Still, a figure remained standing barely inside the gaping hole on the wall.

Visibly angered, Grahf screamed bloody murder once again, launching himself foot first towards the staggering figure of Ranma. ""Hyper Deathblow: KOKEI!""

))WHAP!((

Grahf's eyes widened marginally when he felt Ranma's hand gripping his outstretched foot.

))CRACK!((

""Arrrgghhh!"" Grahf clutched at his broken ankle as he hobbled back from Ranma.

Ranma stepped out of the hole and slowly followed the handicapped Grahf.  
He shrugged off the clothing that barely hung on his frame. Looking at the masked man's cowering form, Ranma commented, ""You're really good.  
Too bad you relied on power way too much and became predictable"  
Seeing Grahf's questioning look, he continued, ""Those special attacks you threw at me were effective if you take your enemy by surprise. But once the pattern was discovered, it would be easy to dodge them. Your energy gathering took some time too, allowing me to get ready and counter your special moves.""

""Even if that was the case..."" Grahf said as he struggled to stand,  
""Why aren't you injured? What in the hells are you!""

""Wouldn't you like to know?"" Ranma asked amused. He frowned a bit and looked over Grahf's shoulder. His eyes widened as his jaw fell to the ground, still gazing at something behind Grahf.

Grahf wouldn't have any of it, believing it was only a ruse for him to look behind him and be taken by surprise. It was the oldest trick in the book, and he for one will not fall for it. Grahf growled as he quickly stepped backwards, intent on getting to his Gear and escape for a while.  
Live and fight another day, so they say in the old times. Ranma didn't go after him, so he felt his body relax after putting a considerable distance between him and that weird but powerful boy. He hadn't felt so mismatched in his whole life before, and the silent admittance of loss in this occasion sickened him. He turned around to jump up to the cockpit of his Gear, to recuperate and fight this boy one day once again. Grahf was about to jump when he froze on the spot.

There was nothing in front of them. Only a few wisps of dust that remained from the events earlier, other than that... wait. There was something at the cold rocky floor. It was some sort of an animal that was laying contentedly on the ground. It was content all right... and it seemed to be smiling as it lay there with its eyes closed.

Grahf could only gape at the sight. ""What the HELL!""

Ranma smacked his forehead with the palm of his right hand, muttering in his native language, "Dang... Rin-Ohki did it again. I admit she's hungry, but a whole robot?"

Oh yes! Grahf could only stare at the remains or lack thereof, of the formerly grand Alpha Weltall. So he only did the only thing he could do at the moment.

For the first time in years, at least voluntarily...

Grahf, the bane in Fei's existence, overall bad guy and general pain in the be-hind, fell face first into the ground, twitching once in a while as he contemplated on the darkness of the soil that met his face.

Yes, he facefaulted, and fainted.

Ranma sweatdropped as he watched Grahf's body fold up and fall down the ground without an ounce of grace. Hearing footfalls rapidly approaching behind him, Ranma turned and saw Emeralda, Maria and Bart running up to him.

""Ranma!"" Emeralda shouted with glee as she finally stopped a few feet before Ranma. Suddenly noticing Ranma's current lack of proper clothing,  
Emeralda's blushed as she instinctively brought her hands to her cheeks.  
Having thin black material wrapped tightly around Ranma's body left nothing to Emeralda's imagination, and she was a growing girl you know.

Ranma raised a hand awkwardly in a gesture of acknowledgement. ""Hey,  
Emeralda, Bart, Maria... what are you all still doing back here? I thought you'd be with Fei by now.""

Bart shook his head. ""We can't just leave you behind.""

Maria's eyes were glittering as she clasped her hands in front of her chest. ""That was so cool! How did you do all that!""

Ranma looked at her smugly. ""It is, isn't it? It's all in the training.""

Before anyone could comment any further, a rather semi-loud cackle echoed across the large cavern that was formerly the Golgoda. Bart and his companions looked around, in case a sudden attack was eminent.  
But Ranma just sighed and grabbed something from his pants, which miraculously survived the explosions.

It was a small white rectangular receiver that Washuu gave him before he went out and followed Elly into the Golgoda. The red-haired scientist figured they needed to keep in contact in each other for news on the other end.

(""How are you doing, Ranma-chan?"") It was Washuu's voice from the little receiver.

Ranma blinked and responded, ""Uhmmm... fine I guess. I just knocked out this weirdo guy in a mask or something... bad Darth Vader impersonation.  
Anyway, how's everything on your end?""

After a short bout of static, Washuu's voice came again, (""We saw some Gears coming out of the place you are in. After some time, Fei and the two others followed. They are in an underground place near the mountains up north. We just contacted them a few minutes ago, and right now they are in a battle with an old acquaintance of theirs. If you're finished there, go and follow them."")

""Understood."" Ranma replied, ""Oh, by the way Washuu-chan... Rin-Ohki just did something... weird.""

(""Define 'weird'."")

""Uhhmmm..."" Ranma scratched his head, ""She just ate this Gear, and I was wondering if it's a bad thing.""

Maria looked confused, but Emeralda gasped loudly at the implications.  
""So that's why Grahf fainted?""

Bart looked bewildered. ""I was wondering where that Gear went to...""

A rather long static that lasted for several moments came from the receiver. After some time, Washuu came back, (""Okaaaaay... you mean to tell me that Rin-Ohki just assimilated a Gear?"")

""Ah... yeah."" Ranma finished lamely. ""Well, I was busy at the time you know. So is it a bad thing?""

A snort was transmitted. (""Are you kidding? Rin-Ohki's so MARVELOUS! You just HAVE to let me examine her after we're done!"")

Ranma, Emeralda, Bart and Maria sweatdropped as they listened to Washuu's maniacal laugh.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the path to Merkava, Fei delivered the final blow into Ramsus'  
Gear. Ramsus stood stock still when his Gear froze, and finally fell into the wall, creating a passageway into a lab.

Weltall II walked into the hole and looked around. ""What's this"  
Fei asked in the comms as he examined the new area.

They enter a place where tubes and wirings were located. The mainframe computer was in passive mode, as if waiting for something to reawaken.  
Fei, Citan, Billy and Rico walked into the laboratory with caution.

""What is this place?"" Fei asked once again bewildered by the sight in front of him.

""This is where Kahr was born. And where his hatred of you was forged..."" A familiar voice echoed across the laboratory.

Fei tensed. ""Who's there!""

They continue on and reach a gigantic room. A large crucifix was in the middle front of the room, as Krelian and Miang stand in front of it. A gigantic organic orb like creature with multiple eyes was behind them.  
It was Deus.

""What in the... what's this...?"" Fei muttered as they went out of their Gears. Together with Citan and Rico, Fei trudged up to the strange orb in front of them.

""This is most bizarre."" Citan commented as he adjusted his glasses.  
His master, Cain, had never told him anything about this.

Fei turned to Krelian and growled out, ""Krelian!""

The man in question smiled slightly. ""I would have liked to have been able to commend you for making it here, but your efforts were all in vain. The resurrection of Deus is imminent. Sacrificing this girl will bring about the awakening of God.""

Fei instinctively glanced behind him, where Elly was resting as of the moment in his Gear. ""Who are you talking about? Why does Elly have to be sacrificed!""

Krelian shook his head. ""There's no need for you to know. For all of you, it will end here...""

Suddenly, a gigantic Gear with wings and a snake tail appears near Deus.  
It was the Omnigear seen in Solaris, and is piloted by Miang.

Fei gasped. ""Th-That Gear...!""

Rico was already running back to his Omnigear, closely followed by Citan and Billy. ""Fei! Get your ass back here so we can beat that thing"  
The mutant shouted as he entered his Gear. Fei could only nod as he turned and ran as fast as he could to his Gear... to Elly.

The battle was intense. Metal clashed with metal as Fei unleashed the ultimate attacks of Weltall II and his newly developed Id System. Rico held on Miang's Omnigear as Fei and Citan rain deadly blows right into its hide. Billy stood a bit further away, peppering Miang with blows from his Omnigear's guns. Eventually, Miang's Gear gave out and collapsed on the floor unmoving. Backing away, Fei and his friends breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the immobile Gear in front of them. But their impromptu celebration was interrupted by a loud ominous chuckle.

""My, aren't we powerful..."" Miang's voice emanated from the downed Gear. Fei and his companions were further horrified when the Omnigear stood up, seemingly undamaged from the onslaught of attacks from the three Gears.

Miang smirked inside her Omnigear. ""Heh... well then... let's start over from the beginning again. You think you can beat me this time?""

Fei slowly backed his Gear away. He glanced to the sleeping form on his lap, his resolve to protect her shone forth. ""What the...! I thought I defeated you...!""

Krelian's loud belly laughter echoed all over the area. ""Unless you can decompose her atomic structure, you don't stand much of a chance. Normal attacks are futile against the one who has the ability to regenerate using nanomachines.""

Miang stopped smiling as her face turned stoic. ""Now, the time has come for the great awakening!""

A sudden flash of light erupted from Deus.

Rico grunted as he felt his Gear power down. ""Urrghh! What happened!  
Why can't I move!""

Billy blanched as his controls froze. ""It is our... Omnigears!""

Fei looked at his struggling friends and said, ""Damn, what's going on?  
Huh! Hey... is that...!""

A pale shadow of the Omnigears detached itself from the Gears. The ghostly images slowly went up to Deus, who sucked up all the Anima Relics.

Fei was horrified. ""Our Omnigears...? No, that's not it! Is that.  
our Anima Relics!""

Citan slammed his hands into the controls as the Gear went silent. ""Is it trying to detach the Anima Relics from our Omnigears!""

Fei gulped as he stared at the grotesque being in front of them. ""Deus is... swallowing up our Anima Relics?""

Citan nodded in his Gear. ""... It seems the Anima Relics have fallen into the hands of the enemy.""

Miang smiled. ""This is the true meaning of the 'Anima Relics'. To attain their respective 'Animus' and return to the persona. The Anima Relics are really one set of parts that make up 'Deus', the physical manifestation of god. They regain their original powers or functions by aligning themselves with their destined partner. An Omnigear that has lost its respective Anima Relic, is but a puppet. It becomes a mere vessel or container in which there is no contents.""

Krelian looked up to Weltall II. ""And that girl in your possession too was destined to become one with god. You see... Lieutenant Elhaym was really one of the parts of god as well...""

Fei sputtered, clutching at Elly's sleeping form tighter. He knew they were helpless now that they are immobile. ""What the hell are you talking about!""

""To put it simply, you served to help bring all the parts of god together, here, for me. You're a bunch of stupid fools. It's as if you're all clowns..."" Krelian grinned.

Miang continued, ""You believed the legend of how our world and the universe was created. But the Ministry and I fabricated that very myth a long time ago to suit our purposes.""

Fei shook his head vehemently, shouting, ""That's a lie! How can that be true...!""

Miang shrugged. ""I think you'll find that your friends' Omnigears are all dead too. I'm talking about your friends who split up and took a different path than you when you followed Krelian and I in this place.  
Grahf should've already destroyed them by now. They were all parts of god that were disassembled in the past, but once again, are all gathered here.""

Krelian nodded. ""Yes. It is indeed time for the resurrection of god. We shall now claim the girl, Elhaym, to complete the ceremony."" Krelian gestured to his highest leveled troops to converge on the Weltall II,  
but before anyone could move, a loud but defeated voice interrupted the proceedings.

""W-What was it all for...? Everything that I have done up until now..."" a sullen Ramsus appeared and slowly stepped up to Miang.

Fei gaped, remembering that Ramsus' Gear fell destroyed only minutes before. ""Ramsus!""

Krelian snorted. ""Hmph. It's just you...""

Miang on the other hand looked cooly at Ramsus. ""What are you doing here, Kahr?""

Ramsus looked up, his dark red eyes misted with unshed tears. ""What about me...? My existence... what was its purpose?""

Miang crossed her arms across her chest, smiling cruelly at him. ""There was only one purpose to your existence, and that is to eliminate Emperor Cain. Cain's will had become too much like that of humans'. He was too concerned about them. He had forgotten his mission to revive god. That is why you were created. You were only made to remove our main hindrance, which was Cain. But as the original living being, Cain had absolute power. To make you turn on Cain, it was necessary to focus your mind on a single point. However, being an artificial lifeform, you were mentally unstable. That is why... we used Fei's existence. Resentment.  
that is the source of your strength. And you have excelled superbly at fulfilling our expectations of you. But... we no longer have any more use for you. Haven't you realized that yet? You're a piece of trash. And being the reject you are, why don't you just leave? Hahahahahahahaha!""

Ramsus fell down to his knees, unable to cope with the realization.  
""I... I... What was I born for? What was I living for?""

Krelian walked up to Miang's side. ""A pathetic excuse for a life. Why,  
you're not even human! Hahahahahaha...!""

Miang tapped her chin with her index finger thoughtfully. ""Now, what to do with the lot of you... well, I can't just kill you all... seeing as you have served me so well. So, as a reward, I'll allow you to be assimilated into Deus along with the girl...""

Her ranting was stopped when suddenly, Ramsus pulled out his sword from his sheath and ran Miang through with it. Miang's body slumped into Ramsus' as he pushed the sword deeper.

Miang eyes widened as her mouth spurted blood. ""Uhhhh..."" she moaned as her bloody body fell to the ground.

Miang's eyes dilated as she struggled in each breath she took. ""G-Good.  
T-This is how I wanted it, Kahr... I-I am fated so as not to be able to kill myself... Now ...all ...my ...wishes... have... come... true.  
Thanks... to ... you...!"" With a last shuddering breath, she lay on the ground, unmoving.

Ramsus looked down on the body sadly. ""Miang..."" he said softly.  
Ramsus face screwed into an angry snarl and turned to Krelian in anger.

Ramsus ran up to Krelian and using his sword swiped at Krelian's chest.  
Krelian's body fell to the ground with a muted thump. Ramsus walked up to Miang's body. He knelt and started crying over her body.

It was during this time when Ranma with Rin-Ohki on his head, Bart and the others showed up.

Bart huffed as he ran to the grounded Weltall. ""Fei, sorry we're late.  
Our Omnigears broke down. Anyway, let's hurry up and... what the hell happened?"" he almost shouted as he stared at the bloody bodies in front of him. Ranma stood on one side beside Emeralda and Maria, partly shielding them from the dastardly scene in front of them.

Everyone fell silent as they watched the scene, with Ramsus crying over Miang's dead body, and also Krelian's own body. Ranma stiffened as he felt something ominous brush up against his senses. He also thought he heard some shrill laughter against the wind, which made him doubly wary.  
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the evil feeling, and felt the waves of energy all around him. His theory was proven when another spike of the same ominous energy flickered inside Weltall's cockpit. Opening his eyes, his head snapped towards Fei's Gear, narrowing them to slits.  
A sudden flash on intuition caught Ranma's mind in surprise. There were only two people inside the cockpit, Fei and Elly. Fei's signature was still stable and the same, while Elly's was...

""Fei! Get the hell away from Elly, NOW!"" Ranma bellowed loudly,  
causing Bart, Maria and Emeralda to jump slightly in surprise.

Weltall II's chest area opened to reveal Fei, who was cradling Elly in his arms. Looking at Ranma, he asked, ""Why? What's wrong with Elly"  
Fei leapt down from the cockpit and landed lightly on his feet, still holding Elly tightly into his body. Bart, Rico and Citan also appeared from the empty husks of their own Omnigears, walking up to Fei and staring at Ranma questionably.

Ranma shook his head. ""I dunno. I feel something weird about her aura.  
It would be best if you listen to me and drop her somewhere.""

Fei looked lovingly at the woman in his arms. ""I don't see anything wrong. She's just unconscious... maybe you're wrong...""

As he was speaking, Elly suddenly opened her eyes and squirmed away from his embrace, darting towards Billy who was frozen in surprise. Taking advantage of the young man's immobile state, Elly grabbed a gun from Billy's holster and trained it to Fei. Without hesitation, she fired a shot, dropping Fei to the ground with a thud. Her face screwed in a scowl as her hair slowly turned from red to blue. She slowly stepped away from the scene, impassively watching on.

Behind them, all the eyes on the form that was Deus opened simultaneously.

""Aaahhh!"" Fei gasped as he felt his blood trickle from the wound in his abdomen.

Citan quickly made his way to the downed martial artist. ""Fei! Now you hang in there!""

Billy looked at Elly in horror. ""S-She took my gun...!""

Bart quickly reached to his whip on his belt. Sneering at Elly, he drawled out, ""W-Why did you do that, Elly...?""

Citan looked up from Fei, glaring at the formerly red-haired girl,  
""Elly! What happened to you! How could you!""

Ranma gritted his teeth as he pulled Maria and Emeralda to his back. ""I knew it..."" he muttered. When Emeralda looked at him wide-eyed, he nodded and continued, ""I felt something was off in her aura. I know Elly's aura because I've been with her before, and it changed when she was in Fei's arms. I was just too late in pointing it out. And there's one other aura here that seemed to be off as well...""

""Finally, it has been fulfilled."" Krelian suddenly said. He seemed to be dead before, but that wasn't the case when he got up unharmed.  
Testing his body, he commented, ""The majority of my body is comprised of a nanomachine colony. Not only for longevity... but also to unify with the 'mother'... so don't be surprised. This kind of damage can be repaired rather quickly.""

Citan looked at Krelian in askance. ""Unify with the mother...?""

Pointing to Elly, Krelian said, ""That girl... Elhaym is our mother.""

Elly nodded, as if in a trance. ""Yes. I am the mother of all humans...""

Fei struggled to look up. ""Elly...!""

""What are you babbling on about! Snap out of it, Elly!"" Bart said desperately, trying to salvage the situation somehow.

Elly smiled enigmatically. ""You're as dense as usual... But, I don't blame you... So be it. I will explain to you all about it. This Deus,  
the one you call god, is an 'interplanetary invasion system' that was built in ancient times by humans from our original planet, Earth. The core of the whole system was part of what was formerly known as the Evangelion Project, part of what the first angel Adam used to be. It was said that this piece of the angel that fell from the skies all those millennia ago was part of God. This small piece that contained a vast amount of power was then recreated as an automatic weapon which could act upon its own will to take control of a targeted planet. However,  
during a test run, Deus became uncontrollable. It released its power and annihilated a whole planet. The creators, rather, developers of the weapon called 'Deus' found its immeasurable power to be too much of a threat and hence forcibly shut it down. Someone took the liberty of hatching a perfect plan to take away the core and throw it into space,  
trying to buy some time to analyze the cause of the problem. Its core was dismantled and placed on an inter-planetary emigrant passenger ship to be transported to another planet. However, as the colony ship went on its journey without the knowledge of what really was in their hands, the core became aware of everything, so the disassembled Deus resisted and tried to reinstate its survival and existence. It tried to take over the passenger ship that was transporting it. However, as a last line of defense against the escape of Deus, the ship's captain unexpectedly destroyed the whole ship, sending it crashing to this planet. Deus knew that it would not be able to get away from the explosion or the imminent impact and so it detached itself from the 'Zohar' power reactor.""

""Zohar...?"" Fei asked softly, but it was heard by Elly.

""Yes, 'Zohar'... It is what drives all of the Gears on this planet. It is the master generator that transmits its energy to the slave generators in our Gears. It is also the source of all the Ether power that the inhabitants of this planet utilize. By utilizing the energy displacements caused by actualizing potential future phenomenon... this 'Zohar Modifier' has the ability to produce infinite amounts of energy.  
But its original name was..."" Elly was interrupted when Ranma spoke.

""It was called Paeksis Plagma."" Ranma said grimly.

Elly looked at Ranma thoughtfully. ""Yes... amazingly you knew about that. How did you know about that, mortal?""

Ranma just shakes his head in dismay.

""The source of all our Ether power!"" Bart asked incredulously.

Citan asked, ""Are you saying all our energy comes from that one power reactor or engine?""

Elly turned away from Ranma and nodded. ""Yes, but there is more. The core that was detached from Zohar, the 'Biological Computer Kadomony'  
crashed onto this primitive planet. It activated 'Persona', its life support plant, that can generate organic material. Using this it would be resurrected. Thus, the first humans were created from there.  
Emperor Cain and the elders of the Gazel Ministry.""

Rico said angrily, ""Are you saying the Emperor and them Gazel geezers were people born from Deus!""

Elly looked unperturbed. ""Do you know why the Gazel Ministry desired the Anima Relics and your bodies? Well, here's the reason... before becoming human, the bodies of the Ministry were once part of the organic elements in the core circuit that made up 'Deus'. There were two types of organic elements. The female type was called 'Anima', while the male type was called 'Animus'. They were also created with the added ability to become mobile weapons for Deus. In other words, those Omnigears you were using were one form of such weapons. The Ministry, which were Animus, were to become one again with their separated Anima at the time of the resurrection of god. But in a war, 500 years ago, they all lost their physical bodies. It was then that they decided to extract their own genetic factor from certain individuals of their human descendants who carried the appropriate sets of DNA. All so each of them could become one with their respective Animus again.""

""Descendants...?"" A hesitant voice makes everyone turn to Maria, who was hiding behind Ranma. She squeaked silently when she realized everyone was looking at her.

Bart shook his head in denial. ""Then we're all...!""

Elly smirked. ""Yes, you humans are all descendants of Cain and the Gazel Ministry. They were born from the 'Persona', gave birth, and propagated. They followed their in-built program to someday resurrect the heavily damaged Deus.""

Citan was disturbed about the revelation. ""All the people in the worlds were created solely to resurrect Deus!"" he asked unbelievingly.

Elly nodded. ""Yes. But it wasn't just to restore its old body. More than half of Deus is constructed of biological parts. Do you remember those mutated humans? Those are all people who were destined to become replacement parts for Deus.""

Billy fell to his knees in despair. ""We humans are... parts for god...""

Elly shrugged nonchalantly. ""Yes, almost all the people are destined to become parts for Deus. But you people gathered here are all different.  
You could say... you escaped that destiny by existing through multiple generations. In actuality, there weren't enough parts for Deus. But,  
Krelian compensated for what was lacking. The reduction in the number of parts was due to humans living through multiple generations. But that deficiency in the human factor, was made up for by the nanomachines created by Krelian. Not only that, but his nanomachines added additional functions. Deus has evolved into the ultimate weapon.""

Fei clutched at his open wound, staring at the scene in horror.  
""Elly... what has happened...? Why... do you know all... that...?""

Elly gestured to herself. ""I am Miang. The keeper of time… the representative of our god 'Deus'. I was born to guide the people toward the path of the resurrection of Deus.""

""That's ridiculous! Miang was just..."" Bart spat out, looking over at Ramsus, who was ignoring everything, just clutching at the dead body of the other Miang.

Elly snorted, flipping some stray strands of blue hair that was on her face. ""You're limited in your ability to understand. Miang's factor exists in all women. The one who transcends the generations, the caretaker of humans. When the previous one dies, somewhere another Miang is awakened. It is programmed into all women's DNA to be that way. Who inherits the duty is just a matter of probability, Fei. That Miang over there and I are the same existence. We are all parts for Deus... all caretakers of humans. Let's end this discussion now. Deus has been awakened. I am one of the parts that compose Deus. Hence, I must become one with it.""

Citan carefully placed Fei down, standing up to address the girl.  
""Elly! Why did it have to be you? If Miang is a part for Deus, why did it not happen earlier...?""

Krelian replied, ""It's still not enough for her to just have awakened.  
Although she may be Miang, she still isn't the 'true Miang'.""

""The 'true Miang'...?"" Citan boggled at the thought.

Elly turned to go. Looking over her shoulder, she beckoned to Krelian.  
""Let's go, Krelian. All that is left is to vanquish this planet's civilization and return it to how it was. Then I can complete my unification with the final fragment of Deus. The 'Zohar Modifier'... the power reactor that fell upon this planet and became our genesis, and now, our Apocalypse...""

Citan shook his head in defiance. ""The eradication of civilization!  
What is the purpose of doing that!""

Elly shrugged in indifference. ""Who knows...? The creations of god will someday be a hindrance. That is why they must be eliminated. I am just programmed to act in this way.""

Krelian started to walk towards Deus. Before he could enter, he turned and called out to Elly. ""Come... It is time for the awakening of the 'true mother'.""

Fei raised his hand in an attempt to reach out to the departing Elly.  
""Please... wait... Elly!""

Without turning, Elly spoke coldly, ""Farewell... Fei. May you have a peaceful awakening..."" She followed Krelian, who was about to enter the massive form of Deus when a loud booming voice stopped them.

""Do you really think it would be that easy, to just walk away just like that?""

Elly and Krelian turned to regard Ranma, who was walking towards them in slow, but sure strides. Rin-Ohki was seen floating in the air towards Emeralda, who took her gladly in her waiting arms.

""God... revival... Deus... who the hell do you think you are, trying to control everyone's paths, without giving them anything to think about?  
Are you all selfish to think that it was all for the 'good of all that is living'? Who the hell are you to decide what happens to everything!"" Ranma growled out as he clenched his fists in anger. His eyeglasses were long gone, replaced by the cold blue-gray form of his eyes, that was centered with the currently glowing golden pupils that speared the duo into place. The gemstones on his forehead were shining silver, unnoticed by Ranma himself though.

Stepping away from the platform, Elly resisted the shiver that threatened to overtake her body as she stared at the slightly glowing Ranma. Her eyes avoided contact with Ranma's though. ""We are parts of god, we owe it to him that we are living in this world. We are just returning the favor to him.""

Ranma snorted, but in his state it was more of a snarl than a soft snort. ""FAVOR! If that's what this is all about, then that 'god' you are so anxious in serving is a fake! Besides, a god created by mortals was never a god in the first place! You said so yourself... Deus was manufactured by those on Earth. Besides, don't you have dreams and ideals? Aside from being skin and bones to the one you call god!""

""It doesn't matter what we want."" Krelian said impassively. ""We owe our existence to our god, Deus...""

Ranma shook his head. ""It's so easy making that excuse. To just run away from life like that... and I think it's a load of crap. You obviously have something more in your sleeve, since it should have been your nanomachines that finished the job. Instead, you take Elly in there? Am I the only one who finds this odd?"" Pointing to Elly, he continued, ""Besides, what that woman says right now isn't what she really wants. That thing that's using Elly's mouth is only a preprogrammed thing that used her body, a parasite to a living host.  
Something that should've died a long time ago, but can't let go of the past, isn't that right?""

As silence met his question, Ranma grew steadily angry, not noticing the shining silver orbs on his forehead flashing angrily. The lights were responding in sync with his heartbeat. ""All my life, I was into situations where I have no control over. My childhood, my martial arts training, the training trip, my curse, the seppuku contract, my enemies,  
my fiancees... damnit! I hate it when people tell me what to do! I hate it when I don't have control! I hate it when people use the convenient excuse of, 'It's for your own good'! Damnit!"" he screamed out loud as his tail lashed against the ground behind him, forming a small trench of broken rocks.

""Ranma..."" Emeralda whispered as she reached out to him, but stopped herself when she saw Ranma slump forward bonelessly. It was as if he was a marionette that had his strings cut.

Meanwhile, Elly and Krelian looked on in amusement.

""What a pitiful young man."" Elly purred as she pulled out a gun, the same one she swiped from Billy and used to shoot Fei with.

Emeralda was horrified. ""No, stop it! Elly... please stop..."" the dark-skinned young woman pled as she tried to go to Ranma, but was stopped when Rico and Billy held her shoulders. Shooting them a wild look, Emeralda all but screamed, ""Let me go! She will kill him!""

""Stop it, Emeralda!"" Billy said in exasperation, tightening his hold on the girl. ""We can't let anything happen to you! They might suddenly fancy taking you and use you to complete Deus!"" he reasoned out.

Emeralda was about to reply when a lone gunshot went off.

Emeralda's piercing scream echoed all over the Merkava.

Everything stopped at that instant.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere, some-'when'...

Ranma felt himself falling into a deep abyss. The only visible thing to him was his own body. The rest was a complete darkness that for some reason didn't seem to be all that uncomfortable. In fact, the darkness hugged him snugly, and warmth flowed into his body as he floated there.

"Back in the darkness... again." Ranma muttered. His musings were rudely interrupted by the sound of someone chuckling.

"Yes... the Darkness always called unto you, isn't it, Ranma?"

Ranma's senses immediately went into high alert as he tried to find the source of the voice. He found out afterwards that his senses were dulled by something in the mist of darkness. Grunting a bit, he turned a wary eye into the darkness and spoke, "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Geez... always the impatient one." A dry voice suddenly piped beside him, making Ranma jump back a bit in surprise. Scowling, he took in the newcomer's features, and was surprised when he was a familiar looking one. Okay, scratch that... VERY familiar one.

The figure was definitely male, wearing a silver body-clinging suit that contrasted somehow Ranma's own black bodysuit. His face was like Ranma's, but had an older and wiser feature in it. His hair was done in a pigtail as well, and his eyes were black without any signs of pupils in them. He was sitting beside Ranma with his knees raised up to his chin, as he looked over at the dark abyss in front of them.

"I think you want to know who I am, right?" The man smiled at Ranma warmly, slowly weathering the guarded look on Ranma's face.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, that... and also, where the heck am I?"

The man smirked. "Quite eloquent of you, but you've learned in such a short time. I know this, because I've been watching you, kiddo." Looking back to the darkness, he continued, "Well, to your questions... my name is actually not really a name. You see, I had no actual name... only a nickname. Something those people around me before called me just to identify me from the others. Well, if that's what you are asking about,  
then you can call me Chaos. Yes, Ranma... Chaos as in those weird uncontrollable things that happen to people whenever and where-ever."

"Chaos?" Ranma parroted.

'Chaos' nodded. "Yes. You must understand, Chaos is actually not evil,  
unlike most beings in the universe wanted themselves to believe. It is an unknown potential in every living being that kept the unpredictability of things present. Chaos is the Ultimate Balance of everything that exists, and also of those that doesn't exist."

Ranma finally recovered. "Okaaaay... Chaos... right. So... what does this have to do with me?"

Chaos snorted. "'What does this have to do with me' he asks, well to tell you frankly, Everything. Tell me something, kiddo, do you believe in something called Reincarnation?"

Ranma's face turned confused. "Well... yeah, I mean... it could be possible but..."

"Well, it happens, whether you believe it or not." Chaos retorted calmly, "It just happens to people who are important, or rather have important Fates or Destinies ahead of them. Do you really believe I'm here right now?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at Chaos. "I'm talking to you now right? I'm not crazy or anything..."

"Of course you're not crazy." Chaos scoffed, "But I don't really exist anymore. I'm just part of an old memory lingering in your soul. You see,  
you are my Reincarnation, kiddo."

"WHAT!" Ranma was outraged. "You mean to tell me that I'm some sort of a shadow for some old guy that lived---"

"Whoa there, fella." Chaos put his hand on Ranma's shoulder, effectively stopping the other boy's ranting. "You're not a shadow of mine, rather,  
it's the other way around. I'm the shadow around here... I'm your shadow."

Ranma visibly calmed down. "Oh... so... what are you doing here then?  
And where is 'here'?"

Chaos gestured all around him. "This... is somewhere in your soul. You lost control of your powers, not at all your fault, rather it was the fault of your inexperience to deal with them. You were pulled here because it is time for you to know some truths about who you are. And as to what I'm doing here, I'm the messenger, no matter how vague the information may be. I'm going to try and explain things to you as much as I can."

Clearing his throat, Chaos continued, "Well, first of all,  
congratulations! You're Chaos' reincarnation. What's so great about it?  
Chaos is one of the Big Three, was among the first beings ever born out of the Darkness of the Universe. I, along with the other two, was called the Trinity of Powers. There was me, Chaos, then Order, and lastly,  
Nightmare."

Shaking his head, Chaos went on, "The Darkness, that was what we called it, was actually the first Existence. It eventually gained sentience,  
then later spawned out the Ancient Gods so that it may have supervisors in the development of the Universe. But those Ancient Gods, dubbed Titans by the way, became too greedy and nonchalant in their own devices. The Darkness sensed the shift in the balance and used every power it had to create three individuals that bore likeness to its own access to Creation. One was Order, who supervised Creation itself, while Nightmare stood in the shadows, shifting once in a while into Order to stir things. But out of all of them, Chaos took the weirdest path, since it resembled the Darkness the most. It kept the balance going for everything, constantly going as an in-between when Order or Nightmare grew too rowdy. There was also something different in Chaos, since he chose to go and live with Creation, rather than supervising it. This was the birth of the Chaos Incarnates."

"Not long after balance was almost restored, another war broke out. It was between the elder Ancient Gods, against the newly spawned Trinity of Powers. I will not bore you with the details, but in the end, I sacrificed my existence to trap the Ancient Gods in the first ever created planet in the Universe. It was named Alpha Prime Point of Existence, which incidentally was the planet created by the Ancient Gods themselves. I used my ultimate magic, the Chaotic Disruption. It created a black hole that caught the Ancient Gods and trapped them inside it,  
forming a divine shield around their prison. I ceased to exist at that time, but somehow Order and Nightmare collected my essence and put them into crystalline form." Chaos sighed as he paused in his story.

"So..." Ranma commented, "These stones on my forehead..."

Chaos shook his head. "No... those are not part of who I was. Those gems are a mark of your true nature. Gods and Goddesses, even Demons and Demonesses, have their own marks. I can't tell you what yours are. Now don't look at me like that, it's because I really CAN'T." Sighing softly, Chaos looked at Ranma thoughtfully, "My crystals are in your body... imbedded since birth by Order himself, rather, he goes by the name of Kami-sama now I think. At least, that's what my last memories of him were."

Ranma gaped. "K-K-Kami-sama!"

Chaos smiled. "Yes. But his actual name, the name he adopted before I ceased to exist, was really Deus."

As sudden as his surprise that vanished, a scowl appeared on Ranma's face. "Deus? You mean..."

"Oh, not THAT Deus." Chaos chuckled, but then sobered almost as quick,  
"Well, actually it is... somewhat. I mean, it was a coincidence they named that interplanetary weapon 'Deus' of all things, since it was made from that piece of the divine being that fell into Earth years ago. That Angel, in fact most of the Divine Beings, were actually part of Deus in the big picture. So, in essence, this Deus is the actual Deus anyway,  
although in only a small part."

"I... I see... I think." Ranma said after scratching his head. "Now.  
about those crystal thingies you told me about..."

Chaos shrugged. "Nothing much to say actually. Just that you will gain access to them slowly as you go on training your powers. Don't worry too much about it for now."

Ranma nodded, saying, "Hai." He fell into silence afterwards. After a few moment of blissful peace, he voiced out once again, "Chaos, huh? Not only am I chaos incarnate, but I'm Chaos itself."

"Yes. That's about the gist of everything." Chaos grinned at Ranma, who smiled tentatively in return.

"That explains a lot of things, you know." Ranma sighed as he continued,  
"I mean, no matter how much work I put into fixing everything, most of the times it screws up into more trouble. But that's lessening lately."

Chaos patted Ranma's back lightly. "That's right. It's because of your awakening powers."

Ranma looked at Chaos curiously. "Tell me, what will happen once it happens? What's in store for my future?"

Chaos froze, thinking of a way to answer the loaded question. Mentally patting himself on the head when he found a suitable response, he replied, "Though I can't tell you much about it, one thing is clear. The future is what you make it, so it is really up to you. Chaos in itself is like that, and it is never tied down by anything. Some beings in power might be attracted to you, and some might be afraid of you and start to attack you. But take heart, you WILL get through them all, in your own way. Oh, and a lot of women will be attracted to you, well, no change in that actually... since you've always been a female magnet for some weird reason."

Chaos stiffened, feeling the strains of reality reasserting itself into Ranma's mind. Turning to Ranma, he said, "It is time. You will wake up soon."

"What?" Ranma asked in a confused manner. "What do you mean? What will happen to you?"

"I will disappear." Chaos shrugged, noticing Ranma horrified look, "I don't even exist. I AM you, and you ARE me. I'm just a fleeting memory that finally finished what it's supposed to do, reawaken part of your memories of the past, as well as give you the control you were deprived since you were born." Grasping Ranma's shoulders, Chaos looked into Ranma's eyes seriously, saying, "You are Chaos reincarnated. You have no Fate or Destiny, since it is you who will make them. The path you choose affects everyone around you. Just remember to choose whatever you think is right. Never take orders from anyone... take charge of your own life." Looking up to the flickering dark horizon, Chaos continued, "I will vanish soon... and I still haven't explained your powers as well as the magic. I know you though, you would train yourself until you take control of it. Use the ultimate magic only when necessary. But I know you already knew that, since you ARE me. When you wake up, you will find various universal information suddenly crammed inside your head,  
courtesy of our past life. You will also find that you are able to understand most concepts about anything, yet still clueless about some things. Which things are those, I have no idea."

Turning away from Ranma, Chaos faced the abyss, his body slowly fading into mists of darkness. Without facing Ranma, he said, "One last parting advice. Try not to choose any sides in war... only choose your own.  
That's what we did before, because Chaos is the balance keeper. Oh, and also... you CAN have as many wives as you want... just make sure you love them all. Don't feel guilty about it..."

"Wait!" Ranma reached out to Chaos, but his hands passed through the already translucent body. Chaos finally turned and gave Ranma a warm smile.

"We never really changed, haven't we? We are still the same cocky and extremely clueless jerk who would give their lives at the whim of a losing battle just to win and protect their friends." Chaos gave a hearty chuckle as his body vanished, leaving only the sounds of his fading laughter.

Ranma choked back the tears as he gazed sadly on his other self's fading form. When he was alone, he fell to his knees and wept silently. He didn't notice the world he was into right now slowly dissolve in molts of light. He didn't notice that he slowly vanished, the gems on his forehead slowly changing colors as he did.

Silver... Black... Gold...

The three gems flared once in those colors before he completely disappeared in that plane of his spirit, never to return ever again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Merkava...

Everyone was blinking at the sight of Ranma's body floating horizontally in midair without any support whatsoever. The fact that it was also glowing bright silver didn't escape their attention as well.

""Now what!"" Bart asked in frustration as he pulled his whip all the way from its holster.

It was a few minutes after Elhaym, who had turned into Miang, fired a shot from the gun she grabbed from Billy. Emeralda screamed in terror as she watched helplessly while the bullet sped towards the immobile form of Ranma, who just collapsed all of the sudden by then. Imagine their surprise when a red bubble of energy flickered just inches of Ranma's body, but it was enough to deflect the errant lead bullet effortlessly.  
The bullet bounced off the red film and was ejected to the stone walls,  
ricocheting all over the place. Ranma didn't even stir after that.

Elly's face screwed up in shock before turning into a menacing scowl.  
She fired the gun's full load on Ranma, but all the bullets just bounced off the shield that Ranma somehow erected on his body while he was unconscious. Elly angrily threw the gun away when the magazine was exhausted.

""Damn this mortal! Who is he!"" Elly snarled as she glared at the pigtailed boy. Turning to Krelian, who was at a loss of what to say, she growled out, ""Krelian! Do you know about this? Are you certain he will not be a threat!""

Krelian was frantically shaking his head, eyeing Ranma wildly. ""I... I have no idea who he is! He just appeared out of nowhere... back in the Golgoda. I thought I had Grahf taken care of him!""

""Grahf?"" Elly and Krelian turned to Bart, who was smirking nervously.  
""W-Well... speaking of Grahf, he's outside, still unconscious. Ranma beat him rather easily, but the real clincher was that Grahf's Gear has just been eaten by this creature over here."" he said, pointing to the silver furred animal in Emeralda's arms.

"Miyah? Miyah-miyah-miyah!" Rin-Ohki snorted as she sniffed at Elly's gaze irritably. So what if she did consume that delectable robot within fifteen minutes? It was delicious, and it was of the enemy's.

Elly and Krelian adopted a look of surprise. ""That thing ate Grahf's special Gear, the Alpha Weltall?"" Krelian asked softly.

A low moan interrupted their conversation, making them look at where Ranma was floating a few moments ago. He was now sitting on the ground,  
his eerie eyes blinking owlishly as he tried to restart his brain. A slight sheen of silver glow still remained on his skin. His forehead however was sporting a new feature... where before only silver gems flashed in there, now there was a gold gem, a black gem, and a silver gem. They were still arranged in an inverted triangle on his forehead,  
with the silver gem in the middle bottom of the group. On the upper left was the golden gem, while on the other side was the black gem. They were all shining softly with their respective colors, pulsing together with Ranma's silver aura.

""Crap... what a rush."" Ranma muttered as he clutched at his head lightly, trying to relieve the slight burning pain that came from the sudden barrage of information.

Ranma's blue eyes and golden pupils locked gazes with Elly. He narrowed his eyes as he discovered something about the woman's aura. There were two distinct fields present in Elly right now, one was shining brighter than the other. In fact, the other was almost snuffed out because of the larger aura, which seemed to eat on Elly's spirit.

""You're not Elly."" Ranma said calmly as he stood up slowly, his gaze still not straying from Elly.

Elly shook of her concerns from before, and crossed her arms across her chest. ""What of it?""

Ranma smiled sadly. ""Something you did made you dominant. You're like a virus that's slowly spreading all over her body. The real Elly is still inside, trying to fight in hopes to reclaim her body once again. But you're too strong right now.""

The red hair turned blue haired woman just shrugged in reply. ""Oh, gee.  
You found me out. What now?"" she said sarcastically.

Ranma's soft smile turned to a full-blown smirk. ""Well, for one thing... I know of a scientist friend that could easily remove your influence in that female body. Since this 'Deus' programmed all women in this world to turn into you one way or another, it would be child's play for her to remove the influence your personality has on that woman's DNA. And besides, it will give Washuu something to do."" he grumbled the last part softly.

Elly visibly stiffened at the remark. ""You lie."" she hissed, spooling her emotions once more to hide the familiar feeling of uneasiness in her body.

Ranma sniffed disdainfully as he took on a stance without following a fixed form. ""You know I'm telling the truth. You've already met Washuu,  
and you know she could do it.""

Krelian looked at Ranma in utter disbelief because of the pigtailed boy's audacity to go against him. He had this set-up a long time ago,  
but he did not foresee Ranma's coming, which had put a major wrench in his carefully laid plans to create a god. ""Why?"" he asked after a moment of contemplation of what to say, ""Why do you go against god?  
Surely, you would feel fulfilled when you realize you were the ones responsible for our god's revival. Why do you go against fate?"

Upon hearing the word 'Fate', the gems on Ranma's forehead flashed angrily in response, surprising everyone in the area. ""Fate!"" Ranma shouted angrily as he made a cutting motion in the wind. Emeralda looked bewildered at the sight of Ranma glowing fiercely against the soft light of the laboratory, but somehow instead of being scared she was actually attracted to it. Her insides were reacting quite differently against Ranma's aura. The others covered their eyes in a vain attempt to shield themselves from the glare.

((What is this... power?)) Elly gaped at the intense energies pouring out of the pigtailed boy, who was covered in bright silver light once again.  
Behind her, Deus was reacting strangely to the power as well. It was as if Deus was actually wary of the energy.

When the light died down, Ranma's hair had gone from black to blood red.  
Everyone just looked confused as to why Ranma's hair transformed.

Before anyone could utter a word, Ranma's form dematerialized from where he stood, making the others jump back in nervousness. They looked around frantically, trying to spot the missing martial artist. A loud shout of pain caused them to look at the source, and saw Elly slumped on Ranma's arm, unconscious. Beside him, Krelian was standing like an idiot. Citan looked visibly shaken, since he never knew anyone could move so fast.  
Grahf and Fei often left afterimages when they move fast, but this boy just up and disappeared from sight. It was a different matter for the currently wounded Fei though. Even with his condition he should've felt anything out of the ordinary around them. That's why he knew if danger came close to them, because of his danger sense. He knew Ranma could read power spikes, but he only realized how sensitive Ranma was just now. The fact that the pigtailed boy was able to detect the faint anomaly on Elly's spirit long before he could proves how skilled Ranma was. And the way he disappeared... Fei knew it wasn't just moving fast.  
He already experienced vanishing acts from various people, like Grahf for example. But usually before Grahf disappears, the masked man would use ki to dematerialize his form and transport it somewhere. But with Ranma, the boy just vanished. No power build-ups, no ki application.  
so Fei was sure Ranma beat him hands down in skill. From that demonstration, Fei knew Ranma just did a teleportation natural to his skills.

And it scared the hell out of Fei.

Back to the scene, seeing Elly, rather, his 'Miang' knocked out, Krelian raged, ""Y-You! How dare you touch the Mother of all humans! She's your Mother as well!""

Ranma turned his head slowly towards Krelian, who stepped back a bit in a bit of fear. ""My Mother? Why the heck are you saying... oh. You misunderstand something. Let me make this clear right now... that I am NOT human."" he said as his eyes flashed golden momentarily. Ranma felt a pang of regret as he said those words, since not a long time ago.  
wait... actually it WAS a long time ago, that he used to call himself human. Slightly sagging, he continued in a much more subdued tone,  
""Yeah... apparently I wasn't really human. Although I was born on Earth... hell, I'm even older than you are...""

""Don't you mean, you're a mutant?"" Krelian asked as he eyed Ranma's tail pointedly.

The pigtailed boy just shook his head. ""Don't even bother thinking about it. Nobody could understand any of it anyway. Just take my word for it. Fei and the others knew about it already since I told them about it before.""

Krelian was nonplussed, but his guarded expression was painfully obvious. ""No matter. It is of no circumstance that you try to go against god. You will fall and be consumed like the others.""

""Not in this lifetime."" Ranma deadpanned as he teleported once again with the unconscious Elly in his arms, and reappeared right beside Emeralda. The green haired girl only gasped slightly when the pigtailed boy suddenly appeared beside her.

Krelian's anger grew in intensity when he saw Ranma vanish with Elly.  
His eyes roamed the area and spotted his quarry in his enemies' hands.  
His vision went red as he clenched his fists tightly. ""Return the Mother AT ONCE!"" he shouted. In response, Deus seemed to shake and quiver in fury, as if making its own demands regarding the matter. The rest of the people inside the lab noticed how Deus was surrounded by a dark red glow, almost the same one that was present in Grahf when the masked man fought before.

Ranma noted that the thing, Deus, shaking like that meant trouble. A pretty powerful battle aura could be felt from it, which somehow managed to disturb Ranma a bit. A tiny twitch in his bloodstream informed Ranma that the power this creature was giving out wasn't an ordinary everyday martial artist's aura. For some reason totally unknown to Ranma, the power he felt from Deus can be compared with Saffron. That alone made him quite alert as to how this will develop.

"This is not good." Ranma commented in Japanese as he stared at Deus.  
Beside him, he felt Emeralda's emitted a small sound and her gaze burning at the side of his face. He had almost forgotten that the girl could now understand the language he grew up with. Turning to the dark-skinned girl, he smiled sadly, "This is going to get messy. That thing's quite angry now."

Emeralda nodded. "What are you going to do now?" she asked with a little bit of anticipation in her voice.

The pigtailed boy shrugged, switching to the planet's original language in the process. ""I really think we should take Elly and Fei back to Shevat to have them taken looked at. Washuu would be able to examine them thoroughly there... especially with all the equipment on board.""

Looking back up to Deus, Ranma ignored the angry Krelian as he said in a loud voice, ""Deus! I will be taking these people with me. You cannot have them! Do not worry though, because I will come back to destroy you.  
If you want to take revenge, take it out on me when I return.""

Turning back to his companions, Ranma nodded to Citan as the doctor bent to pick up Fei. The ponytailed martial artist fell unconscious because of extreme blood loss, and would become fatal if he weren't treated soon.

Together, they all left the Merkava, just before it finally blasted off out of the earth. It was a good thing Bart had the Yggdrasil with him,  
because most of the Gears were currently offline and immobile. As they sped away from the rising Merkava, they saw hundreds of white organic Gears coming out of it.

They were conveniently called the Seraph Angels, named aptly for their roles as God's soldiers, God's Weapons.

God, the inter-planetary invasion system 'Deus', had awakened and its ark, the Merkava was activated. Deus began to absorb the mutated people,  
who were to be destined as its parts. Since the non-mutated would eventually only become a threat to it, Deus was set into action for the extermination of the rest of the planet's civilization.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The group's return to Shevat was more or less unsatisfactory, because the people from the floating city eyed the forms of Fei and Elly as they were being wheeled towards the infirmary. They even became more frightened when Ranma arrived with his hair red, since for some reason his super form still hasn't receded. For a moment, the people of Shevat thought Id came back for revenge, but they were immensely relieved once Ranma made sure it was him for real. For some reason, Ranma's anger was still raging inside his mind as he thought of what Krelian's reasons for manipulating people were. Somehow, Ranma's views of Krelian's behavior became parallel with Genma's manipulative actions. He was starting to really dislike the jerk.

Ranma was currently balanced on top of the highest point in the residential district, bypassing the normal route of those floating platforms and such. It was currently early evening, and the stars were only starting to show up in the slowly darkening sky. He needed some time to relax, since his hair doesn't seem to return back to its normal black state. Also, the aching at his back was irritating him. He planned to open his wings a little later, once things have settled down a bit.  
The people's reaction on his coming back was quite depressing, even if it was all a misunderstanding. According to some of the townspeople,  
they thought he was that 'Id' person. Emeralda helpfully explained to him that Id was Fei's violent self. Vanilla commented how similar Id sounded to the one she experienced back on Earth, something about a berserker Evangelion. Meia thought it was plausible, that multiple personalities tend to be that way. Washuu was excited about it, and vowed she'll examine Fei's 'other self' before removing it completely in his mind. Washuu also reassured them that removing those programmed genes in Elly's DNA can be removed by a special procedure from her subspace lab, much to their relief. The red-haired scientist already halted most of the mutations that spread all over Shevat, and procured the formulae for the cure and gave it to Shevat's scientists for study and mass-production.

Anyway, back to his dilemma though... he still hasn't figured out how to power down. In the past, he just exhausted himself and automatically lost the super state. Right now it wasn't an option, since he didn't even have to use much of his power in that impromptu battle earlier on.  
Why did he have to turn super anyway? Maybe it was all that anger that he felt rising as that jerk Krelian kept on talking on and on about his god's reawakening or something.

"This is really weird." Ranma absently brushed the red lock of hair that managed to drape itself over his face. Even with the tremendous amount of information that has been unlocked in his mind after Chaos, or rather, his other self disappeared, he can't still figure out how to return back to normal. Sure, he knows how to navigate most star systems without even batting an eyelash, or troubleshooting a complicated warp engine system, but it still doesn't help him with the problems in his body. Energy manipulation was still quite new in his mind, since his former self was more astute with magic rather than his body. And besides that, he still hasn't figured out how to control his curse. Ranma sighed when he thought about that one, how he will never be able to control the watery transformation forever. His water magnetism somehow got mellowed down after some time though, and for that he was grateful. Then his thoughts went to the transformation itself. The slow tingle that covers his whole body as it shifted bones and muscle to accommodate the changes the genders go through. The energy used in that seemed to be familiar but... wait.

The change needs energy to complete the cycle. Where does it get the required energy for the change?

Remembering some of his past memories, he stumbled upon the information regarding partial manipulation of energy. The curse needed an anchor to base itself in the host's body. Take for example back when he was inflicted with the Cat's Tongue pressure point. If his curse were based on the temperature, surely his body would feel how scalding hot water used to be back then. It should've triggered the curse somehow and returned him to normal. Even with barely warm water, he should've felt it scalding, therefore changing him back to male.

But it didn't.

It seemed that there was something about the energies from the temperature of the water itself that had something to do with his curse.  
A human, rather, a host's body must've had some sort of energy absorption instinctive to every living being that was somehow used by the curse as its source of energy. The curse must've opened these channels of the said energy magically, therefore allowing the change to take place. Or perhaps the curse magically crafter new energy branches so that it may get the energy from the water.

Now... if he could somehow find those channels and shut them off...

Sighing wistfully, Ranma continued staring at the now star-lit sky. The sun already set a few minutes ago, much to Ranma's surprise. Time passed too quickly for Ranma.

"Ranma?" A soft feminine voice called out to him. It came from below his position, but he can't be seen from there. He tried ignoring the call since he really needed some time to think.

"Ranma-sama? Are you out here?" It was a different voice. Something in that voice seemed hesitant.

Oh, the second voice was probably Vanilla. Then the first voice would be...

"I don't think Ranma's out here, Vanilla." The first voice seemingly told someone.

"I can feel him out here, Emeralda-san. Ranma-sama is here." Vanilla answered the first one, which turned out to be Emeralda.

Ranma rolled his eyes as he stood up on the small area he was in. He had to talk to Vanilla about her pet name for him again. With a small hop,  
he descended to the narrow bridge below him, startling Emeralda and Vanilla out of their conversation.

Smirking slightly, Ranma asked, "Looking for me?"

"W-We were about to see if you were all r-right, Ranma-sama." Vanilla said while trying to keep her heart in pace once again.

Emeralda nodded. "You looked... troubled before you disappeared. We were quite... worried."

"Ah." Ranma looked away from them. His dark glasses were back where it should be, hiding those unnerving eyes of his behind the darkness of the glass. "You don't have to worry. I just needed some time to think"  
Suddenly, his head snapped to one side, gazing on the high buildings of the Central Palace of Shevat. Ranma felt a slight power spike from it,  
and it was somehow... angry and disappointed.

"Ranma?" Emeralda asked tentatively, curious as to what Ranma had seen of felt.

Ranma looked down to Emeralda and smiled. "Oh... I just felt someone getting angry... I think we should go back now."

"Yes, let us go." Vanilla nodded demurely as the three of them walked out of the residential area, going towards the Palace itself. It was then that they found out about how the people Shevat planned to put Fei into something they called 'Carbonite Freezing', a prison unlike no other. It was similar to being transformed into a living statue.  
Emeralda was understandably outraged, as Vanilla was appalled by the apparent inhuman way of punishing someone who had an ability he has no control over. Before they could lash out, Ranma tried to interject by explaining how humans were really that callous about anything they don't understand. It was also understandable that the people of Shevat were just thinking of the welfare of everyone by trying to stop Fei's alter ego, Id, into making a comeback. But Ranma also reiterated that it was wrong to just imprison someone who has no ability to control and to defend him or herself as of the moment. He told them it was cowardly.

Ranma, Emeralda and Vanilla went into the Palace chamber, to meet with the queen and ask why the decision was made just like that. But as they reached the queen's place, they found that Citan was already there,  
asking questions about the very same reason they were in there in the first place. Instead of disrupting the discussion, the trio of newcomers settled down and listens to the story.

Citan nodded slightly to Ranma when he saw the pigtailed boy came inside the chamber with Emeralda and that girl, Vanilla on tow. The two girls were quite upset, probably because they have heard of the decision on freezing Fei in carbonite. That was why he was here anyway, to ask for leniency for his friend Fei. Turning back to the queen, he asked, ""Your Majesty, why do the people of Shevat fear Fei so much? Even if Grahf and Id's power are comparable...""

Zephyr also noticed the arrival of the newcomers, but kept her attention on Citan's questions. She replied, ""It is not that we fear him. We fear the error we ourselves committed. And now we are simply trying to put a lid on it...""

Citan adopted a confused expression. ""The error that you yourselves committed?""

Zephyr nodded sadly. ""Shevat instigated a battle 500 years ago to gain our independence from Solaris. However, we became overcome with the lust for power... Fearing the war-torn people's will would no longer be with Shevat, but with the Nisan Mother... and that the people would assemble under Sophia. The Council of Elders of Shevat back then made a deal with Solaris.""

Citan became interested. ""A deal?""

Zephyr nodded once again. ""Yes. At the time Solaris... or the Gazel Ministry to be exact were at odds with a woman who held the real power behind the scenes.""

Citan was contemplative. ""Would that happen to have been Miang?""

Zephyr shrugged as best as she could. ""Most probably it was. Fearing the increasing power of the masses assembling in Nisan, the Gazel Ministry schemed to hand over to us their antagonist, Miang, and promised a division of the rulership over the earth's surface. But in exchange, we had to give them the rebel army that had assembled in Nisan and also their patron, Sophia. The leaders of Shevat accepted... and it was decided that Nisan would be the location of the final decisive battle with Solaris.""

Wincing at the memories, Zephyr continued, ""Shevat did not participate in that battle. Thwarted by the awesome numbers of the Solarian army,  
and with their path of retreat cut off, the Nisan rebel army ran out of options and was destroyed. Caught up in the middle of all of this was Lacan, Bart's ancestor Roni, myself... and Krelian.""

""You were also there?"" Citan asked, surprised.

Zephyr nodded. ""Yes. Surrounded on all sides, we were prepared to die.  
And then, the rebel forces' flagship appeared with Sophia on board. She sacrificed herself as to create a path for our retreat. Sophia's ship headed straight for the enemy's main ship on a suicide attack. Thanks to Sophia's sacrifice, we were able to survive. However, her death forever changed the fate of two men... Krelian, who followed closely under her as the leader of the Nisan sect's militia, completely lost faith after calling out to a god that would not respond. 'I will create god with my own hands!' were the last words he uttered before he disappeared. And Lacan... he resented himself for not having the power to do anything as she died in front of him. So he began to search for the 'Legendary Power'.""

""Legendary Power?"" Citan asked.

Zephyr closed her eyes. ""God's resting place, Mahanon, the source of divine wisdom, 'Razael' and the 'Anima Relics' which were created by that very wisdom. Besides these... there is one more legend.""

Citan cocked his head to one side. ""And that is?""

Zephyr said almost reverently, ""'Zohar'...""

Citan almost stumbled down. Recovering his poise, he almost shouted,  
""Zohar! That has the same name as the 'Zohar Modifier'! The power reactor that Miang spoke of, saying it was the infinite energy source of god 'Deus'. What she claimed is also the source of our Ether powers and the driving force of all our Gears.""

Zephyr nodded once. ""It would have to be one in the same thing. It is the place that contains the ultimate source of this world's power. It is said that only he who has the correct destiny would be able to discover its location. Losing all faith in humanity, Lacan sought after its power. Lacan became Grahf, and the world collapsed. This tragedy happened because of the people's lust for power. I must take part of the responsibility for not having been able to stop it. And now, Fei... the one who has the same power as Grahf... we just wanted to seal up that dreadful power that arose from our own sinful deeds...""

Citan sighed regretfully and was about to reply when he was interrupted by a soft but menacing tone from the side.

""How noble of you... trying to erase your past mistakes under the guise of saving the world."" Ranma snorted as he stepped forward, followed silently by Emeralda and Vanilla behind him.

Queen Zephyr shook her head vehemently. ""We really wanted to save the world... but we also wanted to erase that mistake...""

""By... killing Fei-san?"" Vanilla asked courteously. Her eyes however betrayed the real emotions she felt as of the moment.

Emeralda glared at Zephyr. ""I... I can't try to make myself believe how... how easy it is for you to judge people like that. Fei tries his best to control the power inside him, and here you are planning his future behind his back!""

Ranma looked at Zephyr evenly. ""You may have lost faith in Fei, but we haven't. And also, didn't I tell you that Washuu could do something about it? Are you that eager to kill the man that saved your world a lot of times before! You said you are old... I have heard that age brings experience. But seeing you now, I can only see a child who is afraid to venture out and trust someone.""

Not waiting for a response, Ranma quickly turned and stormed out of the queen's chambers, who was later followed by the equally dismayed Emeralda and Vanilla. Citan just stood there in shock, the words the trio had spoken rang true to his ears. He glanced at Zephyr, who looked like she was about to weep but was visibly straining herself. He too,  
turned and went out of the chamber, out to go to his friend Fei. But before he could step into the infirmary just way past at the right side of the chamber, a loud crash echoed across the hallways, alerting several guards that sped towards the room. Citan himself ran to the room and found it in shambles, only Elly's bedside was spared from the onslaught. The red-haired scientist called Washuu was busy shaking the cobwebs off her head as she was assisted by Ranma, who was already in there before Citan. Emeralda and Vanilla checked the destroyed part of the clinic, which was near the windows. The whole wall was now a big gaping hole that exposed the high altitude they were in.

""Are you alright?"" Citan heard Ranma asking Washuu, who was by now able to stand up on her feet.

Washuu clutched at her head, leaning slightly on Ranma's body. ""Yes.  
damn it! I underestimated Fei's other personalities. But I found out something interesting. The process in recuperating Fei's personas was actually a success, but I was shocked when his hair turned red and went out rudely without even thanking me! Anyway, I just found out that Fei wasn't the original personality to begin with. It has always been this 'Id' that's the original Fei!""

""What!"" Citan choked out, stepping inside the room. ""So... Fei was actually...""

Washuu nodded. ""A fake persona... recently made too! Id was the current personality that controlled all of the Fei inside his mind. So when I tried to revert him back, Id came out. Then he just blasted his way out of here, but not before staring at Elly for a moment. I got smacked to the wall because of the whiplash, partly because I wasn't really anticipating that one.""

Ranma glanced to the general direction where Fei, rather, Id flew out.  
He took note that some of the soldiers entered the room and were busy informing Citan about a glowing man taking off with the Weltall II. ""I can still feel him... if we planned on chasing him, we should do it now while he's burning enough ki to turn this planet to dust."" he commented to no one in particular. He then added, ""Emeralda, Vanilla, you better stay here and watch the fort while the rest of us go and fetch Fei.""

In front of him, Emeralda turned to look at him seriously.

"I will go with you." The green haired girl told Ranma in quiet voice,  
saying it in Ranma's native language just to make sure he understood how firmed her resolve was about the topic.

Sighing morosely, Ranma just nodded. "Fine." He faced Vanilla, who also had that same determined look on her face. Shaking his head, he said,  
"Vanilla, you better stay here. I don't want you to get hurt."

Seeing the pleading look on Ranma's face, Vanilla relented as she shrugged slightly. To normal people, they wouldn't see the subtle action, but Ranma understood her acceptance of his proposal. Ranma smiled as he lifted his hand to caress Vanilla's face. The girl blushed slightly at the contact, even after Ranma removed his hand and had already walked out of the room with Citan and Emeralda trailing behind him.

"Ah... to be young and in love." Washuu's teasing voice jolted Vanilla out of her thoughts. The pale skinned girl blushed even harder as Washuu's words took effect.

Vanilla vainly shook her head as she tried to settle the blood that seeped into her face. "I do not know what you mean."

Washuu smirked and nudged Vanilla's side. "You can't hide it from me.  
I know those looks you threw at Ranma. They were exactly the same looks my daughter Ryoko gave him in the past. And if I'm reading this right,  
Emeralda has the same feelings as you do."

For the first time in her life, Vanilla's normally stone face twisted into a worried frown. "What am I to do? I am nothing but a passenger in Ranma's life. I could not compete, especially if there are others, not to mention your daughter, which I know you are probably rooting for."

The scientist just blinked at Vanilla before falling down on her posterior, laughing her ass off. The albino girl glowered as she gazed patiently at Washuu, who was now rolling back and forth the floor. After a moment or cackles, Washuu finally stood up, wiping the tears that leaked out of her eyes because of laughing too hard. Waving off Vanilla's expression, she said, "Sorry about that. It's just that you're too serious about everything! Lighten up girl! By the way, even if Ryoko is my daughter, I won't take sides." Patting Vanilla's head, Washuu continued, "Although I will tell you what I told Ryoko way back then.  
Ranma is no ordinary guy, since he can genuinely admit in loving several women without a doubt. That's how caring he is, so you don't have to worry. If you're thinking about the marriage thing, I don't think Ranma would be married to only one girl. I can assure you that, so you don't have to worry. Just tell him you love him, and you will get a special place in his heart, just like Ryoko."

Vanilla looked longingly at the doorway Ranma walked out of and smiled slightly. "Somehow, I feel happy with that knowledge."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

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Author Rants:

Alright. Someone reminded me about listing the anime and game I crossed the story with at present. It was why I kept a list separate from the stories in the first place... but as time went by I kinda forgot about it.

Anyway, here's the Crossover List Roll Call... so far.

Ranma 1/2 Ah, My Goddess!  
Tenchi Muyo! (mostly on Ryo-Ohki)  
Dragonball Z/GT Sailor Moon Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure (it's gonna get clearer on future chapters)  
Inuyasha Final Fantasy 7 (mentioned a bit so far, coming REAL soon)  
Flame of Recca (mentioned when Kagero appeared, for future references)  
Vandread (mostly on Second Stage)  
Super Robot Wars Alpha (tons of Anime Mecha shows all in one)  
Teknoman (mentions only at first, solidifying on future chapters)  
Galaxy Angels Neon Genesis Evangelion Xenogears

- Super Robot Wars Alpha consists of several Mecha-type Anime

Mecha Anime List from SRW Alpha:

Original Personal Trooper Type - Hukkebine Mk. II & Mk. III - R-1, R-2, R-3, SRX (Super Robot X)  
- Grungast Mk. II (transformable 3 modes)  
- Ryuu-Ou-Ki & Ko-Ou-Ki Psybuster (anime on the works)  
- Psybuster (wind elemental)  
- Grand Zone (darkness elemental)  
- Valcione R (energy elemental)  
Mobile Suit Gundam (Amuro Rei)  
Zeta Gundam (Bidan Kamiyu 'Camille)  
Double Zeta Gundam (Judo Ashita)  
V Gundam (weird series, but this one's real old, since the SRW2 Gameboy)  
Gundam 0083 (Kou Uraki)  
Gundam Formula 91 (F-91, Seabook Arno)  
Macross (series and OAV)  
Combattler V Voltes V Neon Genesis Evangelion (series and OAV)  
Getta Robot (original and Shin)  
Mazinger Z (original and Mazinkaizer)  
Gundam Wing (series and OAV)  
Giant Robo Raideen Aura Battler Dunbine Great Mazinger Gunbuster Dancougar

Sorry about the delay, but I was visiting someone important the past three weeks. I was out of the country, and I left my computer back home.  
When I did get back, I got inspired and typed a lot, and finally noticed it exceeded the 200K mark, which if I upload in fanfiction(dot)net it would cause some problems. To play it safe, I cut it in half, and the last half ain't finished yet.

I made revisions in the Xenogears itself, so don't be too surprised if the changes were somewhat major. That's part of the plan in a fanfiction.

October 5... a sad date for me. Ashleen, this fanfic is for you... may you watch me from above.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	15. Chapter 7e

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: My disease is getting worse. So far, my white blood cell count is still in the red, but it ain't gonna stop me from finishing this fic. And I ain't gonna die without finishing.

Anywho, I'm kinda back, and I am writing as fast as I can, when I can. Also, for some weird reason I manage to almost finished the first chapter of the second arc. I am at a dilemma whether to post second arc sooner or finish the rest of first arc. The first arc's ending in about two chapters more.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http/shihanna. and St Longinus (former email was now for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 7E - THE NEXT FRONTIER: WHERE GODS FEAR TO TREAD...

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Ranma's eyes narrowed when he finally reached where Id had flown with his own version of Weltall. Rin-Ohki's sensors had detected several other powerful energy signatures present inside the place.

"I can feel Zohar in there, Rin-chan." Ranma commented as he floated above the hole on the ground. Activating the communicator given to him by Washuu before he left the floating city of Shevat.

(""I found out where Fei went."") Ranma said simply into the receiver.

A little static sounded, before a voice said, (""That's great!"")

Ranma snorted, adjusting the small earpiece in his right ear, which has a small microphone that stretched down the side of his face. (""I'll have Rin-Ohki transmit the coordinates to you then, Washuu-chan."")

""Roger that, Ranma-chan. Be careful out there."" Washuu transmitted back.

Nodding to himself, Ranma looked down at the ominous hole and swallowed. Not that he's nervous, but he really doesn't know what to expect. He's still mortal, and he could still feel a bit of hesitation when it comes to fighting. Shrugging off the feelings he got, he slowly floated down into the hole, mentally preparing himself for the fight of his life. When he finally exited the expanse of the hole, he was awed at the cavern beneath the unassuming surface. Ranma stared at the new area with excited eyes as Rin-Ohki craned her neck to get a better view of the glowing thing at the middle of the cavern. The cabbit mentally pointed the scene out to Ranma, who snapped his eyes to the organic prison that housed something huge in it.

Inside the hole, deep beneath the ground, an underground facility was activated. A red-haired man floated in front of a large egg-shaped semi-transparent organic structure.

It was Id.

Id stayed in the air with his arms across his chest and eyes closed, as if contemplating on something. Weltall has already been entered inside the membrane that housed massive amounts of ether energies, undergoing the process of transformation to become the ultimate Gear. After a moment, his form was slowly absorbed into the membrane, his eyes never opened the least.

Inside his head were scenes being reviewed. His past lives were being relived, and a small battle raged in his mind as Fei had already awakened.

Back when he was imprisoned in carbonite, Fei had dreamed about his past life as Lacan and witnessed the valiant death of Mother Sophia, who was the past self of Elly as well. The pain and anguished Lacan had felt was all too familiar for Fei, and the helplessness at being too powerless to be able to save Elly was a welcomed thought.

Now, as the character called Fei opened his senses, he saw himself in a dreamlike world, a scene his mind conjured to accommodate his consciousness. He immediately sought out his surroundings, and found Id easily. The red-haired man was somewhere a bit further away from him, watching Fei as he struggled to his feet and was now running towards him.

""Wait for me!"" Fei shouted as he reached out towards Id.

Id shook his head. ""This is as far as you can come. From here on is my world. You can't enter.""

Fei paused in his steps, with only several feet away from Id's floating form. ""What do you mean?""

""You're a subordinate, fake persona. That's why."" Id explained to Fei, as if he was a mere child.

Fei was confused. ""A subordinate fake persona?""

Nodding, Id said, ""Yes. He has part of my memories from back then. He has sealed away the very meaning of my existence. My drive, my motivation, my subconscious... 'Id'. Because of that, I became a basic, blank persona. And on top of that, I constructed a new persona based on my experiences since then. That is what you are now!""

Fei took a step back. ""Him? You mean father?""

Id spat, ""You call him father, he who never did anything for you? It was because of his cowardly behavior. If only he had been able to protect me. If he had done that, mother wouldn't have died...""

""Didn't my mother die right after I was born? What really happened to my mother? Tell me Id!"" Fei shouted, desperation for the truth clear in his voice.

Id shrugged nonchalantly. ""You don't need to know. You'll only disappear soon, along with your basic persona, the 'coward'. I'll rule my being through the power of the existence.""

Fei kept silent, but his face showed confusion at what Id had said.

Id chuckled loudly. ""Of course you don't know. But it is etched in my metempsychotic memory. Your persona is a fake, so you'll never stand on the 'stage' of consciousness. You'll never be able to take charge of the memories from our past lives.""

Fei clenched his fist and waved it in the air menacingly. ""I know the dreams and hallucinations! I've seen them many times!""

The red-haired man just shrugged once again. ""Then, I showed them to you on purpose. To break the seal, I chose to weaken the power of your existence. If your mental energy is weakened, I can become free to do as I wish.""

Fei was surprised. ""What?""

""There are still things inside of you which you haven't been shown yet..."" Id commented ominously.

Their mental debate was interrupted when a slight noise was heard.

Id snorted. ""Someone's coming. It's probably your friends. They must have followed me."" He quickly turned and walked into the nothingness of the landscape.

Fei raised a hand and began to run towards Id's departing form. ""Where are you going?""

Id called back without turning, ""I came to reestablish contact with the Existence. To tie together all the threads of your memories since ancient times and then cut them off. That is the fate of the Contact. All is ready. It's time for the true awakening! I will eliminate all those who were full of hypocrisy from the very beginning.""

Id's body slowly vanished in the dark horizon, with Fei still running to catch up to him.

""Wait! Wait for me, Id!"" Fei called out.

Id's voice reverberated all over the place. ""You just stay here and observe!""

Outside Fei's troubled mind, Weltall was almost finished in its transformation. The amount of ether energy given to the organic material the Gear was encased in by Zohar sped up the process. The Deus System was carefully monitoring its pet project's progress.

Ranma carefully floated just outside the immediate vicinity of the structure, staring at the flux of power that surrounded the Gear known once as Weltall. The pigtailed boy didn't really know what was happening, but it had the fur on his tail standing on end for a while now. He'd seen Id enter the stuff a while ago, so he was sure he's inside the thing right now. Trying to isolate the red-haired man's energy signature, he managed to get a glimpse of a confused aura briefly, before being smothered by hate and lust for power.

It was then that the organic structure started to glow with pulsing energy. Ranma instinctively knew that something important is going to happen.

Floating back slightly from the pulsating thing, he managed to get near the entrance of the cave before he felt other energy signatures approaching the area from above him. Ranma looked up, and spotted several forms of large Gears descending the cavern. He recognized them as the Gears of Fei's friends.

(""Ranma-sama!"") Emeralda's worried voice came to Ranma.

(""Ranma! Is everything all right?"") Citan's excited voice cackled into Ranma's earpiece.

Ranma replied, (""No, I was a bit too late. Fei's inside that thing, rather, that red-haired man is inside that thing."")

A gasp is heard from the receiver. (""You mean, Id? He's inside that... what! Is that Weltall's transformed appearance!"")

Ranma was about to answer, but his body stiffened when he felt a slight burst of ki from the structure. (""Quick, back away! That thing's about to come out!"")

Sure enough, with a powerful burst of light from the cracking membrane, a huge Gear emerged. It was a bit like Weltall, but much more menacing, and the color scheme's all wrong. As Id's Gear got out, a tall slab of stone started rising from behind the opened former container of the Gear.

(""Ranma, back away! We'll handle Id!"") Bart called out to Ranma.

The pigtailed boy eyed the stone slab. (""Don't worry, I have other things to take care of."")

Citan's Gear, as well as Bart's, Emeralda's, Maria's, Rico's, and Billy's Gears stepped ahead of the floating boy to meet Id in battle. Ranma on the other hand floated towards the stone slab, carefully maneuvering himself just beyond arms reach of the huge monolith. The sounds of battle have began as clashes of steel were heard in the background, but Ranma ignored them all. The stone slab, Zohar, was all that's in his mind as of the moment.

Ranma could actually see the lines of energies that were flowing on the stone's surface, but he wasn't sure what the energies were. Little did he know that these are of divine origins.

His hand suddenly lifted itself from his sides, as if they were moving in their own accord. Ranma's mind was in a dream-like state when his hand touched the slab, and a bright glow exploded from the contact. The battle behind him didn't slow the least, but his mind slowly faded from reality.

Ranma found himself in a bright place, a meadow in fact, with lots of flowers in different colors and variety. There was a huge Sakura tree atop a small hill, where Ranma slowly treaded to take shelter under. He breathed in the air, and it smelled sweet. He knew this was all a dream, but the realism of everything boggled his mind.

"Such a nice place." A soft voice echoed all over the field. It was female and melodious, speaking in Ranma's native language.

When the pigtailed boy reached the fragrant flowering tree, he sat down, leaned to the tree with his back and closed his eyes. Surprises were really not that effective to him anymore, since this mayhap be another one of those, especially with what had happened to him with his predecessor Chaos before. He smiled slightly and said, "It is, isn't it? If I'm right, this place has been taken from my memories. I remember seeing the same meadow back when I was still in my training journey in China."

"I wish I could've seen it." The voice said in all sincerity.

Ranma nodded. "Too bad... I don't know if such a place exists in Earth during this time. By the way, who are you?"

The voice sounded amused when it replied, "I am Lilith, at least that's what I was named when I arrived on planet Earth."

"Ah..." Ranma shrugged, "What's your real name then?"

A tense silence followed, before the answer came, "I remember myself as Lea, rather, a piece of Lea that was flung into your world. Nevertheless, I am Lea. But I'm also someone named Ihadurca at the same time."

"Lea... Ihadurca... hmmm Lea then..." Ranma rolled the name with his tongue, "That's nice. So, what is it that you want with me, Lea? Oh, and can you please show me who you really are? It's hard talking like this. I might get used to talking into thin air and be accused of being crazy, not that I already am."

The whole are echoed with peals of laughter, which were later became focused into one point. A bright light condensed at the other side of the Sakura tree, one that which formed into the shape of a tall girl with platinum blue hair that was tied in a high ponytail. Her black ceramic-like bodice fit her upper body like a glove, but it was cut rather low at the chest area, exposing a lot of her cleavage. The exposed flesh on her chest was tattooed with a red complex design. White stockings covered her legs, and her feet were fitted inside long legged black boots with high heels. Her lower body wore a tight fitting skirt that has a slit on one side. A red sash was wrapped around her waist loosely, and the long flaps were draped down in front of the middle of her legs like a loincloth.

There were red facial markings on her creamy white face, a rather large red circle on her forehead with twin lines at its side, as well as twin triangular marks at opposite sides of her upper cheeks, matching the reddish tint of the pupils of her eyes. A pair of long black extended gloves that reached up to her mid-upper arms covered her arms and hands.

A pair of snowy white wings decorated her back, but they were translucent and it seemed that they were not connected to her body, more like floating in the air and following her every move. She has a pair of shoulder guards with weird designs etched at the surface that were floating a bit above her actual shoulders. A large intricate metallic golden halo that looks more like a pile of gears hung above her head, and was flanked by two orbiting divine blue orbs. The halo held a couple of pink ribbons that cascaded down at the sides. She held a golden staff that has a red orb at the end.

Ranma was slack-jawed at the ethereal wonder in front of him. Ryoko has a certain feline beauty in her, the other women he saw have their own appeal, and this woman ranked at that level as well. "Kawaii..." the words filtered out of his lips automatically, still entranced at the sight of the woman.

Lea on the other hand heard Ranma's soft words and blushed deeply. Her former proud stance faltered into unsure and fidgety as she tried to flush down the rush of blood that went to her face.

"Oh... oh my..." The poor embarrassed woman muttered, her blush still going strong on her face. In her mind, Lea was trying to remember what the heck was she supposed to say to this evenly muscled, very sweet innocent guy...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile, outside that dreamscape of Ranma's, the battle between Id and Fei's friends has been vicious. The ground has been torn here and there, and pieces of metal that has been dislodged from the Gears strewn all over the place. But the battle came to a close, and Citan's team emerged victorious. Their Gears stood nearby the downed form of Id's Gear, waiting for anything that might happen. It wouldn't be a surprise for them if Id's Gear suddenly stood up and rejuvenated itself once again, since it had happened to their other enemies a while ago.

So far, the Gear remained unmoving.

After a few moments of silence, a new Gear emerged from the hole, landing a few feet from the battle site. A few of the Gears in Citan's group swiveled around to face the newcomer, but it was unnecessary when they recognized the white Gear. A white-clad, white-masked figure emerged from the opened cockpit in the white Gear's chest.

Wiseman's voice echoed all over the cavern as he asked loudly, ""Are you okay?""

""Wiseman!"" The rest of the group asked in surprise. One by one, they all went out of their Gears and walked up to the destroyed Gear of Id. They stood a bit away from Wiseman, who didn't turn to look at them.

Wiseman eyed the downed Gear, but his relaxed stance turned wary as a red-haired man emerged from it. ""It's already too late! Assist me, for I am about to exterminate Id!""

""WHAT!"" Bart shouted. The rest of the group was shocked as well.

Wiseman nodded. ""Zohar is Deus' core. The slave generators and ether, it's the source of all their energy. After attaining its power, the freshly awakened Id intends to annihilate this world! The contact with Zohar was meant to have been done after the unifying Fei's true personality!""

Id had taken the reprieve to recover a bit, staggering towards Wiseman.

The white-clad man raised his arms in defense and stepped back. ""Hah! Keep back!""

Id glared at the figure, ""You again! You are always getting in my way. But you cannot stop me. You who couldn't even protect his own wife and son! You can not even bear to show you face to your son. That's why you wear a mask, isn't it, Khan!""

Citan's gaze snapped to the white-clad figure, his eyes widened in disbelief. ""Son!""

Wiseman remained silent at the revelation.

Id pointed a shaky finger at Wiseman, growling out, ""That's right! This man is Fei's... no, I mean, my father, Khan Wong!""

Wiseman finally relented and removed his mask, revealing a mustached man with Fei's features if he were younger. His eyes reflected pain and anguish as he watched his son lose himself in the rage. ""What happened to Fei, Id!"" he asked the red-haired man, intent on at least saving his son from the madness.

Id chuckled humorlessly. ""Too bad. The new personality of Fei that you gave birth to and all that work that your persona did to make him one, perfect, unified whole has been wasted. He will be swallowed up by me!""

Khan shook his head vehemently. ""I won't permit it! I will destroy you first!""

Id sneered at him, ""As if you could... sissy! Mother died because of your cowardly behavior. And as a result, he ran away from that reality by entering into his own memories! And now I continue my existence bearing all that hatred. You wouldn't be able to imagine what it's like!""

Khan grimaced at the point thrown at him, ""I wasn't simply working to unify Fei's personality, you know? All that you and I feel... the sadness, the hatred. Even though he also experienced such things... Fei needed to be encouraged to build himself up in order to be able to comprehend all of this. Fei should be able to understand all of your feelings now! But now you want to erase the one who understands you, to kill Fei! What is it that you want?""

Id shrugged indifferently, standing up much straighter than a while ago. ""Why ask me such a thing now? My purpose is the same as his, total destruction! That and that alone!""

Khan sighed sadly. ""Is this world so bad a place... that there is only hatred inside of you?""

Id's glare returned tenfold at Khan, ""You're the ones who made me this way. You and that woman! Admit it!"" Without any preamble, Id launched a vicious right cross to Khan's surprised face, causing the older man to skid back a few feet.

Khan clutched at his face in pain, ""Argh! Fei! Can you hear me? Please take this fist full of memories I am giving you."" Khan raised a glowing hand in the air, ""Become one... with yourself... and with me!""

Fei's father flew towards Id, who was hit at the chest with the fist. The rest of the group felt helpless as they watched father and son fight one another without holding their punches.

""Fei! Where did the real you go? Don't you remember? Were you not going to come back to Elly?"" Citan called out to the red-haired man, trying to summon Fei's personality to take precedence in his body once again.

Inside Id's body, Fei was contemplating in the space provided for him by his captor. Id has been generous to let him see what was happening outside, as well as hearing the conversations. So far, he's still confused and a bit incensed at the revelations given to him by the talks.

Fei sighed as well as he could, and looked all over him. An empty space greeted him. ""Yes... this is inside Id. A world filled with hatred and sadness. That's all that's here. Yes, now I understand Id, why you hate the world. Why there is nothing inside you... nothing was given to you, deprived of all the happy memories. And yet, it feels pleasant. It almost feels good... now I get it! There's no need to resist. I was originally just an existence that was created as a cover to hide everything, including ourselves...""

The trapped psyche was about to just give up and fade into Id, when Citan's frantic voice called out to him.

""Remember! Were you not going to help Elly!"" Citan's voice echoed in the emptiness.

Fei felt as if a jolt of lightning coursed through him. ""Elly? That's right! Elly! Elly is waiting for me... everyone's waiting for me to come back!""

Without a second thought, Fei broke through the mask of darkness in front of him, and entered another room. There was light all over the place, and in the middle of everything a small boy was watching something like a black and white movie on a big screen.

Fei looked around the place in awe. ""What's this place?""

""What's he done now? He only called you in here for his own sake. This is inside the shell of your basic character, the room of the 'coward'. I'm sure you've been here many times before."" Id's psyche personification walked out of the darkness behind Fei, and stood side by side with him. The red-haired psyche looked at the scene with disgust.

Fei nodded. ""I see... I remember now... in my dreams...""

Id pointed at the small boy, ""Everything despised and unwanted he pushed onto me, while he shut himself up in his own little shell... the 'coward' Fei. The basis for our personalities.""

The Coward, who was disturbed out of his movie watch by the voices, looked at them in surprise. ""Who are you? Ah, you're my... hey... let's watch this together! This is my most treasured possession...""

Id bared his teeth at the boy, ""Hah! By repeatedly replaying the times he was full of happiness he lives in his own happy little world. While I'm still alive only because of what's left in those left over dregs. Here! I'll show you 'everything' about me.""

The giant black and white screen blanked for a moment then displayed the numbers counting down from ten to one. When it reached one, the scene showed Fei as a small child, as well as Khan and his wife, Karen, inside their house.

Id watched the scene calmly. ""Ours was an ordinary family… a strict but reliable father, a kind and loving mother. Up till then, it was complete happiness. But one day... mother suddenly changed.""

Up on the screen, Fei runs up to Karen but he was shocked when she turns around. He slowly backed away from his mother.

""She was like a totally different person. From that day on, 'Fei' lost his home."" Id continued, watching the screen as it showed Khan leaving the house at long intervals. ""Father was away often. He had some important work."" he shook his head.

On the screen, Karen approaches Fei. The scene changes as Fei was brought to a lab. Karen goes to a small booth next to the laboratory table where men dressed in Executioner gowns sit operating computers. It is the vision that Fei had in Solaris, come to life.

Id's visage darkened at the scene being played out. ""When father was away from home, 'Fei' was taken to a place with mysterious machines. Inside there were many strangely dressed people. Many types of probes where injected into 'Fei's' body, as the start to some kind of experiments. The tests caused Fei much pain.""

On the screen, the child Fei was strapped unto laboratory tables while he was injected with a lot of different stuff. The child was crying and was calling out for his mother. Nobody came for him as the experiments continued.

""Mother didn't come to his assistance. Young 'Fei' had no way of resisting. But he was able to endure. Eventually, the experiments became unbearable."" Id's narration continued, as the scene changed into when different kinds of people entered the lab where Fei was in.

Id commented, ""Many people gathered around 'Fei'. These people had a high compatibility with the Anima Relics. This psychic contact with Fei was to force him to awaken."" The people around the child Fei disappeared one by one, with their screams echoing all over the laboratory.

""But no one could make contact with Fei. The power drawn out of 'Fei', regardless of his will, destroyed them all."" Id explained.

Fei was horrified, ""This is unbelievable! Mother allowed this to take place? Psychic contact? What do you mean by 'awaken' me?""

Id shrugged indifferently, ""To awaken god, everything had to be in perfect order, with nothing lacking. Things divided in the past must become whole again."" The film continued, as it showed many more people entering the laboratory, but not getting out of it.

Id shook hi head almost sadly. ""Countless people died before Fei's eyes, men, women, the old, the young, even demi-humans. Suffering, grief, fear, ecstasy, a variety of emotions and words lingered and tumbled about Fei like broken dolls. It was a scene from hell!""

The scene changed once again and showed Fei's house. Child Fei ran up to his father and told him about what was being done to his body and his mind, but Khan just laughed and patted the child on his head, scoffing the whole idea as a child's prank.

""In front of father she acted normally. When Fei tried to tell father about mother's strange conduct and the experiments, father's mind was taken up by his work and he didn't really listen.""

Id continued, his narration, eyeing the scene that changed everything, ""He thought it was just childhood fantasies. But he didn't have to endure the pain much longer. Fei's subconscious discovered a way to escape from the trauma. He formed a separate persona to deal with things he didn't like or couldn't bear. He removed himself from out of harms way. My role was to have all the things he hated forced upon me, the moment they arose.""

The scene showed the laboratory once more, with child Fei being subjected to more tests.

Id snarled, ""From the time of my division from him, I was dominated by hatred. That hatred naturally turned into destructive impulses. I wanted to destroy everything. My mother, father, and the entire world, I wanted to disappear. Finally father noticed mother's odd behavior, but it was already too late. I had completely separated from that coward, my original self. The puppets were broken and 'Fei's heart was too...""

""What would make mother do such a thing?"" Fei asked in a soft whisper.

Id said, ""Mother repeated the experiments to study the power she knew existed within me. Yes, that woman... mother, was Miang.""

Fei swiveled around to face his counterpart angrily, hissing, ""That's a lie!""

Id shook his head once again. ""No, it's true. Mother was Miang.""

Outside, the same explanation from Id was being conducted by his own mouth, letting the others know what had happened, and as to why everything came down to what it was as of the moment.

Khan calmed a bit, but was still in a fighting position. ""That's right... Karen had become Miang.""

Citan adopted a bewildered look on his face. ""What is that you say?"" he asked.

Khan sighed as he explained, ""It's nothing special. Miang does not have only one host body. Miang's roots are sealed in the genes of all women. Any one of them could become Miang.""

Id snorted irritably, ""It just happened to be mother's turn. Only Elly was 'special' originally!"" The redhead launched a roundhouse kick to Khan, who immediately parried with his hands. Throwing Id off balanced, Khan took the opening and slammed an open-hand attack into Id's chest, causing the enraged young man to back off slightly.

""Karen, 'Miang', noticed that Fei's memory time axis had increased two or three fold. She then became convinced that Fei was the 'Contact'!"" Khan shouted. In the reprieve, he managed to return to his Gear.

Id sneered and floated back into his downed Gear. Id's Gear stood back up, its damage that it sustained earlier slowly disappearing.

Back to the group, they were more interested in what Khan has disclosed in the conversation. ""'Contact'!"" More than one person from Citan's group asked loudly.

Back inside Fei's mind, the conversation between the three main psyche's continued.

""Yes, I was the Contact. That's why HE called out to me, and why the time had come..."" Id pointed to the screen as it changed scenes once again. This time, it showed the black-clad figure of Grahf attacking Khan in front of their house, while young Fei and Karen watched on the sidelines. The child was imploring to his mother to help his father, but the woman's impassive face greeted him coldly.

Id growled at the memory of begging that 'woman' for help at that time, ""Grahf came seeking the power that exists within me, to return to his own body. You understand now, don't you? Grahf is Lacan. We, his descendants who inherited his lingering thoughts and memories from him, know only too well, divided 500 years ago. He would become a part of us both. Lacan became Grahf. He destroyed everything on the face of the earth. He then mastered how to possess the bodies of others by dwelling in their minds. He was probably enabled to do this after his contact with the 'Existence'.""

Fei looked at him in askance. ""But...""

""The bodies died but Lacan's spirit continued living by possessing others."" Id cut him off, continuing, ""He had come that day, to return his soul, at last, to the perfect reincarnation of his physical body, the body of 'Fei'. Father fought him. But he couldn't protect mother or I. He pitifully fought on while coughing up his lifeblood. Grahf made a mockery of father and mother would not even help him when he needed her the most. As for their son, 'He' couldn't take what was happening any more.""

The screen was bathed in a bright red glow as Fei released a wave of power that knocked Grahf aside, while Karen watches without emotions.

Id's voice became softer, ""He gave into his feelings and released his power. And as a result... Mother died.""

The red glow in the huge screen died down, revealing the bloodied form of Karen lying motionless in front of Fei, as the child frantically tried to wake his already dead mother.

""And 'he', off-loaded the result of his actions onto me. To avoid taking the responsibility for killing mother, he used me as a shield."" Id pointed at the small child that watched the screen, horrified at the memories of that day.

((I also killed mother.)) Fei thought sadly to himself.

Id continued, gesturing at the lighted room around them, ""He pushed all the bad things onto me, but kept all the memories filled with happiness and mother's love to himself. And he shut himself away with those memories inside his own little shell forever. This is the place. What you see before you, is what he made. He just keeps hanging on to those memories. That's what this is...""

Fei turned to Id, saying, ""Stop it! Just stop it! This... these scenes... are these all there is to us? Enough already! There is nothing here! Just a world filled with deception and pain.""

Id shrugged, ""It can't be helped. This is our world... this is 'everything'...""

Back outside Fei's mind, Khan was reeling at the numerous hits he took from his son, physically and emotionally.

(""I was a fool."") Fei's father muttered loudly, clenching his fists in fury, (""It was all my fault. I was so busy with my duties in Shevat that I didn't notice Karen had changed. I couldn't save you when you needed my help."")

Id scoffed, (""Save me? Hah! Why bother saying such nonsense now? It's not going to change anything! The only thing you can do now is die by my hand!"") The redhead willed his massive Gear to charge once again and hit Khan with a chi-enhanced kick, causing the older man's Gear to fly back. Khan's Gear rolled with the hit and stood shakily on its feet.

(""Urrrggh! Even still... I'll show you that I can... save you!"") Khan gritted his teeth as he clutched at his abused ribs. Even inside his Gear, Khan can still feel the pain of the hits. The injuries he has sustained earlier in the fight also added to the effect.

Back inside Fei and Id's mind, Fei was trying to stop Id from hurting Khan some more.

""Stop it! Id! Father has done nothing wrong!"" Fei shouted at the impassive red-haired man.

Id just nodded. ""I know. This one is the real culprit. Mother and father had no choice.""

Suddenly, Fei found himself inside the scene itself, in front of the house where his family used to live, watching as a rubber ball slowly rolling up towards him. Fei bent down and picked the toy up as the child Fei, the Coward, looked at him with a bright smile.

The Coward reached out with his little hands and said to Fei, ""Thanks. Pass it back to me. I'm playing with mother.""

Fei shook his head sadly, ""This is not reality! It's all lies! It's all a trick! All of it! All of it! All of it!"" With that, Fei slowly approached the young Fei, followed closely by Id.

The Coward made warding signs with his hands, trying to dispel both of the other psyches away, shouting, ""No! Get out! This is my room! I thought you would always be with me!""

Fei stopped in front of the child, still holding the ball tightly in his hands, as he addressed the boy, ""Why won't you see reality? Happiness... sadness... aren't those all parts that combined to make the whole? Why won't you show him? Why don't you also show Id what you always watch!""

""No! That's mine! I don't want to show it to the person who killed mother!"" The Coward protested loudly.

Id snorted as he crossed his arms across his chest, staring down the Coward with his gaze. ""You should talk. You're the one who killed mother!""

The Coward shook his head in defiance, ""No I didn't, you did! I did not kill her! Mother didn't care for you... father didn't notice either. That's why you killed her! I didn't kill her! I didn't! I didn't...!""

""Knock it off!"" Fei shouted, effectively ending the debate between the two other psyches. With a softer voice, he continued, ""'We' killed mother. It's no one's fault but ours. It's not because she became Miang or because father didn't notice. Don't look outside for the reason. Don't blame anyone but yourself. Yes, mother was Miang, and I know you suffered. No one could have endured it. But you can't push it onto Id alone. We are all one person. We must all become one, right? Walk on your own two feet. Face up to the reality that you don't want to see! Show them to Id. Everything you took for yourself...""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

As the battle for unification over the three personas commenced in Fei's mind, another encounter was taking place between Ranma and the stone slab that contained the essence of power, Zohar. It has been revealed that Zohar was actually a being known as Lea, who had crash-landed on Earth thousands of years ago before she was accosted and made into a weapon.

"So, lemme get this straight. Zohar is actually an engine created to power up an interplanetary invasion system, and that you were actually a part of a whole that was pulled inside Zohar when you died and was partially assimilated in Zohar. You were a person named Lea, who has been trapped here for who knows how long?" Ranma asked simply.

"Yes..." The being known as Lea had already made herself comfortable sitting beside Ranma under the Sakura tree as they both watched the memories from Ranma's head conjure various animals that frolicked here and there in the meadow. Funny, though, most of them were made up of those weird half-cat, half-rabbit types of animals, but Lea found them so cute anyway. Lea continued, "Actually, I didn't really die, rather, I was absorbed by another being into herself. An incarnation of myself, actually, who goes by the name of Ihadurca. So in truth, I'm both Lea and Ihadurca, but I feel more of a 'Lea' anyway. Imagine my surprise when I woke up feeling helpless inside Zohar. Don't get me wrong, Zohar isn't really evil. It's just that I am trapped here that made it quite uncomfortable."

Ranma nodded, "I see. You were saying you were a reincarnation of the original Lea, right?"

Lea sighed softly, "Since Ihadurca taken me as her source of power, we became one and the same. Ihadurca, or me, can exist in all dimensions, so where she exists, I do as well. It just so happens that when I came to exist here, I became trapped in this predicament. One of my incarnations is trapped inside a null zone called 'Evil Zone'. There were many incarnations of Ihadurca, or Lea, which were strewn all over the multiverses, although someone had already started collecting my essences again. I have a connection with all of my parts, so I know where they are. Most have already converged near the larger shape in the Evil Zone."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Ranma questioned.

Lea shook her head. "I wish to be whole, but not by this person's hands. This person became obsessed in obtaining me, and might keep me imprisoned in that person's will anyway."

Ranma cocked his head to one side, idly watching a sparrow dart with another of its kind all over the place, "Do I have the privilege to know who this person is?"

Lea smiled, "Of course. The person's name is Kakurine, a divine entity. This person has no gender originally, but she took a liking of being physically female." The woman leaned her head to the side, setting it down on Ranma's shoulder. She relaxed when the pigtailed boy didn't make any moves of dislodging her. "I, rather Ihadurca, was born as Ihadurca Il Imella, who was a Court Magician in a world called Evna Abraku. Ihadurca was a very powerful magician, and came to me to possess my body for my power. At first, it was Ihadurca's intent to rule the dimensions and destroying some of them, but she became enamored by humans and their ability to show emotions."

"Humans are like that." Ranma said absently.

Lea nodded. "That's true. That's why she sought after humans, to discover why they needed emotions. After that event with I-Praseru, she fully merged with me, and our former relationship of being 'host and parasite' became a 'mutual relationship'. When we combined fully, so did our minds and our own beliefs, as well as our powers. As of right now, I'm feeling quite distressed talking about Ihadurca as a third person, since she's really me after all. But I need to do this to make you understand my situation before."

"I see..." Ranma drawled out, "So what happened in that I-Praseru place? I noticed you skipped it a bit."

"I-Praseru... or the Happy Iron world..." Lea said with great sadness, "I-Praseru was a world with different people, all of them having different abilities of their own. As I said before, Ihadurca was interested in ruling the multiverse only, so she set out to destroy that world full of magic first. Ihadurca's power alone, even without mine, is a force to be reckon with. But add that to my own made her a threat to Happy Iron. I know about it, since I'm still part Ihadurca, although greatly purged of the will to conquer."

Ranma remained silent, urging Lea to explain at her own pace.

Lea grimaced, "That Ihadurca that wanted to conquer was the one in the Evil Zone. She was trapped there for the moment, but it wouldn't be too long before she gets free again. Last time I heard from the passing stray thoughts before that incarnation of mine closed her connection with me, she was a bit interested in humans as well, but not as much to delay her own agenda. As soon as she gets freed from the Evil Zone, she may start attacking I-Praseru. But I heard that there were already warriors gathered in I-Praseru, training to beat Ihadurca in mortal combat. And then, there's Kakurine..."

Seeing Ihadurca, or Lea, hesitate in her next words, Ranma asked, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I want you to know, I want you to know what you're getting into." Lea said confidently, before swallowing and took a deep breath. "Kakurine is Lea's best friend. They grew up together since childhood, and she was mortified to see her friend Lea had gotten possessed by Ihadurca. It has been so long ago, and Kakurine didn't know that I am now one with Ihadurca completely. I heard that she's been going through dimensions where my incarnations reside, and she kills them, collecting their essences. Her belief was that Lea would be recovered once she kills all of her incarnations."

"That's..." Ranma faltered, unable to voice his concern over the girl, "The whole thing's just wacky..." he finished lamely.

"I know." Lea nodded solemnly. "Kakurine's currently busy in I-Praseru, waiting for the gates to Evil Zone to open once again. She will be there for a while, since the Ihadurca of that dimension is stronger than most of the other incarnations anyway."

"Ah." Ranma just said before adding, "Then why do you want me to get you out of here? Why not wait for your best friend to free you?"

Lea shook her head with a grimace. "The past ten thousand years has been unkind to my friend. She has become obsessed, and the childish smile she had before was now marred with malice and arrogance. She isn't the friend Lea used to know a long time ago, and she would certainly never go back to being like that ever again. Along the way, her views became corrupted. Besides, I need to be here to be able to control Deus even just a little bit. The Zohar, while advanced, cannot control the ever-growing sentience of the Deus System."

Ranma suddenly asked, "By the way, what is Deus anyway?"

"Deus..." Lea shook her head sadly, "It is the interplanetary invasion weapon designed by humans back on Earth. According to the memory files stored within Zohar, when they tested the Zohar engine, something went wrong. The reaction of my energy while I was drifting in the universe with Zohar's output managed to create an inter-dimensional rift, since I am a bit of a dimensional being."

Ranma cocked his head to one side inquisitively, asking, "What happened next?"

Lea smiled hesitantly, "Something unexplainable happened that made the interplanetary invasion weapon Deus gain full sentience. I was powerless when all of the sudden when Deus took Zohar in its body. Everything was a blur, and before I know it, I'm here. I also recall from the files... Zohar, my prison, was the first of three prototypes the humans made."

Ranma grimaced. "Yeah, I know. The other two prototypes were perfected, but someone managed to take one away from their hands, therefore stopping whatever plans they had for them. They later called those Zohar prototypes by the name of Paeksis Plagma."

"Please, Ranma-sama..." Lea gave the pigtailed boy an imploring look, which caused Ranma to falter even further at the sight, "Please... take me with you. Zohar is nothing but a shell and a prison to me. For some reason, men from this planet believed that by claiming my power for their own, they gain true power. The man that came here all those years past, he seemed to have a noble motive at first. But once he claimed some power he believed I bestowed upon him, the thought drove him a bit insane."

Ranma straightened up a bit from his seat, "So, what do you want me to do?"

Lea sighed. "Please relieve me of this trap and take me with you in your travels. I wish to unite with Ihadurca as soon as possible, and defeat Kakurine. That entity is probably power-mad as well, and I for one will not allow anyone to take control of me anymore." ((Well, except for you, Ranma-sama.)) The platinum blue-haired young woman thought to herself with a slight blush. ((Yes, after I manage to get myself back together again, I can stay with Ranma-sama for good!))

"How can you be so sure that I can find this, Evil Zone place? And how can I be sure you won't turn evil and start destroying things?" Ranma asked dubiously.

Lea shrugged delicately. "For the first question, I really don't care much about it. Just as long as I get away from this place, I'd be happy. But with your luck, we may be able to stumble upon Evil Zone accidentally. Even if we don't, it's okay too. It's not really a priority of mine. Now for the second question, I really don't know. There's a possibility that I may go evil, but you'll be there to stop me. Besides, even if I stay here, Kakurine WILL find me. When she does, I may just go evil and you won't be here to stop me. More people, or worlds, will be destroyed. Well, I just hope my other counterpart would be willing to combine fully with me, so that I may be able to tone down her conquering instincts. My will should be strong enough, and when I'm whole, I'll be more 'Lea' than 'Ihadurca' in the end."

"Uh-hmmm... alright then. It's better than to wait, ne?" Ranma noised, then he tensed slightly as he remembered something, "By the way, am I here in real-time?"

Lea was impressed, "You actually thought about it, huh? Yes, you're here real time, but don't worry about those outside yet. As far as I can see, the young man's machine has been defeated, and is now facing his own demons."

"I should be helping them, you know." Ranma pouted a bit.

Lea snorted slightly. "You worry too much. You of all people should know the powers of unpredictability. Humans have that small gift in them... a chance to change their destiny." Lea's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ranma with a half-lidded stare, "Why are you so eager to leave? Don't you like me anymore?" She was joking, of course, but she just had to needle Ranma with it anyway, even if it was just to see his reaction.

And reaction was what she got. Ranma chuckled nervously as he waved his hands all over in a placating manner, "No! No... of course I love being here! In fact, I'd rather choose to be in such a peaceful place like this with a pretty woman like you, if that were possible. But I don't think it suits me... the peaceful scene I mean. People are waiting for me outside too you know."

"Ah..." Lea smiled seductively, slinking her body up the nervous form of Ranma, "I'm not really jealous, I just want to be with you. Now now, my dearest... don't be too quick to go. Let them settle their differences for themselves, especially Fei. He has to know what to choose for himself."

"S-s-sure!" Ranma nodded rapidly, wondering why it suddenly became warm in the place where he was in.

Lea's body stiffened. She turned to Ranma and sighed, saying, "Wait. I think Fei has reached his answer. I need to talk to him."

Ranma's nervous expression turned serious. "I understand. Make sure he does the right thing, Lea... or Ihadurca..."

The platinum blue-haired woman nodded. "Lea would be fine. As I've said, I'm more of Lea than Ihadurca anyway." She sighed once again, saying, "Darn, I need to act all high and mighty again." She faded from Ranma's view, leaving the pigtailed boy to wonder how to get out of the place in his own mind.

Go figure.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Inside Fei's mind...

After Fei implored the Coward to show the memories he has been hiding from Id, the scene on the screen finally changed and showed Everything.

The screen showed Grahf being blown back by the blast of energy from Fei's small body. The energy did not dissipate, instead it arched up to the sky. Gravity took its control as the energy blast quickly descended from whence it came, which was Fei. The child's initial confusion quickly diminished to horror as the blast came upon him.

Just as the blast was about to incinerate the child, Karen quickly stepped in between it and her child. The inevitable happened, as the blast hit dead-on to Karen. Her crimson blood flew all over Fei's horrified face. Karen fell to her knees in front of her child, and the light in her eyes before Miang took over came back just for a second, allowing the woman to smile warmly at her child. She died, and her still-warm corpse fell over Fei. The pendant she wore, the one Fei always carried with him and recently gave to Elly, fell to the ground on the child Fei's feet. It was the Nisan Pendant, the same pendant that has been haunting Fei since he reawakened Weltall in Lahan.

As the scene dimmed, Id clutched at his head, shouting, ""Lies! That woman... this scene... all illusions he made up! I, my consciousness, can see through this trick. I won't be swayed!""

Fei strode forward and grabbed Id by his shoulders. ""Id, that's enough! Doing that isn't going to solve anything. Mother saved us at the last moment. That is the truth. Right? The reality isn't all grim, Id...""

Id stared at his hands, mumbling, ""My power... couldn't save anyone. It only destroyed. I thought that I could only make a connection with others through destruction. So I had to destroy it all. People... the world... even Elly...""

Fei shook his head, ""No. That's not the case. We can save others just as our mother, despite being Miang, saved us. Our power... can save people! We can save Elly!""

""That's a first, mother being so warm. To me... she always seemed... too warm."" Id chuckled morosely. Looking at Fei, he said, ""Fei. Take the memories I have within me. You must know what it used to be like up until now. Know our identity... about who we are. Then figure out what ought to be done. Our integration is not yet complete.""

Id touched Fei's forehead with his index finger, flooding the latter with a deluge of ancient memories that have been buried by each generation their soul has been reincarnated from.

In the barrage of memories, Fei saw a scene out from the first of his reincarnations as Abel. He was running through the raining night, hand in hand with Elly. Twelve Gazel Ministers were chasing them. The ministers held up a huge throne of the Emperor, Kain. The Emperor charged a bolt of energy in the air and fired it. The bolt hit Elly in the chest, causing her to stumble and fall down the ground. Abel ran back to the fallen Elly, calling out her name in despair. Elly called back to him and asked him to live.

The next vision was of him wearing a white lab gown. In this memory, he was Kim. The Zeboim troops had just invaded his laboratory, intent on killing him and his wife. In the middle of the room was a big tube with a small child in it. Before dying, Elly had mouthed for Kim not to give their child to the soldiers, and to live.

The next was his latter life as Lacan, who had painted Sophia's unfinished portrait. The vision changed as Elly, or Sophia, was in a crashing ship. It was after a great war, and Sophia had sacrificed herself for Lacan to live. It was the turning point where Krelian had changed, his views about god was screwed and took upon himself to create his own god. Lacan on the other hand grew desolate and alone, searching for Zohar to gain power. In that search, he came upon Weltall. Remembering Sophia's final wish of him, he declared that he will live, and with that he transformed into Grahf. With the physical transformation came the emotions, where he swore to destroy the world if it doesn't come to end by itself.

The visions faded, leaving Fei gasping on the ground, alone. Id and the Coward, as well as the huge screen that showed memories were gone. He found himself in a place with a large puddle on the ground. A glowing light appeared in front of him.

""Fei ...Fei..."" A mixed male and female voice whispered in the air.

Fei was startled out of his contemplation and looked about, saying, ""Who is it? Who's calling me?""

The soft dual voice returned. ""I... am... har...""

Fei stared at the pulsing light in front of him. ""What is this light?""

""I reside in Zohar. I am the beginning and the end. The first and the last."" The voice echoed all over the place.

""God?"" Fei asked carefully.

""God..."" A short silence followed, ""Some would refer to me as that. From a certain point of view, it is right to view me as such. But at the same time, I am not. I am also a part of you.""

Fei was surprised a bit at the revelation. ""A part of me?""

""I am defined by how people observe me. You are actually talking to a virtual version of me that you yourself create. I am 'your perception' of me."" The voice sounded amused.

Fei looked at the light confusedly, ""I don't understand what you are talking about. Who, or what are you?""

The voice chuckled as the light fluctuated a bit. ""In one word... ...Existence.""

""Existence?"" Fei parroted.

The light brightened in intensity as the 'Existence' answered, ""I am an 'existence' of a higher dimension. A place where time and space is controlled. The fluctuating void, the 'wave existence'.""

Fei was skeptical. ""What does such an 'Existence' have to do with me?""

A small tense silence was broken by the voice, ""A long long time ago, in a planet called Earth, a prototype 'modifier', or a pseudo-perpetual, infinite-energy engine was created. That prototype engine was named 'Zohar'. An ancient people from another planet attained what is considered to be the ultimate energy possible within this four-dimensional universe created the reactor. The designs were later taken to Earth, and eventually, Earth people used that same engine to create the inter-planetary invasion weapon, 'Deus'.""

The voice continued, ""Zohar was used as its primary source of power. But the unexpected happened. During the connection tests of Zohar with the newly completed Deus, the engine started to examine infinite potential phenomena. Requiring energy, the engine connected this dimension to the higher dimensional space.""

A tense silence followed, on which Fei grew a bit nervous of.

""As a result, that reactor 'merged' or 'synchronized' with the wave existence in a higher dimension... ME."" The voice continued, ""I descended from the point of contact created by the machines through the 'Path of Sephirot', or the domain you are in right now, and incarnated in the four-dimensional world. I was actually pulled here without my consent, and since Zohar pulled most of my energy and caught me by surprise, I was rendered powerless.""

The explanation went on, ""I found myself in the middle of the Zohar system, and my power was used to fuel Deus, which gained sentience due to the reaction of my energy and Zohar. I am a part of a whole, but my 'body' died a long time ago. It was due to my sheer will to survive that I was able to overcome my death. My essence was dispersed throughout the cosmos, and some arrived here. That was when Zohar pulled me. Instead of solidifying in another person's soul, I solidified here. I was planning to merge with you to gain my freedom in exchange for my Self, but something unprecedented has occurred that managed to change the path we were set out to achieve.""

""What?"" Fei asked, uncomprehending, ""What do you mean, merge with me?""

A soft sigh was heard. ""I planned on giving my essence, the small part that was dispersed from my original body that was trapped here, to merge with you together with the power of Zohar. In the end, destiny seemed to have shied away from us, and there is another path to choose which doesn't require me losing my individuality. If the path didn't stray, I would've had to merge with you, and my individuality is lost. That however, is changed. I will give you the power you need, the power of Zohar, but my spiritual essence will be saved by another.""

""So..."" Fei began, ""What does it have to do with me?""

""Do you remember the first time you gazed into Zohar? You were actually the one who gave shape to the future of this planet. Well... it wasn't really 'You', but your first life."" the voice replied, ""You were the 'Contact', the one who established the basis for the first female of this planet. You see, Zohar was trying to make sense of its existence on this dimension since it gained its existence with Deus, and the first thing it got close to definition was me. It tried cloning me after I influenced it a bit, but in the process you looked into the system and observed. That's when Zohar 'felt' your will.""

""My will?"" Fei asked curiously.

""I'm sure you remember."" The voice commented, which slowly established itself more on the female tone from its dual tone before, ""After Zohar's descent on this planet, you had contact with the modifier engine 'Zohar'""

A flash of memory showed itself in the background, with a young boy who looks exactly like Fei staring at the Zohar engine in a deep trance. Inside the Zohar, was Elly's form.

Fei was awestruck.

""As a contact, being but only a child, you defined Zohar's newly formed existence with your desire to return to your mother. Thus Zohar came to prepare the mother's will... that will is Elhaym."" The voice explained.

""Elly's disposition was influenced by me?"" Fei asked incredulously.

A male booming voice answered this time, startling Fei, ""Yes. My will was incarcenaded through a bio-computer, which was vital for Deus. After combining with me, the bio-computer evolved its functions and that bio-plant generated a central element. That is she. I was split by your contact. My physical form of flesh stayed in here, while my will went into Elhaym and my power went into you. That's why I waited to unite with you. And now, it is fulfilled. My only remaining desire is to break this 'cage of fleshly existence'. In order to do that, I must become perfect by combining with Elhaym, as well as my other physical form, 'Deus'.""

""The only way to return to my original state is to destroy this physical body. In the four-dimensional world, Zohar is perfect, so in order to destroy Zohar I need the strength that was attributed to you. Zohar can only be destroyed by the hands of the Contact."" The female voice explained patiently.

Fei looked about him as the light in front of him wavered and slowly took shaped, ""Who are you!""

""..."" The light pulsed and shattered, congregating once again in one spot and formed a figure of a tall female. Another group of motes made a formless mass a bit away from the female form, as if trying to keep itself separate from it.

The female form brightened a bit as she answered, ""That is Zohar, the one that split from me. I am the dimensional being that got sucked into Zohar's core during its first test run. For too long I have been trapped in there. In my desperation, I tugged Zohar with my measly hold on its development to gain some sort of sentience. It did well on its own, and because of its need for reason of existence, it got split up after you became the Contact. I can leave this prison when I combine with you when you gain the power of Zohar, but that is in the past now.""

""I must be reintroduced to the parts I lost for so long. I need to find solace in my own Existence. The data gathered from my physical forms would prove enough to prove my existence, as well as establish my identity. To do that, only the Contact may do it. You have to destroy this machine in which I am limited to."" The male voice said.

""What about Elly? If Zohar is destroyed, what will become of Elly!"" Fei asked frantically.

A long silence followed, causing Fei to feel a little bit colder. As Fei was about to speak again, the female voice echoed, ""Zohar and Deus are one. Elly is bound to the system by another's will to become one with Zohar and Deus. In order to release her, it is necessary to destroy that very system that serves as the Deus weapon. However, having been created as a weapon, the Deus system seeks to unify itself with all of you for a different purpose than that of mine. Originally, I, the one who desires freedom from this prison, would have performed her release. But, I am also bound to the system as Elly is, so I am unable to participate. You only need to worry about destroying Deus. Someone will be able to restore Elly's individuality permanently, separate from Deus and Zohar. This being can also free me.""

Fei frowned a bit. ""Who, may I ask, will be the 'help' you speak of?""

""The one you call Ranma."" The male voice, Zohar, responded, causing Fei to start. ""He is of a higher being, someone who can disperse the bonds placed on all of us. I regretted having to imprison this poor woman's soul in me, but I had to in order to survive. We have long waited for this moment, and we are lucky enough to have someone with a higher providence to help us.""

Fei released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He said, ""Alright. I still don't understand much, but what I do understand is that I'll have to destroy Deus, and with it I'll save Elly.""

The same male voice said, ""You have experienced much loss and deprivation in your life. It is very tragic. Our contact, and the resulting transference of power and will between you and I, most likely played a part in splitting your personality.""

Fei shook his head slightly, ""I disagree. I can't blame anything or anyone besides myself. Regardless of what may have happened in the past, with the passing of time the cause becomes more remote. It is a problem that comes from within myself that I myself must deal with.""

The male voice said in approval, ""I see. You have managed to accept those tragedies, to tolerate all things, to comprehend... and find where you stand in this world. If you have succeeded to do all these things, I am sure you will succeed in what awaits you now.""

The female voice took over, fading a bit towards the end of her speech, ""To liberate all of us... Use the... Xenogears... to destroy... Zohar...""

The light in the middle of the 'room' started to waver, causing Fei to panic slightly. ""Wait! There's more I need to ask you..."" he said in despair.

The male voice responded, ""The system is awakening. Ask... her... after...""

Fei covered his eyes as the surroundings glowed brightly. Somehow, he knew that the conversation was over, and that something important was going to happen. How right he was.

Outside Fei's mind, Weltall underwent a massive transformation. From the red, angry-looking Gear that it resembled from before, the outer covering melted as the Gear was encased in light. Everyone in the field froze as Weltall's appearance melted and reformed. The former dark-gray outer exterior changed into white, and pointed wings jutted out of its back. The Gear's feet slowly rose in the air and stayed there, as the anti-gravity system activated itself. Zohar's power was imbued into the new Gear, transforming Weltall into...

""Xenogears..."" Fei opened his eyes as the name left unbidden from his mouth. He knew instinctively what to call the new Gear, since he could feel the connection between them. It's like they were one, and somehow they were, since they were both given the same power of Zohar.

When the transformation finally ceased, Fei didn't waste any more time and transported himself into Khan's Gear.

Fei spied upon his father, bleeding in various parts of his body. ""Dad! Dad! Are you okay? Dad! I'm sorry... this is all my fault...""

The older man blearily opened his eyes, carefully training them on his son, ""Fei? You've returned to your own self... you've become one...""

Fei nodded, ""Yes, thanks to you all. If all of you hadn't called out to me..."" He suddenly grew concerned when Khan coughed up some blood.

""Dad!"" Fei grimaced at the sight of his struggling father.

Khan shook his head warily. ""Don't worry. This is good... This is, after all... I...""

The younger man frowned slightly as his father mumbled a lot of things he didn't understand. ""Dad?""

Khan spoke up once more, ""You and I..."" To Fei's complete surprise, Khan transforms into Grahf and gripped Fei's throat with his hand.

""You and I can become one!"" Grahf growled out triumphantly.

Fei struggled against the hand, trying to dislodge the death grip given to him by his transformed father. ""Huh? G-Grahf! What's going on...?""

Grahf crowed as he relished Fei's pathetic attempts to free himself. ""Hahahahaha! 'I' reached the limit of the body I possessed, on that day three years ago. 'I' required a body that would tide me over until your true awakening. That is why 'I' acquired the body of your father. Regardless of your awakening, your merging, and the inherited memories you had acquired, there was no way for you to know this, since you had lost your memory at that point. At the point in which 'I' merged with your father.""

Fei squirmed harder, ""Impossible! What about Wiseman? What about father?""

Grahf chuckled darkly. ""Of course they were just parts of me... I couldn't hold on to Khan totally. His ego was far stronger than I imagined. When my control weakened, he showed himself to you as Wiseman.""

The young man started to feel the effects of oxygen deprivation with Grahf's hand firmly grasped around his neck. ""Arggh...""

If his mask was off, everyone would've seen Grahf smiling. ""You have awakened. This body is now useless to me. Now I must return to my original body... the reincarnation of my body that you inhabit.""

""Stop it...! Dad!"" Fei tried to reason once more.

Grahf nodded. ""I hear you Fei. You see, He and I are one. I am Khan, Khan is me. He has become one with me, so you too should open your heart and unite with me. Then we can go on to eliminate everything!""

""No..."" Fei spat, vehemently fighting off the dizziness he felt, ""I... can't... allow... you... to... control... me!""

Suddenly a bright light encompassed the Gear's cockpit, momentarily blinding Grahf. He felt his grip on Fei's neck loosen and vanish. When he opened his eyes, he saw Fei's body dematerialized from his grasp. Growling, he saw a small ball of light shoot out from his Gear and went into Xenogears.

""Hmph. Protecting your master? Then so be it. I'll merge with both you and your machine then. Now come, Fei! Fight me!"" Grahf snorted as he took control of his Gear once again, preparing himself to fight the white Gear where Fei retreated.

(""It's no use!"") Fei's face lit up in the communications LCD in Grahf's Gear, (""I know you're Lacan, and that you're a part of me. But that doesn't change you being my father. I could never really fight you!"")

Grahf laughed softly. (""You're so naive! Why don't you understand that your naivety is what killed Sophia, what killed your mother 'Karen'?"")

(""I already know that!"") Fei retorted loudly, (""That's why I swore never to run away again... that I must rescue Elly. So don't get in my way! Wake up! Open your eyes, father... 'Lacan'!"")

(""If that's the case..."") Grahf said in a low voice, (""Then fight me! Fight me!"")

Fei shook his head. (""I can't!"")

(""I see. Then there's no choice."") Grahf calmly spoke, which worried Fei a little. Grahf continued, (""Since you are so unwilling to fight, I believe I'll have to use them as bait."") He pointed to Fei's friends, which were still recovering from their fight with Id from earlier.

Fei visibly bristled at the implied threat, (""Stop it! Don't we have the same memories? Can't you also remember that sadness that you felt way back then? Why then... why must you destroy everything? If we stop Deus, won't this all be over?"")

Grahf shook his head. (""You still don't understand... even after your contact with the existence? I came to understand after my contact with the Existence that, even if Deus was destroyed... as long as humans still inhabit this land, Miang... Elhaym will be born time and again. Then all living things may as well perish along with Deus itself. That's the only path to freedom."")

(""No way!"") Fei denied strongly.

(""The path to release us from the eternal cycles of life, the tragedies of history and the spell of fate!"") Grahf retorted, (""Once I awaken Deus as a weapon, I'll obliterate all living things. Then I'll use your awakened self and that machine to return everything to nothing. That's what I concluded. Miang and Elhaym... are not just Deus' mouthpieces. That 'woman' is its main body! Why can't you see that?"")

(""That's not true."") Fei reasoned out, (""She gave her life for me by shielding me from harm! Her eyes weren't Miang's! Mother came back at the last moment! Miang, mother, even Elly, were all humans born on this planet! Deus doesn't matter! You'll see, I will bring Elly back! Father,  
no, Grahf... 'Lacan'! If you won't back down..."")

Grahf replied, (""Never!"")

Fei's eyes narrowed. (""Then I have no choice! The time has come to truly become one!"")

With an unspoken signal, both of them in their Gears leapt at each other, intending to kick each other's asses.

Inside where Ranma and Lea were...

"Eh... I didn't think a mecha could bend like that." Ranma commented as he witnessed another corkscrew kick coming from Grahf's Gear. So far, Fei inside Xenogears was slowly gaining the upper ground in the battle, even if Grahf's Gear looked much more powerful.

The platinum haired woman that appeared at his side nodded. "Well, the technology was pretty much advanced in this timeline."

"So, what happens now?" Ranma asked curiously, unsurprised as Lea's entrance and was mentally taking note on how Fei executed a kick within Xenogears.

Lea sighed forlornly, dreading the time she would be alone once again in this prison of hers. Thankfully, Zohar, who was still trying to hinder Deus' full operational capacity, gave Lea her own privacy. "I hope you can help me, but I wouldn't hold it against you even if you can't. In fact, I'm quite grateful at meeting you, even if it was short."

Ranma scratched the back of his head, "It's nothing, really. And don't be so pessimistic. I will find a way to set you free from this prison. I only need to destroy the interplanetary weapon Deus, right? No biggie."

"Ranma..." Lea deadpanned at him, "Aside from being a weapon, Deus can exist outside reality. It wouldn't be so easy defeating him, especially now that it would only be a matter of time before he fully integrates most of his system and become fully operational."

Ranma winced at her, saying, "Well, thanks for the moral support..."

The young woman shook her head in slight amusement, despite her situation as of the moment, "Not that I don't appreciate your optimism, but I would like to pull you back down on the ground before your ego defeats you. Don't underestimate Deus, since he has learned how to evolve even though he is a machine. It wouldn't be bad to be cautious against a very unstable entity."

"Don't worry..." Ranma said in assurance, "I can handle it."

"I know." Lea whispered softly, but loud enough to be heard by Ranma.

The pigtailed young man looked at Lea critically, who blushed at the words she said out loud in accident, "You know?"

Lea grimaced a bit, because she let out more than she should have, "Yes. I have a confession to make Ranma-sama. When you got to this place, I managed to see... your memories of the past."

"Eh?" Ranma sputtered, "My past? You mean, those memories of Chaos and..."

"Oh, no!" Lea giggled slightly at Ranma's flustered look, "Those memories were sealed from me somehow, and I didn't even try to peek at them. I only saw the memories of your present life." She noticed that the revelation caused Ranma to relax a bit. Smiling slightly, she reached over and touched him by the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry. You will find a way back to Ryoko."

The young man shrugged, staring up at the blue sky above, "I hope so. Seeing what would happen after I disappeared all those years ago, it made me want to go back and not let it happen."

"You can do it." Lea returned his own reassurance a while ago.

"Thanks. And you should have the same confidence in your own future, Lea. I will go back to Ryoko to undo all these together with you, so don't worry." Ranma smiled gently at the girl, causing Lea to redden slightly and smile back hesitantly.

With a sigh of slight regret, Lea, or Ihadurca to most, waved her hand in the air. It wasn't really necessary, but somehow she wanted to be showy, at least for the moment. The whole scene around them wavered, leaving Ranma and Lea staring at one another in black space. Then slowly but surely, Ranma disappeared as well, as if disintegrating in motes of light. Ranma flashed a last smile to Lea, before finally leaving her alone once again the Zohar's domain, at least, only for the moment.

Until he saves her, that is.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the outside world, the pigtailed young man blinked as he saw himself still floating in front of the stone slab with his hand still touching its cold hard surface, the one Zohar was encased into. And where Zohar was, Lea was also there.

"Don't worry, Lea... I will get you out of there somehow." Ranma vowed to himself. He shook his head slightly, as he suddenly realized he made another promise out of the whim, but it wasn't as if he was going to let Lea remain imprisoned within Zohar, and later Deus, in the first place.

Ranma heard a couple of explosions behind him, causing him to turn and watch as Grahf's Gear finally fell against the might of Fei's new Gear. It would seem that Fei's personality has won out of the lot, finally getting peace in his own mind somehow. He saw that Grahf was still trying to fight, shouting at Fei to finish him off, but Fei was not going to. Ranma knew that feeling, of how he can come close to killing someone and having second thoughts about it.

While it was really dangerous in battles, Fei's hesitation was necessary. While Ranma fought to kill monsters back in his adopted dimension, Fei was deciding on his own father's fate. Well, at least Fei's father's evil counterpart anyway, but it was still Fei's father, and Ranma applauds Fei's hesitance. One must never be comfortable in killing so casually. Deciding that this was the right time to get in between, he floated back down to the battle, but not before looking at the stone slab for a moment.

Ranma quickly sped up when he saw Fei's Xenogears was suddenly engulfed in a bright light, resonating with the stone slab's own glow behind him. He had a bad premonition somehow about this.

Back in the battle, Xenogears was encased in a pillar of light. Citan and the others were quite confused as to why Fei doesn't move away from it.

Their answer came when Fei's voice was heard all over the communications, (""Arrghh! What...! My body...! I can't move!"")

Grahf answered, (""Zohar is after you! The last piece to combine with Deus' system. It seeks to unify with you... the first to have been divided from it."")

(""What...?"") Citan and the others asked.

Grahf nodded in his half-destroyed Gear, clutching at the wound on his chest taken from his last fight, (""This is what Lacan wanted all along. After all, I'm an imperfect existence, It was inevitable that it would come to this... considering what had happened in the past. Lacan's imperfect secondary contact with the Wave Existence split his personality into two. Eventually, his body died, but the original Lacan transmigrated. Bringing the destiny of becoming a Contact with him, he was reborn as your present body. The remaining persona, just his desires, lived on separately by possessing the bodies of others."")

The dark clad man thumbed to himself, saying, (""That is Grahf... that is me. I may have inherited Lacan's will, but I'm not the same as the 'Contact Lacan'. It is impossible for me to make real contact. There would be no true melding and release. Even though our bodies may be different, I am still half of you. That fact remains. Although I'm imperfect, I can merge temporarily with Zohar, and thus may be able to buy you some time. This is the only way I can be one with you. This is all I can do. Deus' system will start to look for you again. Before then, you have to destroy the newly perfected Deus and the Zohar Modifier. You're the only one that can destroy the physical barrier that encases god's body."")

Fei cried out desperately, watching as Grahf's Gear suddenly started glowing, while the glow around Xenogears receded a bit, (""Dad!"")

(""As you said, that was Karen."") Grahf rasped with a tinge of regret in his voice, (""Through many generations Miang is beginning to break free from her bounds. Elhaym has yet to combine with Deus, but she has all of her memories back as of the moment. All the memories from her original birth as the Contact's complement up to her current transmigration. That includes all of the lives she has lived as Miang, and her substitutes over the centuries. And of course, that includes your mother's memories too."")

Fei asked softly, (""Mother's memories...?"")

Grahf winced, (""Fei, cut away all the binds on mankind. You should be able to do that now. Protect Elhaym from Deus and all the other women bound with her! I'm begging you Fei..."")

The light around Grahf's Gear, True Weltall, and the stone tablet increased in intensity, causing everyone to squint their eyes as they struggled to watch what was happening. Suddenly, a bright silver ball darted towards True Weltall, jarring it off its current predicament and flung it away from the paralyzing light. Another silver ball slammed into Xenogears and flung it away as well.

""Ughhhh!"" Fei grunted as his Gear smacked against a stone pillar, causing a slight landslide that covered a third of his Gear.

""Arrrrghhh!"" Grahf spat out some blood as his own Gear skidded against the ground, but the glow that surrounded it a while ago finally diminished completely.

""What in the world..."" Citan began as he looked for the origin of the blasts.

(""Up there!"") Maria called out excitedly as her Seibzehn pointed upwards at Ranma's floating body, whose hands were still outstretched and were smoking.

Ranma quickly spoke to his communications device, (""Get Fei and the other Gear out of here!"")

(""But Ranma, what about you!"") Bart asked angrily as he willed his Gear towards Fei's.

(""I can handle myself. Just get yourselves to safety while I distract Deus!"") Ranma called out as he turned and flew towards the still glowing stone slab.

(""Ranma, wait! Dammit! Come on, let's take them out of here!"") Bart said to his teammates.

Meanwhile, Ranma floated back up towards the stone slab, which was now pulsating with bright light, as if angry about something. He carefully raised his hands perpendicular to the ground and began to channel some of his energy into the stone slab in front of him. He felt that the slab somehow was trying to absorb Grahf's energy into it. Ranma theorized that he could somehow bypass the identification protocols and try to bombard it with intense ki from his own body. Ranma shook his head, muttering something about Washuu being a good teacher and continued to pour his power into his arms. Although he took care not to shatter the rock into pieces, since Lea was still inside, and Ranma planned on saving her later on.

"Crap..." Ranma muttered in his native language. He winced as he felt more energy was being drained from him. He almost stumbled, feeling a lot more strain he normally should have. Then he grunted as he lost control of the flow, since the stone slab's glow grew brighter, and the energy transfer grew rapidly out of his hands now.

((I'm going to be absorbed if I don't do anything about this!)) Ranma thought to himself frantically as he felt the pull of the slab grow stronger each passing second.

((Arrrghhh... it's no use! I just have to cut the flow somehow... wait... what's that?)) He felt something change as his energy output diminished. He looked down upon himself, and sure enough his body was slowly contorting into a shape he hadn't seen for a long while now.

Ranma became a girl... without the aid of water.

Ranma boggled at his, now her situation, but she had no time dealing with it right now. Currently, her reserves of energy were the only ones that kept her aloft somehow, and she felt herself slowly drifting downwards. The slab where Deus was still housed finally ceased glowing, and Ranma lost her glow as well. She fell to her knees as she reached the ground, panting for air.

Onna-Ranma looked up wearily at the slab, wary of whatever surprises it would spring back at her. But she was surprised when the whole thing slowly faded, leaving nothing of its existence. She felt a slight rise of energy somewhere in the vicinity, before it shot up in the air and vanished.

"Well, isn't that interesting." Onna-Ranma could only mutter to herself before she fell face first on the ground, thoroughly dazed and exhausted from her ordeal.

Back to Fei and his companions, the formerly mentally disturbed man climbed out of Xenogears, trying to inspect his surroundings. He absently swatted some of the blood from his eyes that had flowed out from a cut above his eyebrow. That silver light that hit his Gear caused Fei to almost careen uncontrollably against the wall. Then again, Xenogears was sturdier than the Omnigears themselves. Citan's, Maria's, Bart's, Emeralda's, Rico's, and Billy's Gears ambled themselves up around Xenogears, with Citan's and Maria's Gears holding up the battered form of Grahf's Alpha Weltall Gear. Fei was quite relieved to see his father survived the ordeal.

""Damn... that kinda hurts..."" Fei grumbled to himself, momentarily pausing when something shiny caught his eyes on the ground.

""Eh... what's this...? This pendant... is this Sophia's... or my mother's...?"" Fei mumbled to himself as he picked the cross pendant up from the ground.

""What was that, Fei?"" Citan asked curiously, looking at Fei from his own Gear's open pilot compartment.

Fei shook his head slightly. ""It's nothing. I'm just talking to myself. I'm sorry, for all the trouble I've caused everyone. Thank you all so much! Anyway, let's get going! There is little time left now... for me... and for our planet!""

""Wait... where's Ranma-sama?"" Emeralda asked softly, causing everyone to blink and look around for any sign of the pigtailed young man that helped them a while ago. They probably haven't heard Emeralda's new pet name for the young man, or they just ignored it. Probably the first one though.

Maria spotted something lying on the ground a few ways away from them. She quickly pointed the information out to her companions, saying, ""I see someone lying on the ground over there.""

Emeralda's Gear, Crescens, quickly turned to the direction where Maria indicated and lurched forward, with Emeralda calling out in Japanese, "Ranma-sama!"

Watching the dust clear from Crescens' departure, Maria commented blandly, ""Well, she's rather excited in finding Ranma, huh?""

""Methinks the girl's taken a liking to Ranma."" Bart said with a small chuckle.

Rico snorted. ""Too obvious.""

""Isn't she only a child? Technically, she's, what, seven years old in the head?"" Billy asked curiously.

Maria giggled. ""Isn't that romantic?""

Citan shook his head at his companions' conversation. ""Let's just follow her.""

Fei only nodded silently, following the others after making sure his father was safe and comfortable.

A few meters on a steep incline below where the collection of Fei's friends gathered, Ranma in female form was still lying face down on the ground. She twitched a bit, before groaning loudly and forcing herself to lie on her back. Ruefully opening her eyes, she stared at the very high ceiling above her. Onna-Ranma still felt drained, but somehow her energy reserves had gone from 'dangerously low' to 'barely adequate'.

"Ranma-sama!" A shrill female cry in her native language alerted Onna-Ranma. A high pitched steady hum of the engine droned all over the small valley she had fallen into, and small tremors shook the ground. Onna-Ranma slowly turned her head to the side where the loud noises came from, and her eyes widened as she watched the huge hulking armless mecha floating towards where she was laying. She shuddered, imagining herself swimming in her own pool of blood after the huge mecha tramples her. Then after that thought though, she also remembered that her body's much sturdier than before, since she can survive in space without the aid of a space suit. Still, Onna-Ranma squirmed as she tried to will herself to roll away from the mecha's path.

Just as Onna-Ranma sighed and lay down patiently on the ground as if awaiting for her eminent flattening experience, the huge mecha stopped abruptly by a few feet away from her. She looked up and saw the light-blue mecha's chest compartment open up, revealing the tallish form of Emeralda. Onna-Ranma's eyes bugged out when the girl suddenly leapt without a word from the same high place, falling straight towards Ranma. Of course, the pigtailed girl knew she would've survived something like that, but it was still a surprise that someone as meek as Emeralda would jump without any pretense like that.

Luckily, Ranma had channeled her meager reserves of ki into her stomach, softening the blow that she took as Emeralda landed on her abs with a slight 'ooomph'. The next Ranma knew, Emeralda was already curled against her body, nuzzling at her happily with a small smile on her face.

"Iteee... my head hurts..." Onna-Ranma muttered to herself as she clutched at her head with her right hand. The other hand was carefully holding Emeralda in place, so that the girl wouldn't fall to the side.

Emeralda quickly shot up into a sitting position, saying, "I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me and---"

Onna-Ranma quickly clamped the girl in place on her stomach, replying, "It's okay! Really! It's just the power drain... it has been... too much."

The pale green haired girl blinked, and took another good look at Ranma, saying, "Ranma-sama... you're female."

"Eh?" Onna-Ranma asked eloquently, instinctively glancing at the twin mounds of extended flesh on her chest, as a testament of her current gender. She sighed, suddenly remembering that nobody in Fei's group knew of her ability to change genders. Apparently, this was the effect Washuu-obaasan was talking about a while ago, concerning her curse.

"That's right, you still don't know I've been cursed on my home planet." Onna-Ranma grumbled loud enough for Emeralda to hear, who was now rubbing her head on Ranma's chest experimentally, causing the pigtailed girl to shudder. The boy turned girl groaned louder as she saw the others now staring at her from their own Gears. While Ranma was occupied with Emeralda, it would seem that she didn't notice the others coming up to the both of them as well. They had the mangled remains of True Weltall, Khan's Gear, being carried by Rico's Gear and Bart's Gear.

Onna-Ranma waved weakly underneath Emeralda, saying, ""Yo guys... what's up?"" they just stared at her with suspicion, but Ranma already knew they were asking themselves who the heck she was, and where Ranma went to.

""It's a curse, all right? Cold water turns me female, and hot water turns me to male. I was born male by the way! Now before you go spouting about not believing in curses and all, may I just remind you about what we're dealing with right now. That speaks for itself."" Onna-Ranma switched back to English as she berated those who were about to ask about how she changed.

Truth be told, Ranma was as surprised as they were, and she still haven't figured out yet how to change back. She didn't know the effects of changing back when her energy's depleted, and it would be better not to try. Who knows what side effects that would cause?

""Geez, touchy."" Bart commented wryly, still a bit wary at the red-haired pigtailed girl under Emeralda. He noticed that the dark skinned girl just accepted the redhead's explanation at face value, already hugging the other girl without a nary of a worry.

Maria jumped up and down in excitement, ""That's SO COOL!""

Rico nodded sagely. ""I have to admit, it's rather amazing.""

""On the contrary..."" Billy said, ""I'm rather feeling pity at anyone contracted by such curse. It must've been hard.""

""You have no idea."" Onna-Ranma deadpanned.

""Interesting..."" Citan muttered, ""Can you allow me to...""

""HECK NO!"" Onna-Ranma cried out, glaring at the doctor hotly, ""No experiments!""

Citan eeped and hopped back, raising his hands in a placating manner, ""Alright, alright, I was just asking!""

""Everyone..."" The group turned to Fei in unison, whom adopted a very serious look on his face, ""We need to go somewhere...""

Citan looked confused, ""But where, Fei?""

Fei shook his head, his eyes having a vacant look in them, ""I don't know... but it beckons me... something...""

""I suggest we get a move on, then..."" Onna-Ranma commented as she lifted Emeralda off her stomach successfully without any protests. The tall girl seemed to understand the situation, as Emeralda nodded to Ranma briefly before turning to the others.

Together, the whole assembly of men and women marched further into the deep recesses of the cave they were in. They arrive at another large cavern, slightly smaller than the first cavern they were in. Inside the new place was a small hill, where some strewn wreckage of some sort were scattered on top of it.

Citan walked up to Fei, who was in the lead of the small group, asking, ""What is this place?""

Fei gestured to the whole area, saying, ""This is where it all started. This is our genesis! We... no, humans were born here. Long ago, Deus crash landed on this planet in an interplanetary colony ship. In order to revive itself someday, Deus detached itself from the Zohar Modifier's core temporarily, leaving Zohar to its own devices. After Zohar's core came down here, a single woman awoke and arose from out of it. She's the mother of all humanity, a copy of a being trapped inside the Zohar Modifier. This I only learned while I was in temporary contact with the Zohar Modifier.""

""Temporary contact?"" Citan asked curiously.

Fei nodded seriously. ""Yeah, it was weird, I tell you. Anyway, to continue what I was explaining earlier. After the woman awoke, she used all her power to bear several beings. These would become the ancestors of the whole of humanity. These were the Emperor and the Gazel Ministry. Finally, she gave birth to replicas of herself to be humanity's caretakers. Two selves, the -human- Mother and the weapon, the Subject and the Complement, that is Elly and... Miang. I, the sole survivor from the colony ship, met Elly and everything started from there. The land of Genesis, -Kadomony-, this is that place.""

Maria looked up to Fei in awe, ""That is incredible. That you can clearly remember the past so long ago, I mean...""

Fei sighed slightly, ""Usually, human memories cannot be passed down through the generations. Humans do not normally have the ability to change possible phenomena, we can clearly store data in our introns. In other words, we can leave behind memories to be inherited by our descendants.  
Just as the Wave Existence is bound inside Zohar... the information is affixed to me, so to speak, by some of the power of the Wave Existence.""

Citan looked at the wreckage in shock. ""Then this is...!""

Fei nodded somberly. ""This is the form from when Elly and Miang were still one being. This is the first woman of our world, our mother...""

They walked up to the wreckage to get a closer look, and saw a dead woman lying in the wreckage. They were surprised, but not as surprised as Onna-Ranma, who gasped loudly and staggered deeper into the wreckage. With a shaking hand, she reached out to the pale, dead woman's face. Onna-Ranma could see a very familiar face, a woman with long platinum blue hair in disarray. Her pale face was still firm, even after all the years her body has been here. Her black tight-fitting suit was already tattered in some parts, vaguely covering the dead woman's private areas that preserved her modesty somehow.

Onna-Ranma fell to her knees, still staring at the sight in front of her with glazed eyes. The multi-colored gems on her forehead glowed softly as she knelt there.

""Ranma?"" Fei approached the redhead slowly, quite confused at her reaction.

""So... this was what she meant..."" Onna-Ranma murmured absently.

Citan approached them from behind, ""What do you mean, Ranma?""

The red-haired girl slowly turned to them, saying, ""When I touched the stone slab, I was pulled into it mentally. I didn't speak to Zohar, or Deus, rather... I spoke to the woman that this body was copied from.""

""WHAT!"" Everyone asked in shock.

Onna-Ranma nodded. ""Yes. She was originally from Earth, our home planet. I don't have the right to tell you of her personally history, but I can tell you how she got here. Her essence was locked inside a particular being called Angel, back on Earth."" Onna-Ranma struggled to stand up, but failed as Emeralda settled the smaller girl down again.

""You should rest first."" Emeralda said softly.

Sighing, Onna-Ranma continued, ""Someone took the samples and made a power source out of it, creating the Paeksis Plagma that the Nirvana, the spaceship where I just came from, uses as its energy source. The Paeksis was a sentient power source, but can be easily exploited. Three Paeksis were created, and Washuu tried to take them away from bad hands. She managed to send two Paeksis off planet, but the last one was already installed in one of the interplanetary weapons the humans created. They called that engine the Zohar Modifier.""

""You mean..."" Fei began.

""Yes... it means that this was the same weapon developed almost four thousand years ago."" Onna-Ranma explained, ""And this woman's soul is trapped inside. Although Zohar wasn't really ill-intentioned, the woman was unable to escape until Zohar was freed as well.""

Fei frowned. ""So that was the shadow of the woman I saw in my vision while I was inside my mind?""

Onna-Ranma nodded, ""Most probably. Her name's Lea. And I swear I will free her.)

Fei agreed, ""I know. She did mention something about you having the power to free them.""

Onna-Ranma stared into Fei's eyes, her pupils glowing bright yellow underneath the dark tinted glasses that managed to stay put on her face after all those things that happened before, ""I will free them, and I will free your Elly permanently as well.""

The two continued their staring match, before nodding grimly to one another in unison.

""We'll take this body back to Washuu."" Onna-Ranma declared, grasping the undamaged cryo-pod from underneath and pulled it out of the wreckage. Everyone was already used at seeing Ranma do incredible feats, but seeing a rather short woman carrying very heavy equipment still gave them the creeps.

After giving one more look over at the wreckage, everyone decided to return to their friends in Shevat.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The group that went inside the cave finally arrived in Shevat, just in time to see a huge ship emerge from it. Later, they found out that it was Excalibur, the most powerful ship available to the people of Shevat. Queen Zephyr had ordered its launch, in preparation for the battle to come.

Ranma had gone to Washuu and her friends, not bothering so much with the stares everyone gave her, with Emeralda following hurriedly from behind. She knew it wasn't the people's faults that they didn't know about her curse, but the stares were starting to bug her. Leaving Fei to give out explanations about who she was and why, Ranma and Emeralda had entered the infirmary, updating Washuu and the others about what had happened inside the cave, and about the woman Ranma met.

Washuu idly gave him a thermos full of hot water, which she had pulled from her own personal subspace while listening to Ranma's explanations. Beside her, Vanilla waited with a small towel in her hands, which she used to dry the now male Ranma's wet face with. Rin-Ohki had gleefully hopped on top of Ranma's head from Meia's arms. The captain of Nirvana's Dread team helped along the repairs and restoration of the clinic, as well as tending to the sick as well. Although Meia was still a bit clumsy in handling the patients, she learned basic medical aid as one of the pre-requisites of her own training as one of the Nirvana's crew.

Washuu was busy at trying to reconnect some wires to revive the cryo-pod. She was rather surprised that the body was still intact, even after all those centuries it was using the faulty equipment inside the wreckage.

"I see... so you were requested to free her, then?" Washuu frowned, eyeing the platinum blue-haired woman inside the cryo-pod. It was as if she was sleeping.

Ranma nodded tiredly. "Yeah... she seems so sad in there. Also, she's the one trapped inside that power core for kami knows how many millennia."

Washuu grimaced. "I know how she feels. I was trapped for a good number of millennia as well. But it's amazing how something created by humans like the Zohar Modifier acquired sentience. But now that I think about it, it's probably the last prototype of the Paeksis Plagma ever created. And of course, with this 'Lea's' help as well, it might've done it."

"It must've been really lonely inside her prison." Vanilla said as she sat beside Emeralda, who moved to the side of the bed she was sitting on a bit to make room for the newcomer.

"I can only imagine." Ranma sighed, "That's why I want to free her."

Emeralda smiled at him. "Ranma is a good person."

"I think I understand why you brought back this copy of her body." Washuu said solemnly, "She'll need it, since her original body was probably destroyed already."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. I just hope it would work."

Washuu smirked. "Don't worry. I'm sure it will work out. Besides, I'm amazed the body was still whole. Considering the environment it was in, it's in great condition. It only suffered some minor decays in some parts, but nothing that my tank of nanobytes couldn't fix."

Before anyone could comment about it, a loud announcement from the speakers echoed all over the place, calling everyone into the ship's Meeting Room to discuss about the impending fight.

After a few minutes inside the Excalibur's Meeting Room, everyone assembled all over the large space. Ranma, Washuu, Vanilla, Meia and strangely enough, Emeralda, were seated on one side of the huge table in the middle of the room. Rin-Ohki was still sleeping comfortably in Ranma's arms. Queen Zephyr sat at the lead with Taura at her side, while Fei, Elly, Citan, Bart, Rico, Billy and Maria sat on the opposite side of the table.

Khan, free from Grahf's possession, was missing from the meeting, as he was still in deep slumber because of a massive fatigue because of his ordeal.

Elly had recovered from her possession of Miang, with the help of Washuu and Taura's treatments with the use of advanced nanomachines. The two scientists were able to succeed in neutralizing the effects of the tainted genes embedded into the red-haired woman's DNA that made her into another Miang. Fei ran straight into the medical wing where Elly had been resting when the group arrived a few hours ago, and he was quite happy that both of them gained a bit more of their freedom from their past lives; Fei from Id, Elhaym from Miang. As of now, they were discussing what they must do regarding the situation with the rapidly evolving Deus.

""So if we destroy that Zohar thing, everything will be over, right?"" Bart asked critically.

Citan nodded empathetically. ""Yes. The source of our Ether powers, and the power for the generators that make our Gears work... it all comes from the 'Zohar Modifier' engine which can control potential phenomena. If we destroy it, Deus and the -Seraph- angels... will all be deactivated. And we should also be able to be rid of the plague that transformed the humans into Wels.""

Fei nodded as well. ""Yeah. That's what the Wave Existence said.""

Citan eyed Elly critically. ""It's good that Miss Washuu and Taura managed to purge Miang's influence from Elly. But to be sure that no more accidents occur in the future, we have to destroy Zohar's core.""

""That's 'Washuu-chan', Citan-kun."" Washuu said in a sweet sugary voice, but it was evident that she was serious, especially with the twitching of her eyebrow.

Citan sweatdropped and just nodded rapidly. ""Err, well, anyway. There is the downside. It will also mean that we will no longer be able to use our Gears or our Ether powers anymore.""

""Zohar wants to transcend into another level of existence..."" Ranma interrupted, ""That's why it wants to be free of its chains."" ((At the same time, I will be able to free Lea as well.)) he thought to himself.

Queen Zephyr said, ""I'm amazed, that such a machine was able to gain a very high intelligence and sentience, and would be asking to be rid of its mortal shell.""

""Nothing is impossible in the universe, if we want them to happen."" Vanilla intoned.

Everyone agreed with her wholeheartedly.

""What are those -Seraph- angels all about, anyway?"" Rico asked irritably, ""That odd appearance as if they lack something... as if they were neither living beings nor mere weapons...""

Citan explained, ""Zohar senses the human consciousness and incarnates the -Seraphs-.""

""Human consciousness...?"" Billy asked in confusion.

""Zohar itself involves the principle of uncertainty."" Citan continued to explain, ""The observer's perception of Zohar determines the entity it actually becomes. In other words, I believe that those angels are incarnations of the spirits of people, the people who have been absorbed by Deus to become parts of it.""

Bart hummed noncommittally, ""So what merit is there for them to gain in eliminating all of civilization?""

Maria scrunched her face in contemplation. ""Is it some kind of hatred for those humans who have survived?""

Citan shook his head. ""Of course not. Those people who were created and assimilated as parts for Deus would not have such intentions. Try to remember what Elly, when she became Miang, said.""

Elly shuddered, remembering herself being the background personality in her own body, ""'The creations of god will someday be a hindrance... That is why they must be eliminated.'"" Fei held her hand to relax her.

Citan gave her a placating look. ""Yes. That is why Merkava is being used to begin the destruction. But, Deus is not following its programming of exterminating all of civilization. The -Seraphs-, which are terminal interface weapons of Deus, are using their bodies composed of... nanomachines to absorb massive numbers of people regardless of whether they are dead or alive."" He watched everyone wince at the statement.

The doctor shook his head in frustration as he continued, ""It is not discrimination between the mutant and non-mutant people. This is highly peculiar. The fact is that the people who 'were meant to be destroyed' were taken in as well without any exemptions. That is the absolute opposite of what it is supposed to be doing.""

Fei adopted a thinking pose. ""Maybe there aren't enough parts?""

Citan shook his head slightly. ""That is unlikely. Aside from those bodies that were destined to be parts for it... Deus, who has already acquired the abilities of the nanomachines, can just about use any material to construct its body. It is obvious, it has other intentions in mind. Those intentions... Krelian called Deus the mother."" He saw Fei's mood darken at this.

The good doctor continued, ""If god is the mother, then those motives are coming from the Great Mother. Impeding of its child, enveloping it, to bring the child back to the womb to become one with it. That is the motive. Such a program does not exist within the design though. Someone probably gave the program this unique 'Will'. Either from Elly who has merged with temporarily Deus or...""

""Either way, it doesn't change the fact that we have to fight."" Fei glowered discreetly at the doctor, who managed to look meekly as he saw the pained look on Elly's face. ""Regardless of what their intentions are. The problem is how we're supposed to deal with them. You think we can do it in our current state?""

Queen Zephyr spoke, ""This secret battleship, Excalibur, will also take part in the final battle. Additionally, the military potential of all the surface forces will assemble here.

Ranma added, ""I will fight too. I need to be there.""

Nobody questioned his motives, since he would be of great help to them. They all just nodded at his statement.

""Ranma-chan... just remember to remove your bracers when you need more energy. You turned female to compensate on the huge power loss. You will also automatically turn female if you're heavily injured. You were lucky you didn't turn into a six year old because of that stunt you pulled back there."" Washuu interjected.

Ranma smiled sheepishly at Washuu, ""Sorry about that. I kinda forgot about what you told me from before.""

""Why? What's with his bracers?"" Maria asked curiously.

Washuu shrugged, ""It's really not just the bracers, but it would suffice for now. They're limiters to Ranma's power, since he needs to be restrained of his strength. Since his Saiyajin heritage awakened, his reckless use of his power became evident. We have to compensate."" she explained.

Bart sighed softly, ""Even if we can put together a massive force, we still have the problem with the main armament of the Merkava. We need to know how to take that out. As long as we don't do that...""

Citan looked into the papers in his hands, saying, ""Merkava's ultra-long range cannon has the ability to vaporize any substance. On top of that, they have a barrier around their perimeter that nullifies all attacks.)"

Queen Zephyr grimaced at the memories of her past. ""We've fought against the Merkava many times to try and stop its onslaught. However, we cannot even get close. Hence we have had to withdraw every time.""

Fei banged his hand against the table, hissing, ""Dammit! No matter how much we want to save the world... if we can't get in the Merkava, it's meaningless!""

Sigurd cut in, ""To add to that, there is the problem of those -Seraphs-. They function as the terminal interface weapons for close defense. I can easily say that their attack power is equivalent to the Omnigear class.""

Bart leaned back to his chair, muttering loudly, ""They even have the regenerative ability due to the nanomachines.""

Taura waved his hand to get everyone's attention, exchanging a meaningful glance with a smirking Washuu, ""Don't be concerned about that. Washuu and I were able to obtain some data from Xenogears. You see, Xenogears has mutagenically evolved due to its contact with Zohar. Using that data, all of your new Gears ought to be completed soon. Additionally, all the other weapons and armaments are being modified to implement the 'Disassembler Device'.""

Billy asked, ""Disassembler Device?""

Washuu took over the explanation. ""In contrast to the Nanoassemblers, which create matter to repair with, the disassemblers have the ability to dismantle or destroy matter. They can even deactivate the nanomachines' restoring ability by disengaging their repair programs. This should be sufficiently effective even against the Deus' -Seraphs-.""

""In other words, it has a disabling effect as an EMP device to electronic parts, a nanomachine repair jammer."" Washuu further reiterated.

Fei nodded slightly, ""Alright, even if we can deal with the angels, just how are we gonna deal with that Merkava? We can't even get close to the thing.""

Citan pointed to the large screen that came with the huge table inside the meeting room. ""There is no such thing as a perfect defense. There is a way. Look over here.""

The monitor flashed, displaying the appearance of the Merkava, and some known variables on the ship.

The resident doctor pointed at certain points on the screen, especially the Merkava's weapon controls, ""Merkava's main gun requires a 1.2 second interval to reload because of its tremendous output. Upon firing, although it is only sectional, there will be a portion of the barrier that will be opened. There is a 1.87 second delay before the barrier reforms in that area. If we can use this window of time to target and destroy the cannon, it will be possible to close in on it. If we can get close enough, we can break through with gravitational-spatial correction.""

Citan nods to everyone around the room, turning the monitor off for the time being. ""Well, this is the rough idea.""

Sigurd pointed out, ""Unfortunately, we don't have such a long range cannon that could acquire a target in such a brief time frame.""

Bart leaned forwards from his seat, ""So what you're saying is we just need to shut that annoying cannon up right?""

Fei looked at Bart in surprise, ""You want to head into Merkava!""

Billy shook his head ruefully. ""Now you're being reckless again. That's suicide.""

Bart snorted. ""No, listen. We're not going to just rush in. The Yggdrasil IV and this Excalibur are also equipped with barriers. That's what we'll use. Although only for a short time, we can withstand a direct hit from Merkava's main cannon. Then we can close in and watch for that part of the barrier to go down and then destroy the cannon.""

Fei was skeptical. ""How long will our barrier last?""

Bart shrugged. ""About 20 or so seconds.""

Fei gaped at him. ""That's all? It wouldn't matter how fast we fly. In that amount of time, we'll be without a barrier before we can get within firing range. And those numbers are valid only if the generator is at full drive, right? You can only get those numbers if we sacrifice all other outputs and propulsion.""

""I'm not suggesting we go in with guns blazing knowing we're gonna lose."" Bart retorted, ""We're going to physically put a lid on it, directly!""

Everyone stared at him in confusion.

The captain of the Yggdrasil grunted, ""As you've said, the Yggdrasil IV's barrier can't sufficiently defend against Merkava's attack. At least with one generator that is...""

Billy asked, ""Meaning...?""

Bart looked at the former Solaris operative, saying, ""Meaning, we can defend against Merkava with twice the amount of time... 40 seconds, if we couple the generators together. This way, we can make it in the heart of Merkava.

""Then, what about the propulsion...?"" Maison pointed out.

""Just hear me out."" Bart sighed in exasperation, pressing the monitor of the table and adjusted the information to the one he was looking for. A screen of the Yggdrasil IV and Excalibur showed up.

""This is what we do. First we transform my Yggdrasil into heavy assault mode and load it into the Excalibur so we can couple the generators. By doing that, we can reduce the energy usage down to just supporting the hull of the ship and generating the barrier. This will allow most of the energy to be devoted to generating the barrier."" Bart saw he has everyone's attention while he explained.

He continued, ""Next, shift the barrier to full front and focus it to a single point where their main cannon will make its strike. Now for the movement… first off, we develop a barrier by engaging Excalibur's generator to maximum power. For propulsion during that time, we'll install on the Yggdrasil those large solid rockets we got from the ruins of the Mass-Driver. When Excalibur's barrier expires, we'll use the Yggdrasil IV's generator to develop a barrier.""

Seeing everyone nod, he went on, ""Then we'll also detach the solid rockets and shift the Excalibur into conventional flight. Using this method, we can get right in Merkava's face. After it fires, it'll be defenseless. During this time, we'll block the muzzle of Merkava's cannon with Excalibur's bow ram. Upon which, we should have 0.67 seconds... with the cannon fire of the Excalibur, we'll destroy the Yggdrasil IV's slave generator and incapacitate the Merkava along the way and then... we break through!"" He smugly turned the monitor off.

""That's what the plan is all about."" Bart continued, staring at his companions expectantly, ""The combinations of the barriers of both ships... storming the Merkava... the timing of the cannon fire of the Excalibur... these are all going to be crucial. Mess up any one of these and the consequences are going to be severe. Hence, it'll be necessary to have both crews in synch with each other. That's why I'd like to place Sig in command of the Excalibur.""

Sigurd nodded towards Bart, impressed at his half-brother's sudden logic. ""I have no qualms with that...""

""Wait... I may be able to do something with the barrier..."" Ranma cut into the conversation, making everyone look at him. Nodding slightly at Washuu, he continued, ""Everything you planned is okay, but when we get near the Merkava Rin-Ohki and I will go ahead of the Excalibur and generate our own shield. I still don't know the capability of the beam from Merkava, but I can be the preliminary shield so that if ever something does come past Rin-Ohki and I, the barrier of the Excalibur and the Yggdrasil IV can manage well enough to escape.""

""I don't think that's such a good idea..."" Citan said, ""We don't know the Merkava's offensive capabilities, but according to what we know, it's pretty powerful. Too powerful, that we need the two best ships in this planet to work together. You might die if you try this.""

Ranma shrugged. ""You never know until I try. Besides, Rin-Ohki and I can handle ourselves just fine.""

""He has a point."" Washuu added, ""Ranma-chan and Rin-Ohki both share the same powers, and they both have the power of the Light Hawk Wings behind them. Together, they could withstand the beam at least long enough for you to do your thing.""

""Light Hawk Wings?"" Queen Zephyr asked.

The red-haired scientist nodded. ""It's difficult to explain, but it's an almost impenetrable barrier used by Juraian Dreadnoughts, probably the most powerful battleships in the universe. It's a Kami-class Barrier only a few gifted individuals can use the Wings, and Ranma-chan is one of them because of who he is. He can hold of the beam with it.""

Bart nodded, turning to Queen Zephyr. ""What do you think, Queen? Will you lend us your battleship?""

Queen Zephyr sighed and rubbed her temples, saying, ""Since there appears to be no other alternative, let us go with that. Please use it as you see fit.""

Citan commented, ""But we are not cutting it uncomfortably close? When you calculate the arrival time and the barrier generation time, you will see what I mean! One minor mishap will put us in a situation where we could run out of barrier power before our arrival.""

""That's why I'll be the point shield generator."" Ranma pointed out, with Rin-Ohki meowing loudly on top of his head. ""You can reserve some of your generator's power, rerouting them to the weapon while I generate my barrier. All you have to do is worry about those that might get past me. I'll be too preoccupied dealing with the cannon to worry about anything else.""

Sigurd added, ""Ranma is right. We will be devoting both generators to keep the barriers up. Won't that leave us without perimeter defenses? We won't stand a chance if the -Seraph- angels engage us on our way to Merkava. We need to form a perimeter guard to take out anything that might come our way during the time Merkava fires its cannon.""

Fei spoke up. ""We'll hold them off. You can count on us! You guys just concentrate on taking out that main cannon.""

Bart smiled towards his friend in gratitude. ""Thanks. We're depending on you.""

Fei said grimly, ""Already, everywhere else has been taken out. This is the only place that's left. This is going to be the true final battle.""

""Well then..."" Queen Zephyr stood up from her seat, ""We will commence our attack in five hours. That should give us enough time for preparations.""

The meeting was adjourned, and everyone went to their own respective work.

On the way out, Ranma noticed Vanilla standing in front of his room, fidgeting on her place. Cocking his head to one side, he asked in his native tongue, "What's wrong, Vanilla?"

Vanilla almost jumped at the sound of Ranma's voice, but restrained herself as she answered, "I wish to speak with you, Ranma-sama."

"Hmmm?" Ranma noised, allowing the light cyan-haired girl in pulling him into his temporary quarters inside the Excalibur. Once inside, he was led unto his bed, and Vanilla sat beside him. Another bout of tense silence followed, and only their breaths can be heard for a while.

After a few moments, Ranma finally asked, "Are you okay, Vanilla-chan?"

"I worry about you." Vanilla blurted out, blushing a bit as she did. She looked away from Ranma's searching eyes as she continued, "You always try so hard, that you don't have time to rest."

Ranma sighed. "There's a life involved, Vanilla-chan. I can't just ignore that."

Vanilla shrugged. "But there are other people who can do the rescue operation, correct? But I know I cannot stop you from doing what you wanted, since you're too adamant about it. But I want you to know that I'm worried about you."

Ranma smiled gently, even though Vanilla could not see it. He lightly covered her hand with his, and felt a bit of confidence when Vanilla didn't get angry or flinched away from his touch. "I made a promise to rescue the one trapped inside Deus, Vanilla-chan. I always keep my promises. I'm quite glad that you're worried about me, but don't overdo it. I know my limits somehow..."

Vanilla snorted softly, "Like when you lost a lot of power and turned into a girl forcefully in the process?"

The pigtailed man grimaced as he chuckled nervously, "Okay, that wasn't one of my better plans, but it worked out in the end, ne?"

"That's just it, Ranma-sama." Vanilla insisted, not noticing that her hand had gripped Ranma's, "What if you do too much? What if... what if..."

Ranma squeezed Vanilla's hand warmly. "Okay, I promise... I won't overdo it. I will ask for help if needed, alright?"

Vanilla breathed out as she turned to regard Ranma in her gaze. "I guess that will have to do, for now." And without hesitation, she leaned forward and planted a firm kiss on Ranma's cheek. The alien hybrid froze as he felt Vanilla's warm lips make contact with his skin.

The angel, in a literal sense, slowly discovered what she did and drew back from the kiss, blushed, quickly stood and exited the room in the span of less than three seconds. Ranma's hand automatically went up to his cheek, his lips curved in a slight goofy smile.

"That was nice. I wonder what that was all about though." Ranma muttered, still out of it apparently. His face was in a mask of confusion, which was quite normal for him at least.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After five hours of waiting, the group converged inside the Meeting Room once again, reviewing their battle plan. After everything has been approved, they set out to their respective positions. Excalibur has been set out into a snowy landscape, near where the Merkava resided as of late. When the huge ancient ship loomed across the horizon, the battle had begun.

Ranma, who was standing on the nose of the Excalibur, leapt out into the air and tossed the willing Rin-Ohki into the air. The people inside the Excalibur were momentarily awed when they saw the small animal float beside its master like that, but there was no time for questions as a few bolts of lasers from the Merkava rocked the Excalibur's shield.

Ranma finally reached a good position and released Rin-Ohki, who transformed quickly into a silver crystalline ship. Rin-Ohki's ship form was a lot more streamlined than the normal ones Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki used. Her 'spikes' were slanted backwards, almost totally covering the bio-dome located just in the middle of her body. There was one spike that was jutted out into the front, providing an aerodynamic design to lessen air friction on the ship when it cruised along planetoids.

After Rin-Ohki transformed, Ranma quickly phased into the cabbit ship and activated its shield. A red bubble of energy flickered once in a while as lasers hit it. Ranma had Rin-Ohki readjust the shield settings to expand it to near the size of the Excalibur. After a few minutes of recalibration, Rin-Ohki now acted as an umbrella to filter out strong beams from the Merkava.

Fei and his companions were destroying the Seraphs that managed to land on the Excalibur's bow. They kept the enemies away from the ship.

With the Yggdrasil coordinating with the Excalibur and Ranma's ship, it launched an attack on Merkava behind the safety of Rin-Ohki's barrier. It jumped on Merkava when the three ships finally flew past the ancient ship in such a close range, and destroyed the main cannon. The Yggdrasil blasts off as the Excalibur fired its own cannon at the Merkava, marking a direct hit into it.

A loud explosion rocked the Merkava as it slowly crumbled into the ground. But fate has another card to play as the alarms inside the Yggdrasil bridge rang loudly.

It seemed that Merkava, or rather Deus, still has some tricks up its sleeve.

Inside the Excalibur, everyone was confused as to why the alarms went off. They looked at the smoldering 'debris' of the Merkava, and saw something was off in the wreckage.

Outside, Fei and the others converged with their Gears as they monitored Merkava's destruction.

(""That can't be!"") Fei shouted as the display showed the Merkava shaking wildly.

Billy narrowed his eyes at the image. (""A secondary explosion...?"")

Citan slapped his hand against the console of his mech, saying, (""Oh no! I should have known better. What a miscalculation! The explosion was too big. It reacted with the main condenser right under the main cannon and induced a secondary explosion. How could I have been so stupid!"")

(""You mean, we overdid it?"") Bart asked frantically.

Citan continued as if he didn't hear Bart speaking, (""Why did I not realize it sooner? This means... we might have... oh no, the energy spike from Deus itself...!"")

Fei asked, (""What? What's with Deus? I thought destroying Merkava would destroy Deus as well!"")

Billy looked confused. (""W-what is it, this time?"")

Bart growled out, (""Hey, Citan! What more is going to happen!"")

Citan grimaced as he stared at the readings from the Merkava, (""Something is happening in the center of Merkava. What could it be!"")

The huge hulking form of the ancient ship Merkava went down into the earth, creating a loud explosion as it hit the hard surface. Suddenly, a gigantic white mass lurched out of the flaming wreckage, and floated up above the ruined ship. It twitched for a moment, before expanding into even greater proportions, then launched a huge blast into the ground below it. A huge shockwave erupted from the targeted area, and everything in the way was destroyed.

"MIYAAAAAAAH!" The cabbit ship growled out as it flew a bit further away from the blast zone, together with the Excalibur and the Gears on it. The people inside the ship gaped at the huge destruction caused by a single blast from whatever came out of the Merkava.

Inside Rin-Ohki, Ranma narrowed his eyes as a familiar tingle of his danger sense bothered him. The energy given off by the mass was familiar to him, as if...

His eyes widening, Ranma quickly turned the communications to the others online and said to it, (""That... thing! I know it!"")

(""Ranma?"") Washuu's concerned voice came back to him, (""What is it? Have you found out anything?"")

(""That huge white thing... that's Deus!"") Ranma explained, causing everyone to gasp along the comms.

Citan's panicked voice asked, (""How can you be sure!"")

Ranma grunted irritably, (""I know that signature! I was inside it, remember! That's the thing that gained a bit of sentience after Zohar did!"")

(""What the heck happened! Why did it turn into that!"") Bart asked.

Ranma shook his head ruefully, saying, (""I guess it's partly my fault. It was probably because of the energy transfer I did a while ago when I tried stalling it to let us escape. I was inexperienced at energy transfers, so I didn't have much control on how much was given. I think I gave it too much."")

(""Probably why you reverted into your female form, Ranma-chan."") Washuu explained, (""Deus probably took advantage of your apparent inexperience on those things and managed to control most of the transfer. In the end, Deus forced you to give up energy too fast, so it drained you badly. Hence, you turned female."")

Ranma nodded lamely. (""That's just it."")

(""Damn it!"") Fei's voice came, (""Let's go back to the Excalibur first! We need to re-plan our strategy!"")

The whole group agreed, hurriedly coming back into the Excalibur. The ship took a 180 turn and sped out of the area. Meanwhile, the mass known as the final form of Deus continued to wreak havoc all over the planet, gleefully destroying anything it wanted. Krelian's final plan was a bit of success, since the nanomachines created by him were used by Deus to achieve its most powerful form.

The survival of the planet was at risk, and with Deus bursting with energy, the future was a bit bleak.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A few hours after Deus has ascended into the sky, the Excalibur floated along the wasted remains of the former floating city of Shevat. The huge battleship had been protected by the combination of its innate shield and Rin-Ohki's projected barrier, but Shevat wasn't so lucky. Fortunately, the people inhabiting the floating country had been evacuated safely, and were now trying to salvage anything they could find amongst the debris of Shevat. The group decided to land and recuperate somehow.

In the crashed remains of Shevat, Fei walked amongst the bleak atmosphere inside the rooms that managed to survive. He reached outside, and saw Queen Zephyr watching as the snow fell around them. The young man strode up to the queen and stayed silent right beside her, watching the white fluff as well. Khan appeared and stood behind them, content in watching the snow with Fei and the queen. A bit later, Citan appeared alongside them as well, respecting the silence as the three watched the snow.

Zephyr broke the silence when she said, ""The snow keeps falling, softly covering up everything in this world. Our sorrow, our defilement, our mistakes, if only we could wipe away these things as easily as that. What have we... have I... been doing... been pursuing... for these past five hundred years? By the way, how is the person you rescued from Merkava? I heard he recovered consciousness...""

Citan nodded. ""Yes, well, at first, he had lost faith in himself but now he is better. Kahr has revived himself, and has found some real meaning in his life. If he decides to fight on our side then our total fighting power shall be greatly increased.""

- FLASHBACK -

In the Yggdrasil's medical ward, Citan and Sigurd stood beside Ramsus, as the latter sat dejectedly on a bed.

""Kahr... Please listen to me! Right now, we must forget about being friend or foe. We all must support one another, regardless. Right now, we need your help!"" Citan pled to the former commander.

Ramsus was unresponsive, still mumbling the same phrase he has been saying for the past few hours, ""I... am... just trash... a reject...""

Citan quickly wound his right hand up and slapped Ramsus hard, causing the former commander of the Elements to fall down unto the hard floor. Ramsus caressed his abused cheek and stared at Citan with wide eyes.

""Stop feeling sorry for yourself and pull yourself together man!"" Citan shouted at the man on the floor.

Sigurd held Citan back, saying, ""Hyuga! What are you...""

Citan shrugged Sigurd off him, muttering, ""Trash... reject... you can take pity and call yourself that all you want, but what about them!"" He pointed to the other side of the room, which revealed the current members of the Elements looking at the encounter with sadness in their eyes.

The doctor continued, ""Are these women stupid, or trash, or rejects too for believing in you? The reasons why you helped the girls who had no one to turn to, may not have been that noble. But in spite of that, they stuck with you. Do you know why? They know you better than anybody else. They know the true kindness that exists in your heart. They know because they want to be loved. That is why they won't leave you. Kahr... do not make them into the trash or rejects that you speak of.""

Dominia stepped forward, looking at Ramsus directly in the eyes, ""Commander...""

Ramsus stared at the women he commanded for how many years. He remembered how they all stood by him, following his every order, ""All of you...""

Citan continued, adjusting his glasses on his face, ""Needless to say, you are not trash or a reject. We know that better than anyone does.""

Ramsus shook his head, a sudden deluge of tears flowing out of his eyes, ""I... I didn't realize that what I've been looking for... was so close to me. I'm... sorry... for not realizing sooner!""

Dominia smiled happily as she took Ramsus in her arms, saying, ""Oh, Commander...!""

- END FLASHBACK -

Khan nodded morosely, ""It was rather sad, knowing that you were created for the purpose of being used, then being thrown away like yesterday's garbage.""

Citan winced, ""That is true. How are your injuries, Khan?""

The old man smiled slightly as he stretched his arms wide, ""The treatments old man Taura used on me were effective. I thought I really was a goner when Deus started absorbing my life energy.""

Queen Zephyr said, ""We owe Ranma a lot of things.""

""True..."" Khan said thoughtfully, ""I have learned to live with the fact that I was used as a vessel by Grahf. I just hoped Ramsus gets on with his life as well.""

Fei sighed sadly, ""So much has happened between him and I. When this battle ends, I want to face Ramsus one on one in sport, not war, as a martial artist.""

Queen Zephyr nodded in agreement. ""I am sure he wishes the same thing too.""

Fei turned back to the snow, whispering, ""Perhaps...""

""Sure he does."" Khan chuckled slightly, ""He seems to be a man incapable of letting things stay this way.""

Citan shook his head in amusement. ""Ramsus is like that. He will never accept defeat for long.""

Queen Zephyr faced Fei with a serious expression on her childish face, ""Fei, may I ask you something? About Deus... what if, even if we tried everything we could, we couldn't win?""

Fei shook his head urgently. ""We will win! We have to... or else this world will not have a future ahead of it. We wouldn't have a future ahead of us if we lose. So we have no choice but to win.""

The queen smiled in understanding. ""You don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know. Your opponent is a god. If you decide to quit now, no one will blame you.""

The martial artist shook his head again, saying, ""To quit would be meaningless. All that I fought for, and all that I live for, would come to have no meaning at all. People should be free, with no one bound by others, and no one binding others. Inside of me, there is a part of me that desires that freedom, and a part of me that gives me hope. So, I shall fight to win true freedom! For we are still alive! We fight to live. That is the reason why I fight. It's proof I'm human. I promised my father, and myself too, that I would free the world from Deus' binds, and also making sure that Elly's free from Deus' clutches...""

Queen Zephyr nodded sympathetically. ""I understand. So, let's keep believing... and hope for a miracle...""

Fei smiled. ""There can be a miracle..."" he said softly, ""We managed to save my father, right? We may have a chance...""

Khan's hand found Fei's shoulder, squeezing it in affection, ""Do not lose that initiative, son. You have a lot of friends, and they will help you achieve your goals.""

Fei patted his father's hand, saying, ""I know, father.""

In another part of Shevat's wreckage, Emeralda was sitting on top of a ruined pillar, trying to catch some snow on her tongue.

"You're enjoying yourself." A baritone voice in Japanese language broke Emeralda out of her slight melancholy, causing her to turn to the source. She saw Ranma, who was currently standing behind her with a smile on his face.

Emeralda blushed and replied in the same tongue. "It's... the first time I saw snow at such a close distance..."

Ranma nodded, "I see..." The pigtailed man strode up beside Emeralda and sat below her, his back leaning on the pillar Emeralda was on. "I like the snow too, somehow... since they give me a sense of hope for some reason."

"Snow reminds me of when I was born..." Emeralda said softly. "It was cold in that tank I was born into, but it was my only solace against the harshness of the world. I was a mere child back then, trapped inside a seven year old body of a child when I was taken from that only place I can rely on to protect me..."

"Taken?" Ranma asked in curiosity.

Emeralda grimaced slightly. "I was created with a purpose, to destroy the bonds that held humanity back during that time. You see, the humans back then were only able to survive up to thirty years, then perish. Most of them were barren, unable to have a child, which further dwindled their survival. I was made to break those bonds, to ensure humanity's survival."

Ranma said, "You must be really important to your parents then. And to have that much responsibility hanging on your shoulders... it must've been hard on you."

Emeralda pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her chin against them. "The night I was about to be activated fully, my parents were attacked by some soldiers. They were killed, and the soldiers took me from the lab. They planned on using me, and the man named Krelian was in charge." Emeralda growled softly, "They killed my parents just because they wanted to find out what made me move, to study me, to replicate my parents' work... they were killed out of petty reasons."

Emeralda closed her eyes. "I felt so lonely. For thousands of years, I've been left dormant, until Fei and the others found me. I'm deeply grateful to them for that."

The pale-green haired girl was slightly surprised when a pair of arms wove around her, giving her warmth and love. When she opened her eyes, she saw Ranma floating in front of her, cradling her head on his chest as he slid his hand over her hair. She sighed, burrowing deeper into the young man's warmth.

"A horrible past has always been a burden to anyone. But you don't have to bear that alone anymore you know." Ranma commented. His eyes glazed a bit, remembering how lonely he was while he was in that training trip with his 'father', and how he was forced to do things that were immoral and unjust. Being burdened by his past, Ranma became closed to everyone, effectively pushing those who tried getting inside his emotional barriers. His 'father' was never a big help, fanning the flames of his jerkish attitude that cost him more than one of his friendships.

May the Origin help him, but Ranma will not allow this young girl to burden herself like he did in his own life. Hugging the girl tightly, he vowed to protect everyone, even at the cost of his own life. Ranma was determined to let Emeralda and Vanilla live in a life full of happiness, and he wanted to see their smiles while at it as well.

Vanilla and Washuu later joined their conversation, taking turns in discussing about their own lives. The time past by quickly, since they were still deep in their contemplation when Fei had announced a meeting to be held.

They discussed an immediate battle strategy on how to handle the transformed Deus. Elly had cited some potential weak points in Deus' structure, but she wasn't so sure since she only got a glimpse of Deus' plans before it was fully transformed. Who knows how much change it went through after its metamorphosis? So they all came to one conclusion: just go in and destroy it.

After the meeting was adjourned, they decided to go after Deus in the morning.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Early next morning, the Yggdrasil IV was prepped and ready to go, while those who will go into battle said their good-byes to various people first.

Fei gave his word to Queen Zephyr that he will try his very best to defeat Deus. He adamantly refused to let Elly come with them, and requested some of Shevat's guards to restrain the red-haired woman if she tried to go anyway. After seeing how serious Fei was about making her stay, Elly finally accepted and stayed with Queen Zephyr to monitor the battle in the repaired viewscreen.

Bart had said his good-byes to Sigurd and Margie, as the latter hugged the pirate tightly and kissed him soundly on the lips. When they disengaged, Margie was blushing and Bart was near catatonic. Fei had to drag the frozen Bart into the Yggdrasil IV.

Billy kissed his younger sister Primera at the forehead lovingly, promising to come back in one piece. His father, Jessie, hugged him a bit awkwardly, but it was heartfelt nonetheless.

Ranma and Emeralda said their own good-byes to Vanilla and Washuu. Vanilla repeated her kiss on Ranma's cheek, saying it's for an accumulated good luck. Washuu chuckled as Emeralda reciprocated the kiss on Ranma, even though she was with the group who will attack anyway.

When the good-byes were done, they all boarded the Yggdrasil IV and searched for Deus in the sky. They were already boarded inside their respective Gears, and were now standing at the flat deck on the topside of the Yggdrasil IV. Ranma's smaller human form stood among them, with an alert Rin-Ohki perched on his shoulder. They found its floating form just above the cloud lines, quite dormant for the moment. Now that they were near it, they can finally recognize what it should look like.

Deus' final form was a very large organism, which was surrounded by four power orbs rotating around it periodically. Sparks of electricity can be seen as they arched from the organism in an intimidating manner. The whole area was set upon a large chunk of land that seemed to have been pulled out of the ground below. As the group of Gears landed on the edge of the large floating island, Bart ordered the Yggdrasil to back away from the battle site.

(""This is... Deus!"") Fei's voice can be heard from the comms.

The Gear-sized pink teddy-bear like Chu-Chu pointed out in a loud shrill voice, ""What are those four orbs spinning around it?""

Maria answered, (""It seems as if the power of those four things is supporting the center."")

(""So that means that big thing in the middle is the core of Deus?"") Rico cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

Citan nodded. (""Probably."")

Bart snorted loudly, (""Who cares about those orbs. Let's just crush the core."")

Citan shook his head negatively, (""Striking directly at the center rather than using fuel unnecessarily, that is one strategy. But, I believe another plan of attack would be to defeat its surroundings first. If we decide to attack the supporting orbs first, then it might be wise to leave the battles up to us. We should be able to do something about them without using up Fei's power."")

(""Hmmm... so that Fei can use the full power of his Gear, ne?"") Ranma smiled.

Emeralda said, (""That'll allow him to use the full power of Xenogears... to defeat Deus!"")

Billy shrugged in his seat, (""Whether we do a direct strike to the core or take down the supports first, I guess that is best left up to Fei to decide..."")

Fei nodded in appreciation. (""Thanks everyone. To attack Deus directly... or to take out its supports first... I wonder which is best?"")

Ranma spoke up, (""I say we split the forces up. One group will attack those round thingies, and another group will take on the core itself."")

Citan said, (""That would be wise. Bart, Billy, Rico, Emeralda and Chu-Chu will take out the orbs. Maria, Ranma, Fei and I will take the core, rather, Deus itself."")

(""Wait!"") Ranma called out.

Citan asked curiously, (""Is there something wrong, Ranma?"")

Ranma shook his head slightly, (""Sorry about this Fei, but I will take on Deus myself."")

(""No way!"") Fei growled out. (""I want to take revenge on what it did to Elly, and the rest of the people who died!"")

(""This isn't about your vendetta, Fei!"") Ranma snapped at him, (""I want to face him, and I can feel that he felt the same way."") He glared at the organism in front of them, one that was now twitching and was slowly changing shape.

Bart gaped at the transformation, (""What the hell's happening?"")

(""It's responding to my presence."") Ranma said grimly as he slowly tread towards the center of the structure, (""You take care of the orbs, and the others would be my back up in case I fail."")

(""Ranma-sama?"") Emeralda asked fearfully, eyeing the pigtailed man as he sashayed into the territory of the organism. They ignored the red tail that was lashing from side to side on Ranma's backside, in favor of the surprising calm being displayed by Deus. They all felt that it was as if it was beckoning Ranma to approach it.

""RSSSHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH..."" The white blob noised, as it expanded into a grotesque shape before roughly forming a gigantic humanoid one.

""It's coming..."" Ranma whispered to himself, his comm still hearing the words he said. Everyone was just confused at the dialect except Emeralda.

""RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH..."" The organism's shape solidified into a giant humanoid, its back rippling badly before sprouting a pair of massive wings. It was like gazing at a featureless avenging angel.

""RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH...""

Ranma stopped just a few kilometers away from the central core, that had already transmogrified into the giant angel. ""What are you trying to say, Deus?""

""RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMRRRGGGGGHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA..."" The voice of the mass became coherent a bit.

""RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAA..."" The voice became more focused.

""RRRAAAAAAAANNNNNNMMMMMMMAAAAAA..."" The voice was slowly beginning to become understandable.

""RAAANNMMMAAAA..."" The giant angel towered above the pigtailed man, who stood undeterred in front of the monstrosity. Behind him, Fei and the others were already busy at destroying the orbital defense spheres surrounding Deus.

""Deus..."" Ranma said simply, staring at the form Deus took.

""CHUUSHIIIN... RAAANMAAA..."" Deus conversed back. Everyone except Ranma was taken aback when the huge thing spoke, albeit a bit shakily at first.

""I've been waiting for you, Deus..."" Ranma said calmly.

Deus seemed to clench its fists as it replied, ""THE SAAAME COULD BE SAID BYY ME.""

Ranma nodded gravely. ""We need to... come into an agreement.""

The ground shook as Deus finally finalized its shape. Its huge head inclined slightly towards Ranma. After seeing the sign, the pigtailed young man sighed and leapt into Deus' body, ignoring the cries of protest coming from his companions. Ranma was absorbed into the light easily. Rin-Ohki stayed outside to monitor the situation.

Fei and his teammates doubled their efforts in beating the orbs, in order to reach Ranma in time. They were successful as the final orb erupted into loud explosions.

"Ranma-sama!" Emeralda shouted worriedly. She was about to make her Gear leap into the mass after Ranma, but Rin-Ohki suddenly appeared in front of her Gear, shaking her head as she miyah'd loudly. After a few tries of shaking Rin-Ohki off the path to Deus, Emeralda sighed and backed down. All she and the others can do right now is watch, as Deus' form remained stationary in the middle of the area.

Inside Deus' body...

Ranma blinked as he saw himself inside a small subspace. How did he know it was a subspace? He could see stars twinkling all over the place, so it must've been a space created by Deus for this occasion. He looked around, and breathed in sharply as he spotted the familiar form of Lea in an area a bit far from him. The only difference this time was that she was half buried in something akin to a white blob in the middle of the huge space.

The poor girl was slumped forwards, clearly unconscious. She was slowly being swallowed by the mass that engulfed her. Ranma rushed forwards to help her, but he was halted when a white faceless angel with huge white wings appeared in front of Ranma, between him and Lea.

""Welcome, Ranma."" The angel rumbled, its voice echoing all over the subspace.

Ranma spared Lea a worried glance before turning back to the angel in front of him. ""Deus, I presume?"" he asked in annoyance.

Deus nodded. ""Indeed.""

""What are you doing with Lea?"" Ranma growled out.

Deus turned halfway to look at the half-devoured woman, at the same time alert at any attacks that would come from Ranma if he decided to attack. ""Her? I just finished assimilating Zohar into myself, but I was skeptical. You see, Zohar was adamant at first when I suggested the idea, but he became decadent when I mentioned something about running a complete system diagnostic of our existence. When I absorbed him, I did my scan anyway, and behold! I found the soul of this young woman, or rather, physically anyway, but her memories have a lot of information for me. So, I decided to assimilate her inside me as well.""

Deus chuckled mirthfully, ""She put up a fight, but it was inevitable. It was her destiny to be taken into me.""

Ranma grit his teeth in anger, carefully trying to control his growing rage. ""You have no right to take what isn't yours to begin with!""

""Oh?"" Deus asked mockingly, facing Ranma fully. ""I'm god. I can do whatever I want. And now that you're here, I can finally finish everything.""

That statement derailed Ranma's anger for the moment. ""Huh?"" Ranma asked, ""What do you mean?""

Deus laughed out loud, saying, ""You actually thought you're here to strike some sort of 'agreement' with me? You're here to be assimilated into me as well!""

""Like hell!"" Ranma spat as he eyed the angel warily. He fell into a guarded stance.

""As I've told that woman, it's inevitable."" Deus chortled, ""Since you gave me that delicious energy feed just to stop me from absorbing that foolish Grahf, I decided to lure you here and finish the job!""

((Damn, this is bad.)) Ranma's brow furrowed, remembering the other situation he knew he should be solving as well. Lea was slowly dissolving into Deus, and he realized he had to destroy Deus to free her. ((Hmmm... now how to beat Deus...?))

""This will be no contest."" Deus declared, quickly launching an ether blast without even powering up for it. The reddish globe of ether shot towards Ranma, who erratically dodged to his side. The ball detonated somewhere behind them, rocking the whole place.

The pigtailed young man shot forward with a ki-enhanced punch, but Deus dodged effortlessly. Not waiting for the angelic being to recover, Ranma threw multitudes of punches, unknowingly emulating his former Katchuu Tenshin Amaguriken technique. A handful of the attacks landed, deforming Deus in various parts of its body. After finishing the maneuver, Ranma quickly leapt back to gain ground.

""Hah!"" Ranma crowed, eyeing Deus' badly mangled but still standing body, ""Now what were you saying ab... about... no... con... test?"" His voice trailed off as he blinked, watching as Deus' body slowly contorted back to its normal form, as if it was never hit at all.

Deus just laughed at the shocked expression on Ranma's face. Although, one can't really 'see' the angel laughing, since its face was a formless blank. ""Why the surprised face? You should've known that Krelian helped me out a lot. Those nanomachines he used to try and resurrect me clearly made its mark in me.""

""Damn it."" Ranma cursed as he took another haphazard glance at Lea. She was now three-fourths buried inside the white thing. ((I have to do something, and fast!)) He thought to himself urgently, ((Regeneration... something I learned to hate after battling the Carrions... wait. A huge blast might work.))

Mentally applauding himself at the plan he drew up, Ranma cupped his hand to his side and gathered as much ki as he can dare. Huge wisps of dark energy gathered into his hands, slowly forming a large globe of ki.

Deus would've lifted an eyebrow at the sight, but since it can't, it just put its hands on its waist.

Ranma grunted as the ball of ki in his hands reached a certain point, and compressed the big ball, which now reached the size of roughly three feet in diameter. He carefully pressed his hands together, cramming the ki into a much smaller volleyball size, but much more concentrated.

""Regenerate this. YAMI NO HA!"" Ranma said grimly, launching the dark ball towards Deus. The angelic being didn't bother to dodge, catching the crackling ball into its chest. Its body spasmed for a moment before exploding into a vast motes of light, before being sucked into something and disappeared altogether.

The pigtailed boy grinned and fell to one knee, panting heavily. He was confused, since he was drained a little too fast, but it was all worth it. He was about to stand and go to Lea and free her, but a loud laugh all over the place made him groan loudly instead.

""It wouldn't be that easy, Ranma."" Deus reappeared near where he was blasted, unscathed and unhurt. ""This is MY world. By the way, have you noticed yourself weakening even though you haven't exerted that much energy in fighting?""

""I was wondering about that."" Ranma muttered loudly, ""And I'd guess you have something to do with that, too.""

Deus lifted a finger upright in the air and said gleefully, ""Got that right in one! As I've said, I just lured you into MY world. This is my body, Ranma. I'm already absorbing your energy as we speak. In fact, I already started ingesting you since you entered my domain.""

((Do bad guys always say their plan in the near end just to gloat?)) Ranma asked himself sarcastically, gingerly standing up wobbly unto his feet. He gazed helplessly at Lea, who was absorbed up to the chin by now. ((Crap. I really have to do something! I can't die here! But as Deus said, I'm as good as gone since it already lured me into its body. And right now, Lea and I are just about to be absorbed into Deus, just like being digested... whoa! That's it!))

Ranma looked around him, momentarily ignoring Deus as the white angel ranted about its conquest and stuff. The pigtailed boy idly wondered if Deus was somehow in someway connected to Kuno, but that would be too much of a coincidence. His attention was suddenly riveted into one place. Why was Deus positioned that way in between him and Lea? His yellow-pupils for eyes were drawn on the huge blob-thing that was absorbing Lea. Looking at that blob and Deus, Ranma's eyes widened marginally.

Why hasn't he seen it before? Deus purposely stepped into the line of fire earlier, blocking any of the energy that might grew errant and might hit the blob!

This angelic form of Deus in front of him was... was...

""A fake..."" Ranma whispered softly to himself, his posture was firmer now after a short relapse of the battle.

""Fake?"" Apparently, Ranma's words were not soft enough, since the white angel was now boring a glare towards Ranma. ""What are you talking about?""

Ranma grinned tiredly. ""That body was just a misdirection, a sleight of the hand trick. I have been wondering why another body of yours was present INSIDE your body. There's also this convenient place where you positioned yourself. I mean, you're protecting something from me.""

The pigtailed hybrid almost laughed as he saw Deus' form twitch slightly in apprehension. ""Heh, I got it right, ne?"" he pointed out.

Deus clearly straightened itself up before recovering his bravado once again, ""Nevertheless, it would be pointless. You're almost out of energy.""

""We'll see..."" Ranma said cryptically as he reached at the choker around his neck. Fingering the lock that kept the not-so-obvious limiter, the clasp was severed, letting the more than ten thousand pounds of a choker fall down to the ground. But before it made contact on the hard floor, the black choker vanished in motes of light. With its connection to its master severed for the time being, the limiter was automatically transported into Ranma's subspace, a feature Washuu had installed on the article.

The pigtailed hybrid felt a huge wave of ki wash into him from within, slowly regaining some of his lost strength. The drain was still there, but the recovery of his ki augmented it because somehow it was faster.

Deus apparently felt the sudden rise of Ranma's power, because it was its world in the first place. But no matter how hard it tried to speed up the absorption process, the release of energy was getting more intense as well. Its absorption had its limits.

""How? How can you have that much energy, even after I sucked most of your power earlier?"" Deus demanded as it slowly backed away.

Ranma's earlier expression of tiredness lessened dramatically, as his grin returned in full force. ""I'm not your average normal mortal, oh great 'god'..."" he said with great sarcasm, something that can't be missed even by a three year old child. Not waiting for a retort from the immobile form of Deus, Ranma raised a gloved hand in the air, directly aiming his palm towards the angel's chest. He knew he had to hurry along, since the power drain might catch up to his rise of energy.

""That won't work, remember?"" Deus said, as it stayed into position, confident in its knowledge that it can't be harmed in its own world.

Ranma shook his head. ""We'll see about that, too."" he said grimly. His hand began to glow silver, a slight contrast with the earlier obsidian colored energy. Without any preamble, Ranma released the silver ki.

And Deus was waiting for it. But instead of hitting the white-skinned angel, the ball swerved a little to the left, skimming just centimeters from Deus' skin. The angel was caught flat footed, hurriedly turning to see why the energy ball missed it. If it had eyes, Deus' own would've bugged out when it finally realized where the energy was headed.

It headed directly to the white blob mass that was still engulfing that woman's soul. Deus watched in shock as the silver ki was absorbed into his real form in that place. The white mass suddenly ballooned into distorted shapes, before finally exploding into a huge mess of white. Lea's body was flung unto the air before it vanished.

Deus' fake angelic body shrieked as it fell to its knees, holding its head as if in pain. Ranma felt the power drain disappear from the place, immediately feeling his energy holding inside Deus' body. Making sure that Lea was no longer there, Ranma quickly turned and teleported out of that place.

Outside of Deus' body, Rin-Ohki hissed as her hackles raised when Deus shook violently. Fei and the others were bewildered when the huge angelic-shaped thing in front of them fell down to its knees.

Emeralda was about to smash into the point in the white mass where Ranma disappeared, but she was stopped when Ranma himself reappeared just in front of her. She could see that the pigtailed hybrid was very exhausted, already falling down on one knee and panting when he reappeared. Rin-Ohki ambled to his side, looking up to her master in visible concern.

(""Ranma-sama? Ranma-sama... are you alright?"") Emeralda's voice cackled through the communicator that was still inserted on Ranma's ear.

Ranma huffed as he stood up, his reserves still replenishing itself. He felt light, yes, but no need to be overconfident about himself. He quickly answered Emeralda's call, (""Yeah... sorry for worrying you."")

(""Ranma?"") Bart's voice replaced Emeralda's, (""You idiot! What possessed you to just go in by yourself and get all roughed up like that!"")

(""I most certainly agree with Bart's more colorful sentiments."") Citan said dryly.

Ranma snorted, (""Gee, nice to see you too."")

(""Uhm, guys? Deus is... recovering."") Billy's flat voice came through the comms.

Everyone turned their attention to the giant sized white-winged form of Deus, which was now standing upright and has this visible spectrum of violent energy cackling all over its body.

Ranma gazed at the... grotesque thing (for him) with half-lidded eyes. He commented wryly, (""Of course... bad guys always go for that ability..."") He sighed slightly, ((Geez, this reminds me of those things I fought from before, those Manticores...)) he thought to himself.

Nine shadows appeared on the ground in front of them, before nine forms of the beings known as Seraphs fell to the earth, their own weapons poised and ready to attack them. Deus had summoned them for defense, as well as provide a distraction of some sort.

(""Seraphs!"") Rico growled out.

(""They're a whole lot different than the normal Seraphs we fought outside."") Maria said in intense observation.

Fei was about to say something, but he was cut off when the Neo-Seraphs attacked without any warning, darting on each one of the Gears they were in. They quickly defended themselves when they recovered from the surprise and tried fighting back. Fei, Citan, Bart and Rico were already in equal standing with their opponents, but Maria, Billy, and Emeralda were still struggling with theirs. The Neo-Seraphs have upgraded weaponry, and their armor can now withstand a lot more damage than the normal ones from the earlier battles. They have wings that were now operational, and were being used either as shields, or as scythe-like weapons. The worst thing was that they were now able to recover damages using nanomachines.

Ranma was bewildered at the sight. The Neo-Seraphs had the uncanny resemblance with Deus' own form, so it was quite obvious as to which image they were made from. He had his own problems now, turning to regard the huge white angel. For some reason, Ranma knew that Deus was smiling smugly at him, even with its face having no form whatsoever.

Deus had just distracted Ranma's potential allies and left him to fend for himself. Crap, this hunk of white mess of things clearly developed a devious mind when it reincarnated itself.

#Ranma, are you there?# Washuu's voice in their native language cackled into Ranma's communicator, momentarily surprising the pigtailed hybrid out of his lamentations about his situation.

He quickly lifted his hand to the button that was located at his earpiece and answered, #Yeah, I'm here. What's the problem?# he asked worriedly.

A slight chuckle was heard from the other line. #Oh, nothing bad, I assure you. It's actually good news. The woman you took back with you in that cryo-pod... her body has been almost fully restored. And also... she has revived since her pulse restarted once again, but she's still in some sort of deep sleep.#

Ranma smiled, #That's great! I took care of whatever was sucking the life out of Lea's essence inside Deus, and now I'm kinda pinned at fighting the big guy. Some new forms of the Seraphs ambushed Fei and the others. Nasty things, too...#

#Ask your partner for help then.# Washuu commented.

#Eh?# Ranma said intelligently, #Now I know she's a great partner, but how can she help me in my situation? She can't transform into a ship right now since the place we're at would collapse, burying everyone here in the process, so it's a moot point.#

Washuu giggled. #No, silly! Just ask her, you'll see.#

#What? What do you mean? Hello? Washuu? You there?# Only static answered Ranma's calls. He sighed and let go of the button of his earpiece, eyeing the cabbit in front of him. For some reason, she was smiling at him with that catty smug grin of hers. Oh yeah, she was linked to him, so that's why she knew what Washuu told him to do.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Ranma said sarcastically, his red tail was visibly agitated as it was whipping itself from left to right and vice versa. He was still a bit unbelieving that his small partner could actually help him. Never mind the fact that she could transform herself into a space dreadnought…

"Miyah!" Rin-Ohki seemed to sniff as she stared right back at Deus, who was by now quite interested at the little by-play between the mortal that defied its will and the smallish little animal. It amused Deus that the animal was a whole lot smaller than those annoying natives of this planet, the Chu-Chu, therefore the creature's threat level was below zero for it.

It was perfectly understandable that Deus became slightly concerned when the small rabbit... cat... animal seemed to glow an eerie light while it hissed right up at itself. Deus idly noted that the thing's mortal master nervously backed away, therefore increasing its fear, err, interest in the occurrence. The cabbit somehow exploded into an gigantic array of crystal spires that reached Xenogears' height, before compacting itself into a semi-transparent form of a huge humanoid mecha with bulky and massive arms and legs. Instead of being smooth and sleek like Xenogears own appendages, Rin-Ohki's was more 'filled out', with lots of armor padding.

The head of the transformed cabbit was slowly molded, which seemed to be of a castle-head from those chess pieces the westerners played (in Japan, they use different pieces for their chess). The semi-transparent surface of its skin slowly hardened and gained color, which became dark blue in hue and some red and black, mixed with it. The chest cavity of the mech was more pronounced, housing three massive special cannons that were hidden in view from the outside. What these cannons are would be a secret until later. Its shoulder padding were huge as well, and has a twin set of spikes jutting out of them. When all these were done, the mech shook violently, its back suddenly exploding with eight dark blue blades before hardening into wing-like structures.

Everyone, including those that were already fighting, all paused as they gazed on the new player in the area.

Reviewing the past deeds of Rin-Ohki, she had already ingested enough rare metals and a whole lot of slave crystals that allowed her to transform into her Cabbit Ship form. The ship, however, was standard type with extra firepower that the cabbit also swiped from Washuu's laboratory from before. Compared to other cabbits, Rin-Ohki was easily one of those on top of the most advanced list, easily capable of manifesting her cabbit ship form easily.

In order to transform into something else, say, a sophisticated enhanced man-machine interface type dark blue mecha with nasty armaments, the cabbit had to eat something else to base its own form into. That's where the assimilated Alpha Weltall Gear comes into light. Using the metals and the design taken from the Gear, Rin-Ohki had broken down its components and rebuilt it into something brand new, therefore creating a new mech with a few exaggerated changes. Even though a mech was of a smaller size than that of a battleship, a mech's design was more complicated.

Cabbits were usually based on their Masters' genetic make-up, and Rin-Ohki was no different from them. She took something, like Ranma does with a technique, and improved on them. She concluded that the Alpha Weltall, although advanced and well made, wasn't enough for her or her master. She took the human-mecha interface into a whole new level, creating a direct mental link to its pilot upon activation. Also, the cockpit was 360-degree see-all terrain. It would be as if its pilot was the one who was walking, fighting, and the works.

Perfect for Rin-Ohki's master.

The only slightly bad thing about this was that every damage done to the mech was transmitted directly into the pilot's brain. This makes the mind make the injuries realistic. When the mech gets damaged, so will the pilot.

By now, everyone was openly gaping at the newly transformed cabbit, but not as surprised as Ranma. Weird enough though, Ranma had a look of intense pride mixed with his awe as he gazed at his partner.

With a loud miyah (quite weird coming form a gigantic mecha), Rin-Ohki's new form shot a silver beam from its chest, catching Ranma and pulling him into itself. The pigtailed hybrid yelped as he was tugged upwards, but he relaxed when Rin-Ohki conveyed her intentions through their mental link. The spectators watched as Ranma's lithe body was absorbed into the giant mecha's.

Fei, Bart, Citan, Rico and Billy were thinking, ((Lucky bastard! He gets all the cool stuff!))

Emeralda, Maria, and the huge pink furred Chu-Chu however, were thinking another thing, ((What a cute butt! And that tail of his just enhanced it!))

One shouldn't scoff at Maria. Although she was still a kid in the eyes of many, she had matured faster than normal girls had her age because of her position as a royal guard and pilot of Seibzehn. She can appreciate boys just fine.

Inside Rin-Ohki's newly acquired mech form, Ranma blinked when he saw everything around him, even though he knew he was inside the cockpit of the mech. As if sensing his confusion, Rin-Ohki had downloaded vital instructions and specifications on how to operate and move the machine. Wincing momentarily as he felt thousands of pinpricks that came with the knowledge into his head, Ranma's eyes widened and felt he had to whistle in appreciation.

Now that he understood how everything works, he knew that Rin-Ohki's mech form was perfectly suited for his needs. The pilot-machine interface was adopted and enhanced, which was now connected directly via the mental link between Ranma and Rin-Ohki.

Ranma lifted his hand and gazed at it. He saw his hand was over-imposed by a semi-transparent holographic image of the outer armor of the mech. The mech followed his every movement, which made Ranma grin some more. He experimented with a simple punch. The mech quickly reciprocated, and Rin-Ohki readjusted some of the lag differences to make the movement instantaneous. When Ranma punched again, the time lapse was already lost. As of the moment, Ranma and Rin-Ohki are perfectly en-synch with each other.

#Well? How is it?# Washuu's amused voice broke into Ranma's contemplation.

Ranma smiled and shook his head, saying, #Alright... so I was wrong. Wait, I just know you're dying to get the details, so I will now make Rin-Ohki send you the specifications and stuff. You'll get a kick out of this.#

#Looking forward to it!# Excitement was clearly heard from Washuu's voice before the communications fell silent again.

The radio cackled again, this time it was Citan's worried voice, (""Ranma? Are you all right? What happened?"")

(""Oh, nothing to worry about. Rin-Ohki just gave me my advance Christmas present."") Ranma said with a grin.

(""Ranma? That's so cool!"") Bart's awed voice echoed all over the cockpit.

The pigtailed hybrid chuckled to himself in amusement. Turning his attention to the semi-transparent console in front of him, he said, "Well, what are we gonna name you in this form?"

"Miyah... miyah miyah!" Rin-Ohki chirped cheerfully.

Ranma just nodded. "Okay... but why Anima Seraphim? Why not some other name like Ultimate Masher or something?"

A soft feline sigh emanated from the internal speakers inside the cockpit. "Miyaaaah..." Rin-Ohki's voice was tinted with something akin to exasperation.

The pilot just shrugged, "Alrighty then... Anima Seraphim it is. Now then... let's finish this once and for all." he said grimly as he stared at the image of the huge angelic form of Deus in front of him.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

As the euphoria of emotions about Rin-Ohki's sudden appearance died down, the battle resumed when the Neo-Seraphs attacked Fei's group once again. It would seem that Deus' spawns were in a hurry, as if they were feeling a bit of self-doubt with the appearance of the new enemy they didn't have data on.

Deus immediately launched itself towards its own rival with the intent of catching Ranma unawares. But the lumbering angel hit only air, as the Anima Seraphim (Rin-Ohki named herself that) evaded its strike effortlessly. Since the mech was directly linked into Ranma's brain, the pigtailed hybrid's own danger sense and automatic response was already in place and was executed by the mech itself as well.

The Anima Seraphim grabbed the outstretched arm that it had evaded earlier, and followed through with a simple shoulder throw that made Deus fly down to the ground with a huge crash. The whole area rocked with a small quake as it settled itself from Deus' fall. The white angel quickly stood up and howled angrily, willing its arms to become scythes. It now looked like a giant praying mantis, with lots of attitude.

Deus wasted no time as it flashed its hands towards Ranma's Gear, which was now backing out of the range of the sharp new appendages. Quickly jumping back to dodge a double downward slash from Deus, Ranma's Gear landed a bit away from the angel, falling down into a stance. The pilot quickly reviewed some of its armaments, and saw something he could use. Ranma winced a bit when he remembered how he was taught not to use weapons, but he also recalled how effective his ki-claws were against those Manticores from before. Shoving the thoughts away form his mind for the moment, Ranma called out a certain item from Rin-Ohki's subspace pocket. It turned out to be a huge bastard sword, which had the same hue as the Anima Seraphim's armor.

Ranma's huge sword met with Deus' scythes, creating a miasma of sparks as they battled against each other with their weapons.

Fei dodged another errant swipe from the Neo-Seraph that had been hounding him. His enemy however has seen better days. One of its arms had been already completely severed, its regenerative properties were exhausted to nothing. It was only a matter of time before a final attack with a combo finally caused the Seraph to crumble into dust. He quickly turned to his companions, and witnessed Citan decapitating his own Neo-Seraph with a big swipe of his Gear's sword. Bart had released a torrent of whiplashes from its own weapon, creating a mini vacuum of the Aadvari's whip that managed to pulverize the Seraph he has been battling with.

Emeralda had an easier time handling the Neo-Seraph that she was partnered with. Her Gear's own nanomachine technology was more powerful, and using it as a counter-agent to cancel her enemy's abilities, her battle had gone smoother than the others' had. Besides, her ether attacks were a force to be reckoned with. Maria had a bit of trouble at first, since the Seibzehn was weapon-based, but she used her Gear's brute strength to pummel her enemy until its regeneration was cut off. The gigantic pink Chu-Chu was alternating in using magic and physical attacks at her own enemy. As of the moment, her enemy had been dazed since she used the dance her blood had remembered. It greatly confused the Seraph, which allowed her to capitalize and lay a huge smack down on it.

Rico's Gear was almost the same as Seibzehn, minus the varied weapons array. Its brute strength was its greatest asset, and as of the moment his Gear hasn't stopped pounding on the Neo-Seraph he had been fighting. He was almost done with it too, with the Seraph already falling apart. Billy was fighting a distance battle. He's been firing ether-enhanced bullets while dodging the Neo-Seraph's ether attacks. His enemy had been riddled with holes, and with one final shot to the head, it finally dissolved into dust.

Ranma and Deus' battle was a lot more dramatic though. The pigtailed hybrid had to respect Deus and its tenacity in battle, since it has been quite a while since they started. The Anima Seraphim had suffered some damages with its armor, but so far the nanomachines Rin-Ohki had procured based on the Alpha Weltall's own kept the damages at minimum. Those scythes of Deus were sharp! He had felt them as they sliced into the armor, since Ranma could feel exactly what the Anima Seraphim had felt when it was damaged.

Ranma had already chopped Deus on the weak spot on its elbow, but Deus kept on re-growing the chopped arm back. It seemed endless, and Ranma knew that he had to keep on fighting. He probably didn't notice because of the ruckus, but he had automatically transformed into his higher form, since his hair had turned bloody red and a whole lot spikier with him staying male. This boosted his power and speed quite a bit, but Deus' ability to regenerate and cast various kinds of environmental ki attacks kept him busy.

After finishing off the Neo-Seraphs, Fei and the others settled on watching the battle. They really wanted to help, but seeing Deus and Ranma fight as almost non-existent blurs really dampened their moods. Sure, their mech can move fast, but THAT fast?

The pigtailed hybrid growled as he broke away from an encounter with Deus, his sword gleaming against the soft light inside the place they were in. He couldn't see where everyone was, but he was sure they were safe. He also accepted their respect of his honor-battle with Deus. Ranma frowned as he felt that this battle was like fighting with several Manticores simultaneously. He still has a lot of power, but so does Deus. The only thing that could probably break this deadlock was if he could somehow slow Deus long enough for him to blast the holy heck out of the white angel thingie, or he could also go to just laying down and die. But of course, he would NEVER accept the last one.

Slightly shaking his head from the thoughts, Ranma lifted his sword and fell into a stance once again, mentally tallying all the battle tactics he had amassed all through the years, especially the ones where he fought Saffron and the Manticores since they regenerate. He then concluded that it would be all about speed. He quickly leapt into battle again, with his sword raised high in the air.

Deus dodged to the right, but it caught the incoming leg sweep that followed Ranma's sword swipe. The giant fell on the ground, and was impaled by the huge sword. Deus couldn't comprehend how a mere mortal could keep up with it in terms of a struggle for power, but it would seem that it severely underestimated the red-tailed mortal that it loathed. Deus realized that it stayed down too long, since it just felt a huge ki blast smashing its right shoulder into paste. Standing up a bit wobbly, the angelic being willed its regeneration, but was surprised when the process was severely hampered. The tissues of its shoulder were mending a lot slower than it was earlier. And unfortunately for Deus, Ranma had noticed it.

(""Hmmm... you're finally slowing down."") Ranma commented through the external speakers installed in his mech.

Deus' voice outside its body was a mixture of several male voices blended in one. (""Even if it does seem that way, I could still beat you easily. You're only mortal. You will tire soon."") it said with conviction.

Ranma said nothing as he willed the Anima Seraphim to lurch forward, his sword poised at his side as he raced towards Deus. The inter-dimensional weapon swiped its scythes parallel to the ground, cleaving the air like a pair of giant scissors. The scythes hit nothing but air, catching Deus flatfooted. It found that Ranma had ducked underneath the path of the scythes and was already positioned for an upward double-handed slash. The move was executed flawlessly, cutting Deus into half.

Deus had expected itself to regenerate, but was surprised when only a feeling of intense pain filled its being. An unadulterated scream filled the air, surprising the heck out of everyone. Ranma looked at the writhing parts of Deus on the ground, quite unsure what had happened. Ranma thought Deus could stand up again after that strike, but it's not. He spied a small blob of cut flesh at the upper part of the chest cavity, which was dirty white in color that made it a bit different from the rest of its body. It was glowing before, but it faded fast as the body halves convulsed some more.

(""That was... anti-climatic."") Ranma's dry voice cackled across the communications, inducing some stifled chuckles from everyone.

Their laughter was rudely interrupted, when a sudden influx of quakes rocked the place they were in.

(""I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy!"") Fei retorted as the ground shook harder.

Citan quickly added, (""We have to get out of this place!"")

Bart snorted. (""No, duh!"") he said sarcastically. He still signaled the Yggdrasil IV to come and get them though.

(""Master Bart, are you all right?"") Sigurd's concerned voice came through the comms.

(""Yeah Sig..."") Bart's tired voice replied, (""We just need to get outta here. Deus had one final gift for us."")

(""We are in position."") Sigurd said, (""Just jump unto the Yggdrasil's deck as soon as we pass by."")

Sounds of approval commenced all over. After a few minutes of painful waiting, Yggdrasil appeared out of the clouds that surrounded the small floating island they were in and stopped a few feet from the surface. It was high enough for a Gear to jump unto. Fei's Xenogears jumped on the deck and settled there, but Fei noticed that no one was following him after a good five minutes.

(""Hey, what's wrong?"") Fei asked his companions as their Gears stood unmoving at the floating land's surface.

Rico growled out, (""My Gear won't budge anymore."")

Citan sighed loudly, (""The Zohar Modifier has ceased functioning. That is probably the reason why our Gears cannot move anymore. There is only a slight energy response coming from the core now."")

Suddenly, the remains of the organism started shaking and sparks of electricity started emanating out of it. Tendrils of white stuff started to move and slither into the ground.

Bart's eyes widened at the sight. (""W-what the? What's happening!"")

Fei looked around in askance, greatly worried about his friends left on the island. (""Doc! What's going one? What's wrong?"")

Citan grimaced at the results of his analysis. (""I am now detecting a tremendous amount of energy coming from within Deus. It seems as if something that was sealed up till now has suddenly been freed and is growing enormously..."")

Fei looked at the organism in horror. (""It couldn't be... the 'Wave Existence'!"")

Bart asked, (""The 'Wave Existence'?"")

Fei nodded, (""That's gotta be it. The 'Wave Existence' was just freed from its 'cage of fleshly existence' in Zohar. It's probably attempting to return to the higher dimension that it originally came from."")

Ranma's voice cut into the conversation, (""Zohar did succeed in ascending, but it had a profound effect of isolating an angry Deus. As it was trying to escape, Deus held a tight grip on its own existence because of the energy I gave it, as well as gaining some more because of the split. As a result, Deus is now trying to recover by assimilating everything it touches, using whatever power left from the charge I gave him and the tremendous amount it just received a while ago."")

(""Which means... this is the after-effect of the dimensional shift!"") Citan asked worriedly.

Rico commented, (""What do you mean... 'after-effect'!"")

Citan explained, (""It is like a shock wave that is induced by the dimensional displacement. But... so much energy! And Deus has absorbed that same energy..."")

(""What will happen, doc! Tell us!"") Fei demanded.

Citan said in resignation, (""Then it is as Ranma had said. This planet will be annihilated! These numbers indicate that it has more than enough energy to take out a whole planet through assimilation!"")

Chu-Chu gasped, ""Whatchu mean!""

Bart smacked his hand against the console in front of him, (""You can't be serious!"")

Billy stared blankly at the sight of Deus' white substance slowly engulfing in the floating island. (""We fought so hard... only to see this happen...!"")

Fei clenched his fists in anger, (""Isn't there... isn't there anything we can do? Can't we stop the after-effect!"")

Citan shook his head sadly, (""Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do... Almost all machinery, including our Gears, are out of commission due to Zohar being shut down. This time, there is nothing we can do. To put it to you straight... this is the end for us!"")

Bart spat out, (""This is freaking stupid! How the hell could it all end like this! What were we all fighting for up to now!"")

A loud metallic sound of something being cut echoed all over the battle field. Everyone saw the Anima Seraphim slamming its sword into the ground, before slicing its way across the land between the unmoving Gears and Deus' rampaging assimilation.

Before it could cut the whole portion where the Gears were completely, Ranma's voice can be heard from the comms, (""Fei, take the unmoving Gears into the ship, NOW!"")

(""What? But Ranma, I..."") Fei began.

(""Shut up! I don't need to hear anything from you right now!"") Ranma said sharply, (""Just do what I say, or do you want to see them die just because you hesitated! Your Gear is the only one working, so make sure you damn well use it!"")

Fei sputtered for a moment, before resigning to Ranma's order. Quickly going back and forth on the small islet and the Yggdrasil's deck with one Gear in Xenogears arms per travel, the whole process took at least ten minutes. Ranma was screaming death threats at Fei all the time to keep him motivated, and it helped well.

Finally seeing that everyone was safe, Ranma nodded to himself inside the Anima Seraphim and sliced the whole islet completely, severing the small connection between the Yggdrasil IV and the island Deus stole from the ground.

(""Ranma! What the hell are you doing!"") Bart asked angrily, cursing himself as his Gear remained motionless on the Yggdrasil's deck.

Ranma's calm voice returned, (""I'm doing what I must. Deus is like this because of the energy I unwittingly gave it a while ago, and now I intend to finish this."")

(""You idiot! I'm coming with you!"") Fei shouted.

(""Just stop and stay there!"") Ranma said harshly, (""This is not your fight anymore. This is my responsibility. Your responsibility is keeping the Yggdrasil and the people onboard all the protection they need, since the Gears have no power anymore! Elly is also waiting for you inside! Have you forgotten about her!"")

Fei growled out, (""Of course not! But I can't leave you too!"")

A mirthful chuckle can be heard from the comms, (""Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. I will finish this."")

(""Ranma-sama!"") Emeralda cried out desperately.

(""Feh, don't worry Emeralda."") Ranma's confident voice said, (""I will come back."")

(""Ranma-chan."") Washuu's voice came through, startling Ranma and the rest of the people a bit.

(""Come on, quit worrying!"") Ranma said cheerfully, (""I'm coming back!"")

(""I will wait for you, Ranma-sama. I trust you."") Vanilla's soft voice said.

(""Vanilla..."") Ranma began.

("You better get back here soon, Ranma...") Meia's stern voice was laced with concern as she communicated in Japanese, ("A lot of angry people will be waiting.")

Ranma shook his head and said, ("Yes...")

Another powerful quake rocked the island, causing the Yggdrasil to force itself to back away, lest some debris would fly and hit the ship's outer armor.

(""Go on, go now..."") Ranma said, (""I'll handle this... it's my responsibility."")

(""Good luck, Ranma-chan."") Washuu whispered into the comms, before it died down. The Yggdrasil IV swerved away from the island and made a 180, flying away from it.

After watching his friends inside the battleship fly away to safety, Ranma turned to his problem at hand, that was to handle Deus' final efforts to remain in control of the situation. It dawned to Ranma that Deus would've had a failsafe mechanism that would be activated once it would be near death.

"Miyah..." His partner, Rin-Ohki, had asked worriedly to him mentally as they gazed on the path of destruction their target wreaked across the small patch of land it has taken from the ground.

"Yeah..." Ranma nodded absently, "This is gonna be a big problem. If Deus can't be destroyed here, it will spread all over the planet, wiping out everything that lives. It doesn't help that the mecha are not useable anymore."

Rin-Ohki's face appeared in front of him, as one of the spherical silver crystals that were usually visible in the cabbit's ship mode materialized suddenly. The cabbit's furry face was projected by the crystal, which was bobbing up and down a bit as the cabbit noised, "Miyah... miyah miyah miyah..."

Ranma looked at the sphere in speculation, "Are you sure we can pull it off? I mean, we could probably do it better in battleship mode, but that isn't gonna be an option right now. You say you've already installed THAT weapon into the mech, but can we handle it?"

"Miyah!" The cabbit answered in irritation.

Ranma shook his head rapidly, "No... I don't mean it like that. I do have faith in you and your abilities, but what if something goes wrong?"

Out of nowhere, a white tendril reached out and latched around Anima Seraphim's leg, causing it to stumble and fall flat on its back, losing its grip on its sword in the process. The huge dark blue sword vanished as Ranma's concentration wavered from it, since he was now frantically trying to set himself and Rin-Ohki free. Unlucky for him, other tendrils from Deus wrapped themselves around various parts of the mech's body, effectively immobilizing him. Ranma thought of going out and try to free them himself, but Rin-Ohki warned him about the perils of going out without knowing how strong the enemy in this new development was. Ranma pouted and settled on allowing Anima Seraphim to struggle amongst its bonds.

To Ranma's further dismay, a portal suddenly appeared just above the main 'body' of Deus. A small figure of a man with white wings at his back flew out of it, and remained floating atop Deus' slithering form. The angelic man looked around, and spotted Ranma and his mech wrapped by the white stuff.

The man quickly flapped his wings and flew closer to the Anima Seraphim, allowing Ranma to get a good look of him. The angelic man was nude, but was not bothered by it. He also has unbound white hair that flapped against the wind. The angel stopped just above the Anima Seraphim and looked curiously at it for a moment, before his face turned into a deep scowl as he crossed his arms across his chest imperiously.

Inside the cockpit, Ranma shook his head as he let the controls go and phased out of the mech and stood just above its chest cavity. He returned the scowl back to the angel

The man was momentarily stunned at the sudden appearance of the pilot without any movements from the Gear, but he quickly shook the feeling and composed himself. ""The 'Path of Sephirot' has been connected. No one can stop god from returning to his world now. So why do you still resist, mortal?"" The man said.

Ranma squinted his eyes as he suddenly recognized the man in front of him. ""Hey, I know you don't I? I saw you back at that cave thing when Deus activated.""

The man nodded. ""I was once known as Krelian. Now, I'm of a higher being, granted by the powers of Deus.""

Ranma snorted as he waved the explanation without consideration. ""I came here to protect everyone on this planet. You do realize what's going to happen, don't you? The Deus' system is already half-destroyed. I'm gonna finish the job. Now, what are you hoping to achieve now?""

Krelian replied, ""The time when all things started... the place where all things were one... I am going there!""

Ranma cocked his head to one side. ""Eh? What place?""

Krelian rolled his eyes in disgust. ""Before the beginning of the universe, in the undulating waves of the higher dimension, all things were one. It was the waves spilling out from there that created this four dimensional universe of ours. 'Humankind' and the 'Souls of Humankind' that were born from there, are merely leftovers of those spilled waves. So...""

The pigtailed man interrupted, ""Blah, blah, blah... so you're going back there to where ever it was you wanna go? Is that what you wanted?""

The winged man looked ar Ranma intently. ""Mortal... why such resistance to recognize the power of god? The god has deemed this world unfit and unworthy, hence it decided to destroy everything and restart evolution. What attachment could you possibly have to this wretched old world? What meaning can be found in living out such a short existence... hurting others, hurting yourself, grinding one another down... only to inevitably die and return to dust? Why, everything we could ever desire is here... No need to be troubled by the need for love, for this place is filled with the love of god.""

Ranma stared at Krelian incredulously, ""What the heck's that about? Killing innocents just so to prove a point? Where's the love in that? Unlike you, I have not lost hope in humans as much as you have, Krelian... Someday humankind will come to understand one another! I sincerely believe that! Besides, emotions make a human, human. Strife makes everyone stronger in the end. Humans will learn to comprehend these things by their own. They don't need some god to force feed them the information.""

Krelian asked quizzically, ""How can you be so sure? Humans will never come to understand each other. All humans do is place themselves at a comfortable distance from each other and call that 'mutual understanding', 'spiritual unity', or 'true love'... but it is all lies! Man cannot associate with others without first deceiving himself. That is the way that they were created.""

""Who are you to judge?"" Ranma retorted, ""You don't have the right to judge anyone. Gods exist only to watch and observe, and maybe throw a bit of help here and there. But reshaping a whole planet just because they have emotions and the free will? Get real.""

Krelian scoffed, ""And what if that 'Will' itself was predetermined? What then? Oh what folly! Humans are just primitive life forms that have no such thing as free will. Mankind has merely been allowed to live in an imperfect state... "as is", "as will be". It is for this very reason... because humans have this wretched 'will' or whatnot... that humans must experience sadness and loss. For someone to gain something means another must lose it. It is impossible to make humankind share limited "things" and "affections". So I came to the conclusion that everything must be reverted back to where it all began. To go back to when all was one... waves, and nothing else. It is not my 'Human's' ego. It is the will of the 'Waves'... the will of -god-...""

""You're just making justifications for you actions."" Ranma said simply, ""'Will of god'? That's just an excuse for you to act like you are right now. But if we really think about it, you're just hiding from your own insecurities. You've probably experienced pain and loss in the past that you ran away from it. Along the way, your priorities were still there, but the path had become twisted. Nobody's perfect, heck even gods aren't perfect. Free will was given to mortals so that they may be able to forge their own destinies. Relying on the actions of god and other stupidly superstitious things makes mortals depended on such promises. Mortals are supposed to go past that stage and 'grow up'.""

Krelian sighed loudly. ""Well then, prove it to me. Show me this power of humans! Show me this 'love' that you say can make you independent of god...""

Suddenly, a large woman at least 50 feet tall with wings and a snake tail appeared. Ranma grimaced while quickly phasing back into Anima Seraphim, as the bonds that held it down dissolved into white goo and was reabsorbed into the ground.

#By the way, Krelian...# Anima Seraphim's external speakers emulated Ranma's voice, #I was never fully mortal to being with. I am a great contradiction to my own existence.#

Turning his attention to Rin-Ohki's face on the crystal sphere floating beside him, he said, "Well, this is a good enough time to test that weapon you've been raving about, Rin-chan."

"MIYAH!" The sphere cried out happily. The whole cockpit glowed as the mech siphoned more power from the red-haired Ranma. The pigtailed hybrid agitatedly weaveled his red tail behind him as he fed more energy into Rin-Ohki as he was instructed earlier.

Krelian was slightly disturbed when the dark blue mech went rigid, since he could feel a large build-up of power form within it. He saw the chest area of the mech open all of the sudden, revealing three giant multi-colored orbs that were glowing as of the moment. Black lightning arched all over the Anima Seraphim's body and gathered at the middle of the trio of orbs at its chest. The mech's hands came together on the chest, cupping something out of thin air.

To Krelian's surprise, a black orb of some kind appeared in the middle of the cupped hands, black lightning angrily crackling all over its surface. It was midnight black, and not even sunlight can pass through it. The sight made Krelian nervous.

#Well, Krelian... I have to finish this quick, or there'll be no planet to save. So take this. BLACK HOLE CLUSTER, FIRE!# Ranma bellowed as he willed the black ball to propel itself towards the enemy.

The giant winged woman was frozen in her tracks as the crackling dark ball of gravity rocketed towards her. When it reached her body, there was no sound but the ominous humming noise as the ball expanded into a ten foot miniature black hole, that sucked large bits of rock and other debris lying around the area. The winged woman tried her best to claw her way out of the trap, but it was inevitable. The gravitational force of the strongest spatial distortion in the universe overwhelmed her. Her silent screams were never heard, since even the sound was sucked into the black hole relentlessly. When her body was fully engulfed by the hole, it quickly collapsed into itself, which avoided further damage on its surroundings.

Inside Anima Seraphim's cockpit, Ranma gaped at the power of the attack. "Geez, Rin-chan! You weren't kidding about it! And it's only at six percent of its full power?"

The sphere bobbed happily once again. "Miyah!"

Their impromptu celebration was halted when Krelian's shocked voice filtered into the internal speakers, ""Wh-what? What was that?""

Ranma phased out of Rin-Ohki's cockpit, once more confronting Krelian on the air as he levitated beside the winged man. ""A sample of the power mortals 'could' potentially have."" the pigtailed hybrid said seriously. ((He doesn't need to know that I'm probably half-divine... I'm still not sure what to do with what Chaos explained to me.))

""I see..."" Krelian replied somberly. Out of the blue, the whole area shook, causing Ranma and Krelian to look towards Deus' main body. It was quivering, as if it was angry.

""I need to destroy it completely."" Ranma declared softly.

Krelian nodded. ""I know. I won't object. It would seem that trying to create god by my own hands have been one disaster after another."" he said, shaking his head. He turned and flapped his wings, towards the direction where Deus was.

Ranma's yellow pupils and blue-gray eyes widened significantly. ""Where the hell are you going!"" His tail started lashing out behind him.

Krelian stopped in midair, hovering, ""Since that time I decided to make god with these hands, I have stopped being human. I have committed so many sins that any attempt at living as a human is impossible. The only one who could have forgiven me is god.""

The pigtailed hybrid shook his head. ""Aren't there people that cared enough to try and stop you from losing yourself into this madness? What about Fei, and Elly?""

The winged man shook his head. ""I cannot go. It is something I have already decided. I'm going to walk with god, even if there is no place left for me upon my return.""

Ranma sighed sadly, nodding, ""Fine... I'll tell them what you said.""

Krelian smiled slightly, but his back was turned to Ranma so the red-tailed young man couldn't see his face. ""Thank you. I must say, you're something else. If I think about it, you must be a god in mortal form."" he said in amusement, before spreading his wings once more and sped towards Deus.

With some reluctance, Ranma had teleported into Anima Seraphim's cockpit once more. He knew that he was about to take another step into becoming a full-pledged warrior.

Sure, he knew that he already crossed that line, but Saffron was threatening the life of someone he cared about. Somehow, the situation he was facing right now seemed parallel to each other, wings and all, but the difference was that Krelian already knew what he did wrong. Now, despite the acknowledgement of his mistakes, Krelian chose to die willingly.

Ranma was in a tight spot. But he also knew what Krelian was talking about. No matter how hard the man tried to reintroduce himself into society, there will always be that part in the minds of those who were affected by his actions that will never forget, and forgive.

Instead of facing that predicament and causing more damage, Krelian chose to disappear. Ranma knew he wasn't in the position to judge this man's death, but Krelian gave him the power to save or damn him.

Cursing silently to himself, Ranma finally decided what he was going to do. He wasn't going to disrespect the man's decision just because he felt it wasn't right. Ranma vowed to himself that he was never going to forget this man's bravery. Despite having the option to live on, Krelian chose to sacrifice himself for the bit of order that could be accomplished by it.

The pigtailed hybrid was probably the only one who could understand what Krelian was going through.

Saffron was a whole lot different from this man, and Ranma felt sick at what he was about to do. Still, Ranma will not ignore Krelian's plea.

Charging up his newly discovered attack up to ten percent of its full power, he held it in the mech's chest for a while. He glanced at the white blob that was the form of Deus. Ranma knew Krelian had disappeared into the white mess, and apparently the winged man's mind was made up in leaving the mortal realm behind. Without another word, Ranma released a black hole once more, this time hitting Deus directly in the middle.

The whole area was rocked with huge quakes, before it was crumbled into the sixty-foot wide black hole that appeared. Deus' useless struggles were forever silenced when the black hole closed into itself, sealing the huge miasma of gravitational energy around the 'god' with finality.

Only the soft swirl of clouds remained, as well as the floating form of the Anima Seraphim.

With its victory, the Anima Seraphim opened air hatches all over its body. Steam pushed out of the vents as the cooling system started. As soon as all of the steam disappeared, the vents closed once again. With its deed done, the Anime Seraphim fell bonelessly towards the ground.

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To be continued...

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Author Rants:

It got too long! For some weird reason, I forgot its length! It's around 190K, although I'm not really regretful for it, just tremendously surprised. I enjoyed writing this chapter, since I was able to add Evil Zone to the crossovers. It's a good chapter.

To those who might complain about why Ranma went to confront Deus...

Instead of allowing Grahf to be absorbed into Deus, Ranma let his energy get sucked into the stone slab. Ranma felt responsible for giving Deus way too much power, which I think made sense.

I would've done the same thing.

Xenogears side arc will be concluded in the next chapter.

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Galaxy Angels (Vanilla)  
- Vandread (Meia)  
- Tenchi Muyo, Ryo-Ohki! (Washuu)  
- Xenogears (Everyone in it, too long to list)  
- Evil Zone (Ihadurca/Lea!)

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	16. Chapter 8a

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... probably two to three chapters more, and Arc 1's done.

This is a Ranma/Saber Marionette J crossover chappie, folks! The timeline is AFTER Lorelei was saved, and BEFORE the special season where the marionettes were transformed into human (which was quite weird, but hey, it's their anime).

Oh, and if anyone's gonna be interested, Ranma's gonna be in another planet, although it's a few cameos only. He's going to be in planet Zi, as in the Zoids planet Zi. He'll arrive there during the last parts of the war for the power of the Zoid Eve. The main cast of that leg of the Zoids saga was Van, Fiona, Zeke... etc. But the Zoids crew will be almost non-existent in this fic, but would probably be mentioned here and there. Or in any case, they'd probably be implied in the next chapter, when it finally focuses back on Ranma's travels.

There's going to be a lot of Ranma's presence at the beginning paragraphs, but he'll disappear near the end. Someone might ask why Ranma disappeared at the end, so this might explain it.

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into the weirdness.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http(colon)/shihanna(dot)tripod(dot)com) and St Longinus (email apasco at sbcglobal dot net) for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 8A - HOME, HOME ON THE RANGE... BUT FIRST!

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In the highest level of the Heavenly Plane...

"He can now travel through dimensions, albeit in accidental and weird circumstances..." Hild remarked wryly as she glanced towards the man that handled everything in Existence from the beginning of Awareness itself.

Kami-sama, or Deus as his ancient name denoted, was currently analyzing the situation at hand via his computer. "That was... unexpected. I was hoping to control his movements with it. It seemed that Ranma's chaotic tendencies have awakened far too early. But that was the one thing expected of Chaos. He can never be tied down by control of any kind." he said as he leaned forwards his seat, resting his elbows on the massive table inside his office. He held his chin with his hands as he idly navigated through the information being filtered from tracking Ranma's progress.

Hild snorted and said, "What about the other enemies... the Titans, or Ancient Gods?"

Deus shook his head. "So far, the shield Chaos-niisan brought up ages ago still held them in. But I don't know for how long. They've intensified their efforts to punch through the barrier lately, since the appearance of the Manticore and Carrions proved that point."

"Hmmm... Washuu made another set of three limiters for Ranma here. Isn't that a bit too much? Ranma-chan's already filled with five limiters right now." Hild noised as she pointed at a certain re-run of the scene where Ranma and his companions were about to test the pigtailed young man's new battle armor. Hild almost whistled as to how cool Ranma's new armor meshed well with his personality.

Deus groaned. "That's not such a good idea, but it's necessary."

Hild looked at Deus in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Kami-sama held up one finger, saying, "One word: Saiyajin."

Hild cocked her head to one side. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

The Being of Order sighed as he settled back to his seat. "One thing you have to admire about Saiyajins is their ability for their strength and ki levels to skyrocket when they're the underdogs. They are basically almost like the Earthling's origins. They came from the basic Ape-man, then developed into species that walk on two legs. As you can see, they still have their tails. They developed physically, instead of intellectually like the other beings in the universe. They're not as stupid as expected, since they are excellent battle technicians. That's why they're perfect soldiers. Their planet, the Vegeta-sei, is a planet with a gravity rating a lot higher than Earth. Walking along the surface of their planet is a training regimen to them. It's a natural kind of 'limiter'. And that's also why they're so strong."

Seeing that his companion hasn't gotten his point yet, Deus continued, "Ranma has Saiyajin blood in him. Each of his limiters weigh at least ten thousand pounds each. Add them all and we got an approximate total of around fifty thousand pounds. He flies, he walks, he runs, he eats, and he fights with those limiters on most the time. To add an effect, Washuu installed self-programming limiters, meaning, the limiters increase in strength as Ranma grows in strength as well. With his other powers, imagine what would happen when he removes those limiters."

"Ack." Hild noised as she stared dumbly at Deus.

"Yes, 'ack'." Deus said flatly.

Hild violently shook her head. "Don't we, like, need to stop that from happening?"

Deus just shrugged indifferently. "Won't matter anyhow. Disallowing the use of the limiters will just temporarily hamper the power surge. Ranma WILL live for a long time you know, so it's definitely a lost cause. Besides, Ranma IS a Heretic of Heaven. He'd probably be less than accommodating with my meddling anytime in the future."

"Shit." Hild summed up the entire situation.

Deus winced, "Avoid swearing, Hild. But yes, that about sums it all up. Especially WHEN he reaches this place. I'd reckon he'd have some bone to pick with us, toying with his life."

Hild glared at Deus. "This is all your fault, baka."

The Heavens shook as Hild's Mjollnir X hit Deus squarely at the crown of his head, causing his face to smack down to the ground. The whole conversation was heralded to a close when a fuming Hild stormed out of the Heavenly Office's doors, intent on giving herself a break from Kami-sama's idiocy.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Dreams were some of the more wonderful things people tend to try and enjoy as they continue their slumber at night. Ranma had few good dreams in his life, and one of his favorites was currently 'Now Showing'.

As of the moment, he sat in the middle of darkness, which was only marred by the huge kaleidoscope that showed various parts of his life. The biggest scene was in front of him, which he had enjoyed watching so far.

It was a scene where Nodoka Saotome had a baby version of Ranma cradled lovingly in her arms. She was cooing baby noises at the child, which made the small bundle gurgle happily. It was a bright sunny day, and the view where Nodoka was sitting on the veranda with her baby was magnificent to look at.

With his tail slowly 'wagging' behind him, Ranma smiled warmly at the sight, his old memories of his mother really lightened the load on his shoulders. Even though Nodoka wasn't really his biological mother, she did carry him in her womb and became a loving surrogate.

Thoughts of his 'Nodoka-mama' made him think about his real mother. From the stories gathered from those who had met her, Ranma knew his real mother, Tokimi, was ruthless to her enemies. And to his understanding, somehow, he knew that she was looking for him. That was the most probable reason Tokimi was on a warpath anyway, and on some instinctive level, Ranma knew it. Even though they never met, Ranma felt that his mother loved him, so much that she was willing to rip the universe apart just to find him.

The scene abruptly changed into the deep recesses of space. The whole area became the view of millions of stars and a few nearby planets, with Ranma floating leisurely along. Ranma finally realized how attracted to space he was. Even back in his own timeline, he was always looking at the stars at night. He had always been yearning to go there, but he wasn't so sure if it was instinctive or something.

The stars twinkled endlessly in front of him, giving Ranma a small sense of security, until the whole scene became hazy once again, before turning into a room full of... carrots?

Carrots? How the heck did... huh?

Now the whole area was filled with ice cream, cakes, some flying unicorns... no, he wouldn't even think about that. What was really weird was that there was some sort of a shrine atop a small hill at the middle of the world he was in.

When Ranma got closer, he vaguely saw a golden statue of... him? But something was a bit different from his features, like those longer floppy ears and instead of his long furry tail, there was this ball of what he thinks was 'fluff' stuck at his backside.

Before he could even try to begin to understand why his image was here, he was pulled back from that world by some voices talking all around him. The whole scene became hazy before the darkness replaced it.

And those damn noises were getting quite annoying for him!

With that, Ranma opened his eyes and immediately shut them closed again. The light was so bright! It was then that he also realized he was sleeping a while ago.

((Hmmm... carrots. Must be Rin-Ohki... I'm kinda curious about the statue though...)) Ranma thought to himself. He blearily looked around, and saw Emeralda, Vanilla, Elly and Primera talking animatedly with each other off to the side of the bed he was on. Well, Primera was actually showing her small pad that she was carrying around since she still has a bit of trouble talking normally, but she sometimes responded in soft but halting sentences. Nevertheless, Primera was doing great progress with her speech problems, since it has been way too long since she last spoke.

The whole group was in a small white room, probably the Yggdrasil IV's medical ward, and was barely holding them all inside with some of the instruments lying around.

Ranma immediately assessed what had happened from before. He remembered how he was in the middle of this big battle against Deus, and Rin-Ohki was transformed into that huge dark blue mecha that he rode to beat the gigantic angel form of Deus. He looked around for his partner, and found Rin-Ohki at the base of the bed he was on, sleeping peacefully.

Ranma smiled gently at her, even though he knew Rin-Ohki wouldn't be able to see it. He was extremely grateful at the help she gave him during that fight.

The pigtailed hybrid noticed something weird. His body was smaller than it should've been. He raised his arms and saw he was right. He was reverted into a six year old child form, which was even younger than the age prior to that incident with the mushroom thingie with Ryoga. Ranma surmised that he must've been severely drained for his body to revert into that state. Although, he wondered why he wasn't in his female form as well, since that's the first form he would revert into before his age does. He was now dressed only in his black body suit, which was for the best since it adjusted itself to his current body size.

Ranma's self-examination brought the girls' attention to him though, as they stopped talking when they noticed Vanilla stared at something, or someone. The other girls followed Vanilla's line of sight, since they wondered why the red-eyed albino stiffened in her seat. They all saw Ranma, who was now wide awake and was taking stock of his own body parts... probably.

""You're awake!"" Elly shouted, while Primera showed him a page of her pad that said, ""It's good that you are okay!""

Emeralda was silent, but what she couldn't say in words, she did with actions. The pale green haired young woman stood from her chair and flung her arms around the hapless Chibi-Ranma, who eeped in surprise. Elly and Primera blinked when they noticed that Vanilla was already cuddled on Chibi-Ranma's other side of his body. They hadn't seen the girl move at all.

""Ack! Okay! I'm alright! Can't breathe!"" Chibi-Ranma gasped as he felt two forces embracing the air out of his body. When the two girls heard his plea, they sheepishly eased on their hugs but still held him. Ranma even saw their eyes flash with tears for a moment, before they buried their heads on opposite sides of his small chest. He decided to endure their affections, since he knew he's a sucker for women crying. Even Elly and Primera were quite worried about him, since he could see the beginnings of black rings around their eyes, probably from lack of sleep.

""Uhhmm... what happened?"" He asked, gulping at the sight of the girls eyeing him from every angle. From his child body's point of view, the stares were pretty intimidating. He really didn't plan it, but when he asked his question, his voice turned all squeaky and cute, causing the girls to gush at him.

After going through a series of hugs and coos from the amorous females, someone finally answered his question.

Bless the gods for... no, scratch that. Gods are icky. Ranma just thanked his luck for having Elly there to explain things somehow.

""We panicked when we saw that floating island disappear right out of the air."" Elly began, holding back her laughter as she watched Ranma being smothered in affection, much to the boy's dismay, ""When we went to see what happened, and we found this really weird Gear that was lying face down on the ground below where the floating island was positioned earlier. We thought it was you, since Lady Washuu was going on about how great Rin-Ohki was.""

""Great..."" Ranma mumbled loudly, ""She must be screaming guinea pig by now.""

Elly nodded with a bit of speculation on her face, ""Yeah, she was. What's up with that?""

Ranma sighed morosely, ""Believe me, you don't want to know.""

""Err... okay."" Elly sweatdropped at the extremely dejected look on Chibi-Ranma's face. If it wasn't so bleak, she would've found the gesture extremely cute on the boy. Beside her, Primera just sat there, confused.

""Besides..."" Ranma said a second later, looking up to Elly's face, ""I was curious as to what happened when I lost consciousness.""

The red-haired former Solarian soldier shivered slightly as she gazed at those eyes of his. Even if Ranma was in child form, his eyes were chilling at the combination of yellow pupils and blue-gray. A normal person's eyes should've had a white colored membrane surrounding the pupils, but Ranma's were blue-gray totally, and instead of normal colored hues of pupils normal people have, Ranma had yellow. Ones that kept on glowing a bit every time he was serious.

""Hello?"" Ranma waved his little hands in front of Elly's line of sight. He was still buried underneath the bundle of female arms of Emeralda and Vanilla, and it was quite a feat that his short stubby arms could actually do what he intended them to accomplish in the first place.

Elly blinked and blushed a bit, as she saw Ranma's curious face peering at her. She became too preoccupied by her own thoughts that she had almost forgotten to answer the boy's question.

Breathing in a slowly, she started to explain, ""Well, when we reached the Gear you were in, it suddenly shrank down into Rin-Ohki, who was unconscious, but not before spitting you out in a flashy ball of light. We were quite surprised when you came out as a female child, and Lady Washuu took the liberty of transforming you back to male by hot water. She said that you were still leery about your female form.""

""And what about Deus?"" Ranma asked expectantly.

""It's gone, the whole floating island, the white blob... everything. Oh, and we got a surprise of our life when that girl you found in that ship's wreckage woke up around after the floating land disappeared. It turns out she wasn't as dead as we thought."" Elly giggled slightly.

""The first thing she said when she awakened was your name. She was looking for you."" Vanilla said in a soft voice, her face still buried on Ranma's chest.

""It's not my fault!"" Ranma whined, which was quite effective with his current body. He suddenly felt guilty at Vanilla's statement, born out of his experiences in his home world.

Emeralda looked at him as she slowly disengaged from the three-way hug between her, Ranma and Vanilla, and asked, ""Why so defensive? We are not angry with you.""

""Sorry..."" Ranma muttered, ""I got used to being blamed all the time. Somehow, it became a self-preservation thing.""

""Anyway..."" Elly continued, ""The others are waiting for you in the Excalibur as we speak. I think they're talking to woman you rescued.""

Ranma shrugged. ""Her name's Lea, and she's from some other world.""

""Yes..."" Elly agreed, ""And she likes you.""

Chibi-Ranma hung his head, ""Yeah... I kinda figured that back when I met with her inside Deus."" He blinked when he saw the girls staring at him with wide eyes.

""What?"" Ranma asked curiously.

""Good grief. I thought you were just plain ignorant! So you DO notice those things!"" Elly crowed with mirth as Vanilla and Emeralda continued to stare at the boy (for the moment).

Ranma bristled, ""Hey! It's not my fault I was raised solely for the purpose of fighting, ya know! And I do notice those things, even..."" He trailed off, but he looked meaningfully at Emeralda and Vanilla plaintively.

""Please do forgive us with the presumptions Master Ranma, but you cannot blame us as well with our conclusions regarding your feelings on the matter."" Vanilla explained.

Emeralda nodded in agreement with Vanilla, ""We do not know what to think, or what you would feel when you find out...""

Chibi-Ranma sighed, ""We'll cross the bridge when we get there. Right now, I want to find some way to go home first, before I even consider deciding on the matter. But just to settle whatever thoughts you have about it, I care for you two as much as I care for Ryoko. Call it protectiveness, call it love, I don't care. It's probably love, or very very close to it. So for now, we have to concentrate on going back home since I have another girl waiting for me who must've been very lonely, especially since she allowed herself to stay in suspended animation. I heard she locked herself in suspended animation and left Aunt Washuu to find me. So now...""

""We understand completely, Ranma-sama."" Vanilla said contemplatively, ""Please know that we have all the time in the universe, you know that very well.""

""Gee, you think?"" Ranma deadpanned.

Primera and Elly giggled uncontrollably as Emeralda and Vanilla looked at him in exasperation.

Their laughter was cut off when the door to the miniature infirmary opened, revealing the group of people that came through the battle. Everyone's faces lit up when they saw Ranma already awake. Citan immediately went to check the electronic monitors around Ranma, while Fei, Bart, Billy, Margie, Rico, Maria, and Sigurd went around the bed, congratulating Ranma on his quick recovery. Fei's father Kahn stood behind his son, thanking Ranma profusely for saving him from Deus' wrath.

Trailing behind the group was Washuu and Meia, who were escorting a tall platinum blue haired woman with deep red eyes and red tattoos all over her face. She was dressed in some clothes procured by Washuu, consisting of a pink kimono overlapped by an oversized white robe that was quite similar to Washuu's old goddess clothes.

The group parted to make way for the woman, who didn't take notice of anyone else since her eyes were riveted to Ranma's. The current boy fidgeted as she approached, slowly recognizing the woman's face from his trance from a while back.

"Uhhmm... Lea?" Ranma asked hesitantly in Japanese.

The woman nodded, smiling, "I'm glad you remembered, Ranma-sama. And it's okay for you to speak their language. I already cast a universal translation spell. Nothing major, but it can decipher and automatically teach me the languages I hear."

Ranma nodded. "Ah... I see..."

Lea smirked as she bent her head down towards Ranma, who froze as his eyes zeroed in on those luscious red lips approaching his face. A loud smooch echoed the now-silent medical ward, and a slight sound of papers falling on the floor followed it.

Citan was shocked into immobility, his arms still in position as he was reading Ranma's status chart when he saw the new girl kissing Ranma soundly on the cheek. The other men's eyes bugged out at the sight.

The women were silently throwing hostile glares at Lea, which were deftly ignored.

Ranma fell back to his pillows, a dark red lipstick marking his cheek dangerously near his own lips.

The platinum blue haired woman patted Ranma on the head, saying in English, ""Well met, Master Ranma. I am Lea, and my existence is for your happiness only.""

Ranma whimpered incoherently.

Everything went to chaos after that declaration.

Well, so much for the silence.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

With Solaris and Deus gone from the planet, the radio jammers that prevented Ranma and his companions to contact the Nirvana finally disappeared, and Meia got the chance to report to the distraught Mejer pirate captain, much to the relief of Magno and the rest of the Nirvana's crew members as well as the Galaxy Angels members.

After receiving a huge tongue-lashing from the extremely worried Magno of the Mejer pirates, a red-faced Meia joined an equally red-faced Ranma still in child form, a chuckling Washuu, and an impassive Vanilla inside the meeting room of the Yggdrasil IV once again.

It was a post war meeting of some sorts, and they were met by another bout of congratulations from the group that went with Ranma to defeat Deus once and for all. The mutations had stopped for good, and the others that had suffered preliminary symptoms of the mutations were successfully changed back into who they were before the 'Change'. A few who had been too drastically changed where unfortunate enough to live with the curse, but somehow, the rest of the people became sympathetic to the mutants. Rico was especially happy with this development.

After the initial good atmosphere has been established, Chibi-Ranma dropped the bomb that dampened their festivities.

""We're leaving in about three hours from now."" Ranma had said. Washuu, Meia and Vanilla all agreed with him that it was already safe for them to leave the planet. Washuu had already left the necessary plans and blueprints for low level technology (at least for her anyway) so that the habitants of the planet would recover from their recent mishap with Deus.

""What! Isn't it too early!"" Bart asked loudly. Although he did say what everyone wanted to convey at the moment at least.

Citan nodded at Bart's declaration. ""That is true. Why not stay for a few more days, so that we can thank you more properly? You DID save the planet and all, and you can even invite your companions up in your... mothership.""

Ranma smiled sadly and shook his head. ""Well... as much as we regret to leave, we have to. It's just some luck that we were able to get here. Well, you could say that we came here because of the original Paeksis Plagma's pull with the Nirvana's own Plagma.""

""But why do you need to go so soon then?"" Elly asked curiously.

Vanilla said, ""The initial journey of Master Ranma was to search for a way back to his original time. We came here in hopes that the intelligent life that resided inside the consciousness of the Paeksis was able to answer that, but then... there is none."" She spared a look towards the platinum blue-haired Lea, who shrugged in a nonchalant manner. She had already told them that she knew nothing on how to send Ranma back to his own time.

""I will come with them, of course."" Lea explained, ""I will follow Master Ranma where ever he may go."" She launched herself to Chibi-Ranma, who was beside her, and quickly lifted the poor pigtailed hybrid off his chair and cuddled him into her bosom.

Chibi-Ranma squawked in protest, squirming slightly at the treatment. ""Hey! I'm not a real kid you know!"" he squeaked, immediately freezing when he realized what he was leaning against.

The women glared at Lea, who happily snubbed their scathing looks as she buried her face into Ranma's thick hair, while the men were jealous of the boy's treatment in the hands of the healthy young woman.

""I will... come with them as well."" Emeralda's soft and hesitant voice caused Fei and his companions to stare at her in confusion at first, as if seeing her there for the first time. After the pale-green haired girl's statement finally settled its meaning into them, the confusion turned into shock.

Washuu beamed happily, ""Of course you can, Emeralda!"" Turning to Elly and the others, who were still frozen in shock, the red-haired scientist asked, ""Well, if it's all right with your... ahem, 'parents'.""

Elly jerked at the 'parents' dig, and she recovered the use of her tongue. She leaned towards Emeralda's position and asked, ""Why! I mean... did we do something wrong? Are you unhappy here? Why are you going to leave us?""

Emeralda shook her head, ""You did nothing wrong, Miss Elly. In fact, I'm very grateful that you have awakened me. But... I need to find my own place in the universe. Sooner or later, all of you will grow old and die, while I remain as I am now. And also..."" She turned her head slightly to Chibi-Ranma, who was thankfully not paying attention to the soft loving look Emeralda gave him since he was still trying to wiggle out of Lea's enthusiastic hug.

Elly followed the pale green haired girl's gaze, and her eyes widened as she realized the implications. She opened her mouth to say something, but words failed her. Instead, she cast a desperate look towards Fei, who was quietly contemplating on the situation. The planet's resident martial artist caught the look from his beloved and nodded.

""I think... I'm beginning to understand what Emeralda means."" Fei said seriously.

""Fei!"" Elly said to him, ""You don't mean...""

""I can also understand what she means but..."" Bart began, ""Emeralda's leaving this planet... our planet. Where she may go, it may be very far away! Who knows when we'll ever see her again?""

Maria sighed. ""But you know, we can't really hold Emeralda back just because of how we feel about the situation. We would be too selfish if we did that.""

""I agree with Maria..."" Billy nodded at the small pale blonde haired girl.

Rico just shrugged. ""Besides, we can't stop her if she really wanted to go.""

Margie reached out across the table beside her and gripped Emeralda's hand in hers, saying, ""Emeralda is free to find her own happiness in the universe, don't you think? After all she did for us, are we going to prevent her from doing just that? Have you noticed that in the near future, every one of us have their own partners to grow old with? What about her? She might not ever die, and she'll be always lonely... just because we held her back. Can you be responsible for that?""

Silence met the words said by the Mother of Nisan, as Fei and his companions thought of the consequences that lies on their decision. On one hand, they would lose Emeralda, probably for good, but she would be happy. On the other hand, they could stop Emeralda from leaving, but she would eventually be saddened as time passes by with everyone around her dying of old age. With Emeralda's special genetic make-up, her aging was depended on her own mind, and she cannot die just as easily.

In both decisions, they would lose Emeralda eventually, but her happiness was the deciding point.

With severe sadness in her eyes, Elhaym eyed Emeralda and said in a low voice, ""I never noticed it... but she will be lonely when the time comes, right? I was so preoccupied about the situation of the present, that I wasn't able to think of what would happen when we did win. I... I give Emeralda the permission to go. Not that she really needed it in the first place... but know this Emeralda. We will always love you, and we never intended to hurt you by holding you back from your own happiness."" Feeling spent after her words, Elly quickly buried her face into Fei's chest, who instinctively wrapped his arms around the distraught woman with a surprised expression on his face.

Emeralda wanted so much to just take her the incarnation of her 'mother' in her arms, but decided not to. It was hard enough for Elly to release her, Emeralda knew that. She just sat there as she watched Fei trying to console the young redhead woman.

""Hey! Don't I get some say in this!"" A squeak from a small boy was quickly smothered into Lea's bosom. The voice was promptly ignored.

Washuu snorted slightly. ""Gee, my nephew's a hotty even if he's a kid, ne?""

""You said it!"" Lea said cheerfully, still hugging the poor boy into her chest. Chibi-Ranma had already fainted due being overly exposed to THAT part of the female anatomy.

But before he fainted, Ranma DID imagine Ryoko's own bosom drowning him in the same manner as he was right now, and was also mentally comparing the sizes. ((Ryoko was a little bit larger...)) were Ranma's last thoughts before he caught the meaning of his own daydream and lost consciousness. We should just disregard that mysterious smile on his face as he did lose his sanity, a sight quite weird on the face of a kid.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The three hours were spent with the final goodbyes coming from Ranma and those who will be coming with him.

As of the moment, most of the people that manned the Excalibur and the Yggdrasil IV were currently assembled just outside the city of Nisan. A big white ship hung above them on the stratosphere as it waited for the dropship it had deployed to pick its 'lost' grew up, along with new companions as well.

""I wish I could say 'See you soon' but... I don't think that is possible."" Emeralda said calmly as she gazed upon the people she had been with for all her life, not that it was THAT long anyway... technically.

Ranma had already explained that there is a one out of a hundred million chance of Emeralda ever seeing this place again, especially once they managed to find a way for Ranma to go back. This was Ranma's last try at making her reconsider her decision, but somehow her mind has already been set since she met first him.

So, squaring her shoulders, Emeralda went forward and hugged her 'mother' forcefully, causing the red-haired woman's face to go from astonished to loving smile. Elly enthusiastically embraced her pseudo-daughter back, with Fei smiling right beside her. Fei knew he would not see her 'daughter' again, but he was happy that at least, Emeralda had found herself a place to belong to. Glancing behind him, Fei found his friends smiling at the sight as well, albeit a little sadly. He knew how they felt, since this situation was bittersweet for all of them. But as Margie had said a while ago, they couldn't possibly begrudge Emeralda of finding her happiness.

Ranma, who was still in his child form, stood a bit further away from the group. He sighed as he mentally assured himself that he had tried his best to make Emeralda change her mind. In a small piece of his mind, a VERY small piece, he thought of just turning right now and leaving quickly, leaving Emeralda with her family, but that was quickly ki-blasted by a larger part of him that would miss her company. That and he could never abandon anyone who wanted to go with him willingly. He also wondered if his subspace pocket could actually hold unto the mech Emeralda had entrusted to him.

Well actually, he couldn't call the subspace rift a 'pocket' anymore.

Washuu had shown him a whole new different way of ripping a hole in reality. Thanks to his physiology, he can actually slice through the immediate dimension easier than most, like his aunt Washuu does with her subspace laboratory. As of the moment, his subspace pocket was now the size of a small hangar, with his stash of wealth and some choice souvenirs he got from his travels kept inside. He had managed to accommodate Emeralda's mech Crescens inside his subspace room.

Back to the situation at hand, Ranma was still watching the tearful goodbye. Behind him, the medium-sized supplier ship was landed pretty securely, with Gascogne in its pilot seat. The muscled woman was quite worried about them, and had given Chibi-Ranma the 'Noogie from Hell'. At least, he has been spared from being carried around by her when Vanilla, Emeralda and Lea frowned at her. But he still has no idea how to feel about that as well. Ranma sighed again, as his mind turned all weird again.

Vanilla looked at the scene impassively, but within her she could feel that small twinge of jealousy of watching the tall, dark skinned, green haired girl hugging her 'family'. For a long time, she hadn't had any family whatsoever as of yet, and she had been lonely. Sure, she had some companions when she joined the Galaxy Federation's small elite group called the Galaxy Angels, but still, she craved for what Emeralda was about to leave behind. She discreetly glanced towards Chibi-Ranma, and her irritation at the thought of what Emeralda was leaving behind vanished in the wind. She understood how powerful the pigtailed boy's charisma could be. Vanilla knew that she fell victim of Ranma's personality quirks, as much as Emeralda was. Carefully giving the taller platinum blue haired woman a small searching look beside her, she amended herself that Lea was smitten as well as she and Emeralda were.

The young woman with platinum blue hair, Lea, or Ihadurca to some, was also thinking a lot of things. Like, how she was a floating free-form energy a while ago, and then a living breathing person as of the moment. She also felt that the individuality between Lea and Ihadurca had disappeared once she was trapped within Deus, and now she was the result. Somehow, she wasn't all that worried about it, rather she felt strangely relieved. Right now, she was actually busy at thinking what she would do in the future, but the most prominent outlook she could see was being by Ranma's side. When she was within Deus talking to Ranma, she had seen the strength of his spirit, and it was immense. It dwarfed her own power by an unimaginable margin, and she just knew the limits of Ranma's power hasn't been seen yet. She was curious as to why his powers were a kaleidoscope of energies, both white and dark magic, and it confused her to no end at all. She was curious, as well as attracted, to the boy's attitude, no matter how crude it was. She mentally shrugged, plucking it off as one of the mysteries of life.

Washuu was already inside the Nirvana's dropship, being... herself. Washuu was Washuu to the core, who was now carefully analyzing the data she gathered from Rin-Ohki's statistics report. The aforementioned cabbit was now lying on a soft chair beside her, sleeping off the fatigue from the still-recent final battle with the fake Deus. Her transformation had been a bit forced, since it was dreadfully needed at that time. Rin-Ohki was tired. Meia was chatting with Gascogne, retelling everything she had experienced and seen while the group was down on the surface. Gascogne was riveted to her story, once in a while cocking an eyebrow as the light-blue haired girl ranted on how Ranma had gathered two additional women attracted to him.

After a tearful goodbye, Emeralda was finally released and was now seated just beside Chibi-Ranma inside the dropship, which was now ascending towards the planet's stratosphere. The ship finally docked with the Nirvana several minutes after taking off from the ground.

Chibi-Ranma grew a bit nervous, remembering that he was going to be surrounded by women once again. Nothing bad about it, really, it's just that now was an unfortunate time for him, if the idea of Lea latching unto his small form when he entered the dropship was any indication.

It was hard to be cute.

Currently, the ship had settled into the Nirvana's hanger bay, and the small group from the surface was now waiting for the doors to open.

Ranma tried to hide behind Vanilla and Emeralda, but he knew he'd be discovered anyway, so he figured this was just for principles only. Lea had been hovering behind him since he entered the ship, and he resigned himself to the fate of being her plushie for the rest of the time he spent on his transformed state.

"Ready?" Ranma was snapped into attention as Gascogne glanced back at them, especially on him. He could see that she was trying to hold her laughter at his pitiful sight, clearly enjoying his discomfort at the thought of what will happen when they go out of those doors.

When all of the people behind her nodded, Gascogne pressed a button at the left side of the doors, causing a metallic hiss to emanate from the door. It slid open to the side, exposing whatever was beyond the dropship's small room.

Chibi-Ranma paled at the sight that greeted them. It was worse than he thought. All one hundred and forty-eight women were present and accounted for, waiting for the new arrivals to come out. He can do nothing as his cover slowly lurched forward, slowly exposing him to the outside.

The women ignored the new faces of Lea and Emeralda in favor of Ranma's smallish form. More than a hundred of excited squeals from the females pierced the air as more than a hundred pairs of feet thumped against the metallic surface of the floor. Chibi-Ranma could only watch in dismay as the waves of women started forward, intent on snagging his 'cute' form.

As the women closed in on him, Chibi-Ranma whimpered slightly, causing the normally stoic faces of Emeralda and Vanilla to twist into a slight smile.

Before the scene faded, a small boy's voice echoed weakly over the multitudes of female voices in the hangar, saying, "This is NOT my day..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A few days later (relatively speaking, since all they had to know it was the time increments their ship kept), the Nirvana finally approached the last legs of their journey before being able to get to the men and women's star system. All they had to do was path through the incoming magnetic storm system, and they will be home free.

But alas, even when they were just at the edge of the magnetic storm, they already encountered a massive electrical storm that caused them to fly blind. It proved treacherous if they didn't take great care transversing, since the whole area near the magnetic storm and inside the storm itself was littered with space debris. Floating hulking masses of metal from ships that dared the magnetic storm but failed decorated the entire area, making things difficult for the Nirvana's crew.

Not to mention just a few minutes ago, the Nirvana's alarms sounded off when multiple enemies were detected. The Harvest ships from Earth managed to outmaneuver them, somehow being able to find the Nirvana inside the storm.

As always, Hibiki, Dita, Jura and Meia launched in their Vanguards and Dreads respectively, followed by Group A of the Dread force Meia commanded. The whole battle was tedious and hard, with the giant chunks of space debris as well as limited sensors, they barely managed to retaliate against the enemy.

Hibiki and Dita combined, causing the first ever Vandread formation, a giant blue colored mecha, to come out. They managed to take out a lot of the Harvest drones, and were now concentrating on the clone that their enemy had made based on their own Vandread formation. As of the moment, Hibiki and Dita were battling against a clone of their formation.

They barely managed to win, but as they were about to return to the Nirvana, the Vandread was hit by a red beam of light, courtesy of a Harvest drone that was immediately destroy afterwards by Jura's Dread. The inevitable occurred, and the red beam forced Dita and Hibiki's machines apart.

Back in the Nirvana, BC suddenly had a flash of an idea as she thought of the automatic recall for the Dreads. Seeing that the enemy numbers were now dwindled down to barely negligible size, BC suggested a tactical retreat after pulling everyone in. Magno approved of it, and BC activated the recall system. Every Dread was pulled via laser guided tractor beams that locked into each specific programs embedded inside each Dread's programming. Theoretically, even if the Dread is combined with the Vanguard of Hibiki, the signature from the Dread will still be present.

They were not able to test the theory out, though, when Dita's piercing cry echoed all over the speakers. It was then that the red beam from a stray enemy Harvest drone hit the Vandread, forcing the reversal of the transformation. Unfortunately, it was also the time when BC activated the Dread Automatic Recall System, pulling all the sensor-deprived Dreads to be retrieved by the Nirvana.

Hibiki's Vanguard, having no form of connection with the Dread and Nirvana whatsoever, hurtled deeper into the magnetic storm. Only static was heard from the comms as they tried calling upon the boy.

As of the moment, the bridge was now discussing on the matter.

"I'll patrol around the area. There may still be some enemies left." Meia intoned impassively as her face appeared on the viewscreen. A determined expression adorned her face as she silently implored the captain of the female pirates for approval.

"Kinda subtle... nice excuse..." Ranma muttered from the side. Magno heard him, and she hid a small smile under her short hood.

Magno mentally chuckled at her crew member's enthusiasm about the situation. She was also extremely worried about their male crew member, but she was also the captain of the ship. She was supposed to be calm and collected when things go wrong. It wasn't a long time ago when her crew was still disgusted by the thought of being in contact with males, but now here they were, furiously shouting for her to do something about it.

The old woman's contemplation was cut short, however, when the blond haired Dread pilot, Jura, suddenly opened a channel beside Meia's own. "If we don't find him, we may not win against the Harvest. It was because of his help that we were able to go on up to this far."

"Well I..." Magno began, but once again got interrupted when a Dita's crying form appeared just below the other two channels. Her hands covered her face as sobs wracked her body. Magno's heart twisted as she saw Dita's bad reaction to Hibiki's disappearance.

"Captain..." Dita sniffed as she haltingly continued, "I... I will go look for him... please let me out and look for him... I... I..."

"I know that..." Magno said gently, "But we have to..."

"We just can't leave him!" Dita wailed loudly, causing everyone to wince. But the statement quickly made an impact to the other crew members, as they too provided their own comments as to what they thought of the situation.

Ranma snickered and glanced sideways at Magno, "Well... what do you wanna do now, oh great granny?"

"Oh hush you." Magno replied in mock irritation. She was actually amused at the situation.

"If Ranma were the one who was lost out there, I'd go out and find him myself too." Lea commented seriously beside Ranma. She had been watching everyone's reaction to the news. Mejer and Talark's historical background were explained to her earlier, and she was quite baffled by it. Although it wasn't really a surprise, since she already knew a few villages back in her home planet that were gender-oriented.

Vanilla nodded empathically, who was standing a little further behind Lea and Ranma's position, "I understand how everyone feels as well."

Emeralda just stepped forward and bent down to take Ranma's smallish arm in her own. Ranma was still in his chibi-form, even though his reserves were already at 'optimum level'.

Washuu was nowhere to be found for the moment, but she did mention something about modifying Ranma's body armor. The smile on her face when she left for her subspace lab brought a few bouts of shivers into Ranma's spine though.

"Well then..." Ranma cut into the conversation, clapping once with his hands, "I'll help too. We can't leave a friend in need, right?"

All the girls turned to him and made googly eyes, which made the still-small boy shudder slightly. Too much cuteness rays...

Parfet nodded as she pointed to the navigation screen, which she involuntarily brought up to the main viewscreen. The three Dread pilots' screens were resized to accommodate the new screen. A bunch of shiny dots were illuminated.

"As you can see, our sensors are still on the fritz, but I managed to get a vague map of some planets that are located near our position." Parfet pointed to the three largest dots, saying, "These planetoids are somehow in direct collision with whatever direction Hibiki was in when he got separated from Dita, so he'd probably be there. The images I got were a little bit sketchy at best, but we have to make the best out of what we've got. The rest are just small asteroids that he might've bumped into, but in the end the gravitational body of the three larger masses will pull Hibiki's Vanguard, so the probability of his presence in these planets are more than 75 percent on each."

"Three planets..." BC noised, tapping her chin with her finger, "A lot of area to cover... but we can't really go anywhere unless we retrieve Hibiki Tokai. We must allocate search parties to each planet."

A short tense silence ensued, followed by a chorus of voices that surprised most of the crew, saying, "We'll go at the third planet!"

Meia, Dita and Jura decided to go on the planet that seemed to have a lot of desert in it.

Ranma shrugged as he pointed to a planet that somehow reminded him of Earth a bit, saying, "I'll go to this one."

As soon as his destination was revealed, Vanilla, Emeralda and Lea jumped forwards and said in chorus as well, "I'll go with Ranma-sama!" When they realized they all had the same tactic, they turned to each other and glared.

Before the situation could escalate, a dry chuckle interrupted them that said, "I think Ranma and Rin-Ohki can handle that by themselves, you three should just go to the last available place so that you three will be equal." The voice was Washuu's, who just came into the bridge carrying a big bundle of... something, with Rin-Ohki draped on one side of her shoulder.

When Washuu opened her arms, her bundle was revealed to be a pair of big dark blue bracers. Shoving them into Ranma's surprised arms, she gave the boy a thumbs up and said, "Now, try them on! Don't worry, it will re-size itself with any form you take." Throwing back her had, she cackled, "I am SUCH a genius!"

And as expected, a pair of mechanical puppets emerged from the redhead's shoulders, chanting praises in the name of Washuu.

As the crew members present inside the bridge eyed Washuu warily, Ranma ignored the spectacle, opting to examine the new limiters Washuu gave him intently. The pair dark blue bracers had synthetic fingerless black gloves attached at one end of it, which no doubt that the materials were made of no ordinary alloys. The bracers themselves extend up to his elbows, showing how much protection it would provide for his whole forearms.

After giving Washuu a last stare of contemplation, Ranma shrugged and slipped the bracers into his hands like oversized gloves.

Washuu nodded thoughtfully, happy that the bracers did automatically resized itself with Ranma's physical built as it shrunk a bit. "That's great!" she mentioned, nodding at her genius, "Now... I want you to 'will' your battle armor unto your body."

Obediently, Ranma brought up his tight fitting garb again. But to his surprise, something else happened. Instead of summoning the latex-like armor he had initially, a dark colored tight fit garment similar to the make of the fingerless gloves at the end of each bracers extended itself over his body. And then, a dark blue armor of some sort appeared on his chest and groin area. His feet were suddenly clad in big dark blue boots that extended up to his knees. His head was now also being covered by a black pilot-like helmet, that had dark blue spikes running from the front to the back. His pigtail popped out from under the helmet, and his red furred monkey tail sprung out of a convenient hole at the upper backside of his lower armor. A big semi-transparent silver gem that was shaped in an inverted triangle decorated the helmet's front-most part, which was just over Ranma's forehead. It was actually directly over the area where Ranma's gems on his forehead were located.

Everyone gaped as they saw Ranma's new armor's look. He seemed like a super warrior they had watched only in various anime (the look wasn't all that futuristic to them, but with Ranma wearing the armor it looked pretty damn cool). Even if it was a chibi-fied version of the armor itself, since it resized according to Ranma's measurements as of the moment.

Speechless, Ranma looked at Washuu for an explanation.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Washuu crowed triumphantly as she cackled. "I managed to upgrade the crummy titanium synthetic fiber of the first armor I gave you, and put into it a bit more 'oomph'! Now, that armor you're wearing is the ultra rare Xentronium synthetic fiber, a material that cannot be found anywhere in the universe! Why? Because I made it back when I was still the Goddess of Knowledge! I only remembered about it now, because I kept it as a reminder of the past I gave up. Xentronium is a mineral that was used usually in divine armors of the gods, but it was later banned of use since it's too rare. I think the gods found a substitute, although that material was reinforced with magic. Your armor is also equipped with its own self-repair system, since it was easy for me to install nanotechnology that mends itself with the Xentronium. It was very hard for me to manipulate the mineral, and I had to use a heat source several times hotter than several supernova to even begin shaping it."

"In other words..." Ranma deadpanned with a half-lidded stare, "This armor's pretty damn cool, right?"

Washuu frowned and huffed a little, saying, "Fine... yes it is. Although it sounds so mundane when you say it like that."

"SUGOI!" Chibi-Ranma and Washuu blinked twice simultaneously and looked around them. All the women in the bridge were staring at Ranma with starry eyes, visibly impressed by the new look the small boy was sporting.

The young boy, the ONLY 'little' boy in the ship, shivered slightly as he felt everyone's gazes centered on him. The other two males left on board the Nirvana were 'men', so technically they weren't boys anymore.

Inside the pilot's area, Bart frowned slightly in jealousy. The boy had been the center of everyone's attention these days.

Duero was ignoring everyone as of the moment. He was busy trying to decipher Emeralda's nanobot programming, without much success. For some reason, he couldn't understand for the life of him the way Emeralda's nanomachines acted. Somehow, they were acting like normal body cells from an organic. After he had asked Washuu about it, she explained with a shrug that Emeralda was just well-made.

"Uhhmmm... can we just talk about the rescue operation for Hibiki-san, please?" Chibi-Ranma squeaked loudly, with Magno and Gascogne looking at him with great amusement.

After a good fifteen minutes of discussion, Vanilla, Emeralda and Lea were finally cajoled into going as one group to the planetoid they'd been assigned to. Ranma and Rin-Ohki will go together as another group, while Meia, Jura and Dita will go to the last one. The purpose of the tactic was to cover more ground to hasten the operation. BC surmised that they shouldn't stay inside the magnetic storm any longer than they should.

They started the mission. It was proper, too, since every second they waste could be fatal to the one they were rescuing.

To say that the temporary parting was tense would be an understatement. There was a general feeling of unrest as the three groups went to each of their own modes of transport.

One group was comprised of Dita, Jura and Meia, who had taken off to their targeted planetoid in their Dreads full of ammo for their missiles. They could encounter another Harvest group while on their way, after all.

The second group to depart was made up simply of a Chibi-Ranma and his pet, err, partner, Rin-Ohki. Actually, they really didn't need anything to survive out in the vacuum of space, but just to be official, Rin-Ohki transformed into her ship form and carried Ranma out of the Nirvana's vicinity to their own location.

The third group was the one where most of the unrest came from, comprised of three volatile and potentially destructive females who have only one man in their minds. They managed to remain civil with each other and declared a temporary truce, at least just until they finish the mission and be reunited with their Ranma once again. They left in a spare supply ship, a copy of the one Gascogne usually used to deliver ammo to the Dreads once a battle started. Washuu was just plain amused at the events, carefully hiding her grin as she watched the three girls awkwardly allowed one another inside the ship. Good thing nobody fought over as to who will pilot the ship, since Vanilla had offered her services at this point.

Washuu just hoped the last group would survive just being in contact with one another, at least until they come back to the ship.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After a short period of being buffeted by strong electrical storms, the ship Vanilla, Emeralda and Lea were in finally escaped the storm zone, and went directly into the planetoid's area of responsibility.

The drop ship went into a series of pink clouds with plasma charges while entering the planet's atmosphere, but they too abated once the atmosphere has been breached. They maneuvered the ship in a relatively large green patch of forest, that outcropped a nice calm lake.

It surprised them a bit, that they found the planet a bit similar to the ones they were from. Vanilla thought that this planet had a bit more earth than planet Earth she was from. Emeralda thought at the same lines with Vanilla, but she DID wonder about her home planet's name. After all the time she'd been with her Kim-papa's reincarnation and Elly, she never heard her home planet's name even once. Lea on the other hand, was thrilled that the planet was AT LEAST life-friendly. She had been to some places that were extremely hostile, just landing on the surface earned you an attack from the local wildlife. So far so good, nothing threatened them for the moment.

Well, the peaceful moment lasted only until a group of men, their age ranging from teenagers to barely 40-ish year old, burst into the small clearing their dropship had landed on.

"Hmmm... this reminds me of that time those people called on a Witch Hunt for me back in Happy Iron..." Lea said thoughtfully as she readied herself for a fight.

Emeralda looked at Vanilla with a questioning look in her eyes.

Vanilla shook her head, placing her hand on Lea's shoulder. "Stop. We shouldn't hurt the locals unnecessarily. In their eyes, we are invaders, which we ARE. We have a mission, and incurring the locals' wrath will not be beneficial for us."

"Besides..." Emeralda whispered loud enough to be heard by the other two women in front of her, "Ranma-sama will not be pleased."

"Oh... since you put it THAT way." Lea sighed as she relaxed her stance.

The group of newcomers, all men, still held their miniature weapons as they looked at the women warily. Two of them had broken off from the main group and scampered off to kami knows what. Luckily, by the loud chatters coming from the group, Vanilla and her companions figured that the natives spoke Japanese.

Weird though, that the men looked almost exactly alike, except for some small differences, like hair color and eye color.

One of the men, a young boy actually, seemed to have mustered enough courage to walk a bit forward, his weapon still poised in his hands. He stared at the trio of women for a moment before asking, "Who sent you? Why are there new marionettes sent into our country's territory again?"

"Marionettes?" Lea parroted, completely baffled at the query.

Vanilla helpfully commented, "Marionettes, you know... dolls."

"I know that!" Lea snapped at the red-eyed girl, who just took the platinum-haired girl's angry response in stride. Lea turned to the young man who stepped forward and said, "I know what a marionette is, but I'm wondering why he thought we were dolls!"

"They show emotions..." One of the men said in awe.

The young man's eyes lit up, asking, "Are you Saber Marionettes perhaps? If so, what country are you from?"

Lea snorted, crossing her arms across her chest in a huff, "As if adding a 'Saber' in front of the word 'Marionette' could make any difference! What is this planet anyway!"

"Terra-Two." A cold, mechanical female voice answered Lea's question. The crowd of men hastily parted, revealing two figures of armed women.

The first one has dirty white hair, and garbed in a red kimono. In her hands was a red plasma sword, which cackled with electricity as it was blatantly displayed as a threatening gesture. The other had dark green hair, and dressed in a generally green kimono. In her hands was a long pole that was ended with a short blade. A polearm, which was just as deadly as the weapon on the other's hand.

"I should've asked for the Crescens before Ranma-sama descended on that other planet." Emeralda commented wryly as she stared at the impassive female newcomers. Her hand twitched a bit, though, ready to be transformed into a scythe or anything potentially lethal if these individuals decided to attack anyway. This reminded her of Washuu's promise of upgrading her body into the nearest human-like body the diminutive scientist could muster, even allowing Emeralda to be able to bear a child.

Anyway, back to their situation at hand, they were now being led through the thick woods that was near the edge of the clearing where Vanilla had landed their dropship. With a promise of leaving their ship alone (Lea casted a couple of trap divinations just in case someone did lose their control) the three women in Ranma's life followed the group, drinking at the sights they were passing. They had finally burst out of the forest, which revealed a rather large city just beyond it.

The whole city was fairly advanced, but Vanilla and her companions had noticed there were only men in it. As the group entered the city, the townspeople parted to allow the two 'women' that led the entourage to pass by, but they turned to stare at the trio that was surrounded by the incoming group.

Coincidentally, most of the residential homes were reminiscent of the ancient styles that Vanilla used to read in her history books back when she was still on Earth. Some of the houses were apartment complexes built beside each other, and they used paper-screens as window covers and such. The whole city was a mixture of old style architecture mixed with the new, more advanced styles.

"This is Japoness." The red-clothed lady in front of the group said, loud enough for Vanilla, Lea and Emeralda to hear.

Vanilla nodded. "Japoness... any connection with Japan?"

The red-clothed woman cocked her head slightly to one side, saying, "Japan... oh. An old Earth's country. I think you may say that is so, since everything in this place will remind you of that country."

"By the way..." Lea cut into the conversation, "Where are you bringing us, and who are you for that matter?"

"Tamasaburo." The red-clothed woman said.

"I am Baiko." The green-clothed woman added.

"Vanilla..." The pale-skinned light cyan haired newcomer girl said, eyeing the interesting structure far in front of them.

"I am Lea..." The platinum haired woman said lightly. Gesturing to the dark skinned girl beside her, she continued, "She's Emeralda, but she rarely speaks, especially NOT to strangers."

The two leading women nodded, strangely altogether too. "Understood." they both said simultaneously, causing the trio to look at one another in askance. They wordlessly shrugged and followed the group into a spacious yard, which led to a very large castle of an Edo Era design.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Across the other side of the planet Terra-Two, another bustling city was thriving. The people were comprised of men as well, and marionettes undertook the responsibilities a normal human female should have.

There was also a large castle of ancient Earth Chinese design, similar to the design of the Forbidden City hidden within Earth China. A heirarchial government was established.

Deep in the bowels of the palace, there was a flurry of activity as the certain phenomenon of the unidentified flying object landing in the land of Japoness.

"Emperor..." A servant of the palace bowed low in front of an intricate throne that was located inside the castle, "We have confirmed the UFO's location. It was last detected in Japoness space."

"I see..." A man with long mustache and beard sat at the said throne, his clothes comprised of high-quality wool that was lined with pure gold. His face reflected that of mature age, somewhere in the late 30's or early 40's. His dark eyes roved over the whole of the room, where countless other scientists ran amok as they tried to tally the arrival's data.

"It was too bad it landed in Japoness. Nevertheless, the UFO is vital to our country's rise in power. The information we could gather alone... we need to take that ship!" The leader banged his fist against the armrest of his throne.

The servant shrunk into his place, "But Emperor! We cannot enter Japoness without stating our reasons, or we could potentially trigger another war! Think of what Gartland has done..."

"I do not care!" The leader growled out, "Japoness has already too much luck on their side! First, it was their marionettes that evolved with their emotions first, second, they took the only female in the world in their clutches, and now are we to be denied of this!"

"But..." The groveling man tried to reason, but was cut off by the glare sent to him by the Emperor.

"Make use of our Saber Marionettes, but first, send a scout to assess the situation at hand. And then..." The leader gave a dark smirk, "We will take the new technology into our custody. This will propel Neo-China into glory once more!"

Turning to the servant, he crowed, "Prepare our army! We will strike at Japoness!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In a planet a few asteroids away from the one Vanilla and her companions were in, Ranma and Rin-Ohki finally broke through the plasma-filled atmosphere--- and landed smack in the middle of a huge battle.

It was a surreal sight for him, actually, since he's been from a battle filled with humanoid-shaped mecha from before, but the one in front of him was different. The mecha were animal-shaped instead, mostly shaped like, ironically enough, big cats. If he still had the Neko-ken, Ranma wondered briefly if he would've ran to the hills at the sight.

Rin-Ohki was quite awed at the sight as well, and her owner took note that she was memorizing various mecha designs in her head. It may come in handy some day.

Well, the whole battalion of mecha were actually banded together in attacking a much larger mecha. Ranma observed that the targeted robot was alone in its conquest, and was indiscriminately blasting everything it sees moving. He wryly surmised that the huge reptilian-type mecha was the villain. Perhaps the Tyrannosaurus Rex shape of the mecha gave it away.

Ranma sighed to himself. He just knew he'd get involved in this somehow.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back to the planet called Terra-Two...

Inside the aforementioned castle, there were various 'women' armed with a naginata of some sorts prowling all over the place. There bore the same face, as well as the same pink kimono with cherry blossom designs. The reason was to guard the most valuable asset in the whole of Terra-Two, the only female alive left, Doctor Lorelei.

The whole world of Terra-Two was actually a planet full of men, not that it was their fault. Fate made it that the survivors of the colonizing expedition sent to this planet were all men. Lorelei should've been with them, but she bartered her life for the lives of her fellow crewmates.

The Messopotamia's computer became a sentient AI that craved for affection. Sadly, it took notice of Doctor Lorelei, and it led to the doctor's fall to cold sleep.

The men left on the planet's surface never lost hope though. Through cloning, they managed to build up their own countries, all six survivors had their own side of the world, as well as their people. It turned out that they could only produce male clones, so as time passed only males were produced. They did, however, create marionettes.

These marionettes were androids made in the form of a human female. But these androids cannot produce human emotions. However, a few countries did manage to create Maiden Circuits, somewhat like an artificial 'soul' for a marionette, and gave them human-like emotions. There were six known and recorded Maiden Circuits, three from Gartland and three from Japoness.

The circuits were actually going to be used as a replacement for Lorelei, who has been taken by Messopotamia as its 'lover'.

The good doctor has been rescued from the space battleship Messopotamia, after the marionettes from Japoness named Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry sacrificed their Maiden Circuits to free her. All is good, though, since the three marionettes found their way home in the long run, and was reunited with their master, Otaru.

The planet Terra-Two was riddled with war before the Messopotamia was breached, because of the doctor herself. Doctor Lorelei was the only female capable of producing female DNA for cloning. She was very vital to the planet's survival and its vital hold to its sanity. Japoness had won the race to save the doctor when its long time rival country's leader, the Gartland Fuehrer Faust, finally acknowledged that Emperor Ieyasu of the Japoness' marionettes have 'matured' faster than Gartland's own marionettes that had the same maiden circuits. It was all thanks to Otaru Mamiya...

As of this moment the whole Terra-Two was in a peaceful transition, with Lorelei beginning her long work to reviving the female species as the former excitement of the war finally dwindled down. There were still squirmishes here and there, especially with Faust disappearing with her loyal marionettes.

One of the probable reasons the locals were staring so intently at the group that entered the Japoness territory, particularly the three foreign females with them, was that Lorelei was able to finish her first batch of female clones earlier than expected, and that this was a test run.

Not that the three mentioned females really cared at this point. The former Rei Ayanami, now Vanilla Ash, acted as the leader of the group. Lea, or Ihadurca to most who encountered her much more volatile personality, was unconsciously staying close to Emeralda's side. Somehow, the tallest woman of the group was strangely protective of the silent dark skinned girl, not that Emeralda minded or given it much thought at all.

The whole parade lasted for a good thirty five minutes starting from when they came into the front gates of the city. Vanilla, Lea and Emeralda looked around in confusion as the men stopped at the gates of the palace itself, before handing them over to the female marionette guards of the palace itself. The same-faced marionettes silently escorted the three with Tamasaburo and Baiko towards the main palace itself, where this Doctor Lorelei and the champion of Japoness, Otaru Mamiya and his three Saber Marionettes awaited their arrival.

When the three outerworlders finally entered the palace proper, they were slightly disappointed. They had been expecting something grand, but to their dismay most of the things inside the 'palace' were plain and old. Vanilla, even as she remembered her life in the past as Rei Ayanami, was used to the modern things, like an apartment and the Geofront itself. Her life revolved around those two main locations and nothing else, so even if there were homes that sported the traditional designs back in her time, she wouldn't know much about them. Emeralda and Ihadurca were just as bad, since they were never really part of the Japanese culture in the past of their own lives. Nevertheless they kept their comments to themselves, since their main purpose there was to straighten out this mess they got themselves into in the first place.

They were led deeper into the Imperial Palace of the Japoness country, where rows of glazed-eyes marionettes roamed around the grounds. Most of them were stationary in their positions, almost looking like statues because of it. Even if they didn't stare at the small group that entered the palace, they were informed of their arrival, and were closely monitoring the situation through their other sensors that were programmed into them since their creation. Each of their naginata were equipped with a special high voltage tazer at the blades themselves, and they will be effective in stopping and momentarily paralyzing their opponents if ever they were attacked.

The trio was guided into a large room, which contained nothing but two rows of pillows lined up at either side of the narrow red carpet located on the middle part of the room. The line-up led up to a much larger pillow at the other end of the hall, and it screamed 'Important' to everyone who can see it.

"You must wait here." Tamasaburo said casually as she and her companion marionette turned abruptly and walked out of the door they came into, leaving the three women to their own devices.

Lea snorted as she started to break away from the group, only to be stopped by Vanilla's imperative tone, that said, "You shouldn't go gallivanting. You might break something."

The platinum blue haired girl grinded her teeth as she huffed under her breath, saying, "You're not my master for you to give me any orders! Besides, I'm not a child to be talked like that."

"Who knows?" Vanilla commented casually as she turned away from the irate woman, who started to charge at her. Both were a bit surprised when Emeralda stepped in the middle of their paths towards each other, barring them from hurting each other in the process.

"Stop." Emeralda said softly, her face was half covered with a white material of some sort. "We do not need to fight."

The other two women visibly wilted in the presence of the dark skinned girl and her newly acquired 'puppy dog eyes' weapon. They both sighed and agreed to limit their fighting to light banter only. That seemed to bring delight to Emeralda very much.

Just as the trio were about to relax more thoroughly inside the huge room, the doors opened once again. Vanilla and Lea/Ihadurca quickly stepped in front of Emeralda, assessing the newcomers at once.

There were three marionettes that entered first, their true personas revealed by the inherent exhaust creases around each of their arms. All of the marionettes in that planet have them. But there was something different about the three, since unlike all of the others the guests have seen so far, these androids were full of emotion, albeit a bit different from each other.

The first one has an exuberant expression on her face, her eyes dancing with mirth as she gazed at the other trio of women like new playmates. Her dark blue hair was almost covered fully by a white cloth hat, that was held together by a large circular gem. Her oversized shirt hid a very nice figure in it, wrapped inside a black material. Her black spandex shorts reached up to her upper knees, and her feet were covered by two oversized yellow shoes. She was like a child in a candy store.

The second one was more of the demure types, wearing a light pink kimono that covered most of her body. Her purple hair was long and smooth, which was tied by a large ribbon on top of her head. Her hands were clasped in front of her, as she gazed at the room in askance, as if preparing for a fight. Her feet were covered with a pair of geta, an old style footwear of the ancient Japanese back on Earth. Vanilla knew of the Earth's history as much. The marionette was a symbol of a typical housewife.

The third marionette was the tallest one of all, wearing a bright red outfit that seemed to be a few sizes smaller than her real measurements. Her hair was bright red, quite like Ranma's female form's hair color, and her visage was that of a fighter. She actually led the group with a flair of confidence in her skills, as she looked around the room. Aside from instinctively showing everyone that she was a fighter, she was also exposing her sexiness without restraint, and perhaps the most sultry of the three.

The three flanked the other two marionettes that led Vanilla, Lea and Emeralda into the palace. Tamasaburo and Baiko, if Vanilla's memory served her right. The entourage of marionettes were being followed by two other people, one young male and one female.

The male has brown hair tied up in a scruffy ponytail. Her light brown eyes quickly flashed with a bit of nervousness as he entered the room, but it vanished when the marionette with the bubbly attitude smiled at him in reassurance. His gait was that of a martial artist, and a sai was strapped around his waist.

The female was definitely that, a female, since her whole visage was vastly different from the rest of the so-called females Vanilla and her companions have met so far. She has long straight brown hair that reached up to her lower back, and she was dressed in a light blue kimono. It would seem that the marionettes concentrated on guarding more on the female's side, confirming her identity as the most important person in the palace.

"Three new marionettes?" The only male in the room asked curiously, looking at the outworlders intently.

The exuberant marionette jumped up and down excitedly, squealing, "Wai! Wai! New friends!"

"It's weird..." The meek one commented, "They don't have any recognizable frequencies specific to any marionettes. I at least would've detected the emissions but..."

Lea grumbled, "We're not marionettes!"

"Eh!" The tall red-haired marionette noised, "Are they broken or something?"

"What my friend was trying to imply..." Vanilla began as she took charge of the conversation, "We were never marionettes in the first place. We're not 'broken', or misunderstood, or even confused. We're simply not marionettes. We're real women, as real as the one behind you." She turned her gaze to the woman hiding at the back of the group, carefully taking in the information being exchanged.

The said woman finally stepped forward, finalizing that the situation was safe so far. Besides, she was surrounded by five of the most powerful marionettes in Terra-Two. She should feel safe (yeah right). "Pardon me for not speaking earlier, since we still don't know if you were not going to try anything drastic. Everyone was being protective of me, since I am the last real woman in this planet. I am Lorelei." She gestured to the male beside her, saying, "This person is Otaru Mamiya."

To the two impassive marionettes, Lorelei declared, "You must've met Tamasaburo and Baiko, the royal guards of the Japoness Palace."

Patting the hyperactive marionette on the head, she said, "This is Lime, one of Otaru's marionettes." Touching the meek android, Lorelei continued, "This is Cherry, another one of Otaru's marionettes." Pointing to the tallest marionette with red hair, she explained, "She is Bloodberry, again she is Otaru's marionette."

Turning back to the visitors, Lorelei commented, "It's only a few weeks since they've seen a real female. I was trapped in cold sleep in the colony ship I came from. It is destroyed now, but still three hundred years have passed since then. For three hundred years, only men thrived in this planet, being sustained only by cloning. They can only produce men though, and it showed. Also, they made marionettes to compensate on the loss of women, since they can't find a way to clone women. I have only began to clone my own cells a few days ago, to refurbish women in this planet."

"Cloning..." Vanilla frowned, her own dreaded memories of the past crashed inside her head like a giant wave. She never did like watching other versions of herself floating inside a big glass aquarium. She was actually the third version of the original Rei Ayanami, and the other two before her had died because of various reasons, but they were because of one man, Gendo Ikari. She, being a third version of Ayanami, often wondered how the previous Rei managed to stand the pompous asshole. She was thoroughly disgusted at how the man managed his employees. Only the fact that she has been briefed about her glorious participation in the world's salvation gave her enough to go through with the bastard's plans.

Lea raised an inquisitive eyebrow as her fellow visitor's gaze turned inward. She poked the distracted girl, saying, "Vanilla, are you all right?"

The light cyan-haired girl almost jumped in surprise, but her face remained impassive. She quickly turned to the slightly concerned Lea and replied, "I'm fine. I was just remembering some bad memories."

"Ah." The taller platinum-haired woman nodded solemnly, and didn't try to press for more information.

"Is there something the matter?" The brown haired female doctor of Terra-Two asked worriedly, glancing between Lea and Vanilla.

Lea shook her head seriously, looking at the woman who voiced the question, "Nothing's wrong. At least, none that anything you should be concerned of."

"I... see..." Lorelei just let it slip past, since the look thrown at her by the imposing woman was rather intimidating. Besides, judging from the expression on the face of the smallest of their three visitors, it was something personal anyway. Mentally shrugging, she continued, "Well, as I've said earlier... you're probably the few other real females seen by EVERYONE in the planet, aside from me. Just expect that everyone, including these three marionettes, will be very curious and would ask a lot of questions about being real women."

"Really..." Lea deadpanned, her eyes drooping in a half-lidded stare as she tried to stifle her laughter, "No offense, but that won't be possible. In fact, it's downright weird."

"But why!" The redhead marionette, Bloodberry, almost growled out in frustration.

Lea looked towards their host, replying, "Because all three of us have little to no experiences of being normal women or whatsoever. Emeralda is but a small child, her body not taken into consideration. Despite her looks, she has a very young mind. I'll let her explain how that came to be if she wanted to, since it's not my story to tell. I never really thought of having a relationship before, and I've been alone for a long time. I've been feared by most of the people in the place I was in because of my power."

"Power?" More than one person has voiced the question from the hosts' side.

The sorceress nodded glumly, "Yes... power. I was considered a witch in my place of origin because of my power. I was... trapped in a timeless zone until Ranma-sama freed me of my captivity."

"Who's this, Ranma-sama?" Otaru asked.

It was Vanilla who answered for Lea, who was by now staring out to nowhere, her eyes glazed in the fond memories of when Ranma was conversing with her inside Deus, "Ranma-sama is the man we treasure most."

The dark blue haired hyperactive marionette bounced in place, squealing, "Like what Otaru is to Lime! I love Otaru!"

Cherry quickly interjected, "I love dear Otaru-sama as well!"

Bloodberry wasn't one to lose the imaginary argument, "Hey, I love Otaru too ya know!"

"Urk!" Was all Otaru could say as he watched the three buxom marionettes slam unto him, cradling him into their bosoms on all sides.

Lea smirked, finding the scene strangely familiar, "Well, they're certainly enthusiastic."

Lorelei smiled softly, glancing at the bickering marionettes and their suffocating master, "Yes, they are. Even though they're not actually humans, their Maiden Circuits have developed wonderfully. The Maiden Circuits are the hearts for the marionettes, and only a handful were developed in Terra-Two."

"Lower class models..." A soft voice caused Lorelei, Lea and Vanilla to blink. They all turned to the dark skinned emerald-haired girl behind them, who was looking at the scene impassively.

"What do you mean, 'Lower class models'?" Doctor Lorelei asked curiously, slightly offended at the tone from the girl. Emeralda's gaze turned to her, causing the poor doctor to fidget in her place. She idly noticed that the other two marionettes that had escorted them into the palace earlier already vanished, probably off to somewhere.

"They still use the old designs for android technology, compared to my systems." Emeralda began as she nodded slightly to the concerned looks of Vanilla and Lea. She continued, "Their creators used titanium alloy as a framework for their skeletal system. Instead of organs, dialysis machines and a miniature pump system for a heart were used. Their 'Brain' is a mass of super-miniturized integrated circuits located at the chest area near the mechanical heart, and was a self-learning supercomputer. Their eyes were highly developed cameras that offered several different functions."

"Well... damn. That's the most she's probably said at one time." Lea commented as she looked at Emeralda appraisingly. Vanilla nodded in approval as well, and the marionettes and their owner were now looking at her in interest. Doctor Lorelei just gaped at the young woman for the moment, since while the explanation was slightly obscure, Emeralda managed to describe the general layout design for the marionettes' system Faust, Ieyasu and Lorelei developed in the past.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she asked, "How did you know about it? Nobody should've known about the design pattern of the marionettes, especially the Saber Marionettes. You have just described the special marionettes Faust, Ieyasu and I have developed in the past. I don't think anyone should know about it at this time."

Emeralda allowed a small ray of amusement reflect in her eyes as she replied, "I am... an artificial human."

"EH!" The hosts' outburst was loud and outraged, but the three visitors took it in stride. After allowing the hubbub to die down, Lorelei gestured for Emeralda to continue.

"I am what my creators call as... a nanomachine colony. Almost human, but not quite." The dark-skinned beauty's melancholy can be heard from the tone of her voice as she said this. "My body is made up of micro machines that mimic how a human body's body system worked. Cells for a human, nanoprobes for me. Nevertheless, I am who I am."

"Amazing..." Lorelei breathed, her eyes turning to a strange glint as she stared at the dark skinned meta-human, "The scientific level of creating something at the microscopic level is truly astounding! Uhmm... would it be okay if I---"

"No..." Lea immediately placed herself into the path of Lorelei's vision on Emeralda, causing the brown-haired girl to blink and stare at the dark witch in confusion, "You will not examine her. She is not some... Thing... be taken apart and experimented on."

"Please!" The doctor implored, "It would greatly benefit this planet's technology, as well as help the marionettes gain more of the humanity they seek to take!"

"Please do it in your own terms." Vanilla intoned ominously, causing everyone to shiver involuntarily at the cold tone she used. She continued, "Emeralda is... Emeralda is one of us. We would never allow such atrocious thoughts to be acted upon her body. If you try, we'll be forced to retaliate harshly."

Bloodberry bristled at the implied threat, saying, "Hey! She's just excited, you know! You don't need to be so rude!"

Vanilla's red pupils bored into Bloodberry's own. "What's rude is asking us for permission to open up our friend and try to find out how she works. How would you feel if Lea would ask your creator if she could open you up and see how you are able to have emotions?"

"That's bad." Lime's normally happy voice was not present, instead there was the tone of seriousness in it. Shaking her head, the dark-blue haired marionette intoned, "I don't want that. If it means making someone sad, I'd rather wait than force Lorelei to make us near human!"

"But Lime..." Lorelei began, but she was cut off by the marionette.

"NO!" Lime shouted, quickly leaping to her feet and dashing away from the castle. Otaru cried out as well, casting an apologetic glance towards everyone gathered in the hall and ran after the bawling pseudo-female, followed by Cherry and Bloodberry as well.

Doctor Lorelei just sagged in her place, staring at her lap forlornly, "I... I was just... they... they deserve so much more. Doing this... would help them greatly."

Lea shrugged slightly, saying, "I don't know about you, but as far as I can see, I think they pretty much accepted what they are. They're content with what they have."

"I know." Lorelei muttered loudly, "But it doesn't give me any peace with just that. Although... it's really gratifying to see them content like that. It's just me, I guess. I just want them to have more, especially since they managed to work out their issues regarding the man they loved."

"Ahh..." Lea nodded sagely, "And what have they decided? Who will spend the rest of her life with him?"

The doctor blinked in confusion. "Can't you tell?" she asked curiously, "They chose to share him."

Now it was the guests' turn to blink.

"Share?" Vanilla cocked her head to one side, "Like... a harem?"

"Preposterous..." The platinum-haired witch huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, "Sharing indeed... as if having to share the man wouldn't be a problem enough, they have to live together? Hmph."

"You would be surprised." Lorelei said calmly, a slight smile gracing her lips, "As you can see, there's a scarceness of females on the planet, but that's besides the point. They chose to live together to love one man, and accepting their fate of living with each other. At first, I heard they fought tooth and nail for his attention, but gradually they learned that selfishness may be their undoing. Instead of having the possibility of losing the one they loved to their bickerings, they opted to curb their jealousy and share. They may have disagreements every now and then, but they fix it peacefully. As you can see, they still care so much for one another to run after Lime when she ran off."

Vanilla hummed noncommitedly, "But... isn't it hard for the man to cope?"

The doctor grinned widely. "That's the beauty of it!" she exclaimed happily, "Even if it was hard, he still tried to make things work. And succeeded. Actually, he left the decision-making to the marionettes, so he really had no regrets about it."

"That's..." Lea tried to think of something bad to call it, but settled upon a weird spaced-out look that made her look more 'thoughtful' than 'confused'.

"It's actually one way of solving the problem, if you really think about it." Vanilla commented as she looked back to Emeralda, who had the same thoughtful expression on her face as with Lea's.

Doctor Lorelei blinked, then clapped her hands once as she remembered something, "Oh right! We better go after them." Without waiting for a response, she quickly stood and raced outside the palace doors, followed by a bunch of kimono-clad marionettes led by Tamasaburo and Baiko.

Lea huffed lightly, standing to follow the rest of the entourage wearily. "We haven't even begun to discuss the reason why we're here."

Vanilla and Emeralda gasped slightly. They apparently forgot as well, as they were thinking much on the system the Saber Marionettes have devised to share their love for their master. It was something to consider after all.

Oh well, they could always mention it later... well... after they manage to catch up with the others, that is.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It wasn't really as surprising to the trio of otherworldly visitors to find three more Saber Marionettes, the androids that have the Maiden Circuits installed in them, all present and accounted for inside Otaru's home. It would seem that Lime bawled her way into their home instinctively, and had locked herself in her room for quite some time. By the time Vanilla and her companions reached the house after being guided towards it by the bystanders, the encounter has been contained. Lorelei and her two guardian marionettes were already in the house, along with the three new marionettes and the other three marionettes loyal to Otaru Mamiya. Tamasaburo and Baiko stood stoically outside the patio doors, steadfast in guarding the perimeter of the home.

"You sure do remind me of Ranma-sama though. But now I'm quite happy that he hasn't come with us." Lea said wryly to Otaru, staring at the entourage of android girls in front of her. They really look like real women, apart from the compartment outline frames visible along their arms and bellybutton. Otherwise, they're real girls to most eyes.

Vanilla nodded sagely, "Truly. It would've been a disaster."

"Oh?" Lorelei mused, "Is that why you're worrying about a harem?" She had figured it was a topic that caused dread in the hearts of the women assembled before him. Not that the marionettes cared the least NOW.

"Somewhat..." Vanilla and Lea deadpanned.

Bloodberry snorted as she clutched at Otaru's right arm, "He couldn't be as manly as Otaru-sama."

Lea gave her a half-lidded stare, saying, "You'd think that. Unless you've seen how he managed to turn one hundred and fifty plus women, who majority are... WERE lesbians, into a pile of lovesick puppies when he smiled."

"Lesbians?" The six marionettes said altogether as they looked up to the organic females curiously. Well, three organic and one artificially organic... or whatever.

"Female loving females, and having sexual relations with each other." Lea explained impatiently.

"Female having sex with another female?" The marionette with shortened spiky blond hair and a pink star-shaped eye patch over her right eye (her POV) asked dubiously.

"It's... actually possible, Panther-chan." Lorelei blushed, when she realized that the intimate topic was going deeper.

The marionette beside Panther, who has dark-blue pageboy cut hair that has bangs that covered most of her eyes cocked her head to one side, asking, "How can that be possible? Is that one of the things you'll teach us to become more... human?"

"URK!" The poor flustered doctor facefaulted as Vanilla and Lea blinked in confusion. Emeralda kept her silent vigil as she watched the proceedings with a keen eye. The lone female of the planet recovered slightly as she choked out, "That's not part of etiquette training, Luchs-chan!"

"I think Tiger is interested in lesbianism." Panther thumbed to her side, indicating the marionette with short red hair that reached up to her neck. She was dressed in a light pink dress that hid a luscious figure.

The aforementioned marionette adopted a wide-eyed expression as the attention of the conversation shifted to her. She blushed slightly, ducking her head in embarrassment. "No..." she said softly, "I'm... I'm just wondering why everyone was so worked up about it."

Lea shrugged noncommittedly, saying, "It's simple actually. Instead of male and female, it's a female and female kind of thing. As for the mechanics, well... it's a delicate matter. You better ask the good doctor for that information, but reserve it for later. Right now, we need to tell you why we touched down on this planet in the first place."

Lorelei shot a thankful look towards the dark sorceress, which was acknowledged with a slight nod. "I was also wondering about that, but I guess I just forgot because of all the excitement..." she admitted.

"We are here to find someone." Vanilla said bluntly, boring her red-eyed gaze on the doctor, "But I believe he's not here, since you were surprised at our arrival. But then again, you may have just not noticed his arrival, since he's male. And Hibiki Tokai is one full-blooded male, through and through."

"I don't think that would be the case." Lea commented thoughtfully, "Because if Hibiki-san DID land on this planet, his Vanguard would've caused a ruckus. It's big enough to attract attention. The palace would've had heard something about it by then."

"A Vanguard?" Lime piped up, "What is it? Is it delicious?"

Vanilla and Lea stifled a laugh, while Emeralda's smile remained hidden within the folds of the cloth wrapped around the lower half of her face.

"I don't think you'd want to try eating a sixteen or more feet big of yellow mecha, Lime-san." The dark sorceress grinned as the rejuvenated blue-haired marionette ignored her slight jibe, somehow managing to bounce all over the place in excitement.

Lorelei shook her head, saying, "No... I don't think that kind of object was seen anywhere on this planet at least. I get updated news hourly from the other cities around Terra-Two, but no one has reported anything like that. And they won't dare conceal such an important fact from me, since I'd be excluding them from the list of cities I'm going to give some of my cloned genes to."

"Then perhaps... one of the other planetary scouts we sent have located our missing compatriot." Vanilla sighed ruefully, feeling that her efforts in going here has been NEAR to useless. Actually, she has been quite smitten at the idea these marionettes were using. Harems, huh? Love prevails after all, ne?

Next to her, Lea has been thinking of the same thing. Ranma-sama was quite adverse to their affections when they end up fighting in the end. He found that while he was quite 'dodgy' most of the time, he wasn't against on them showing their affections in such a manner as she had foreseen. Oh sure, she had been wrong before, but this was one thing she was sure of when she dealt with some of the males back when she was still in I-Praseru.

Emeralda, on the other hand, has other things in mind. Like thinking about that weird presence she had felt earlier, one that has a cold indifference towards someone. Nobody noticed it, probably because they were too engrossed in their conversation. Suddenly, her arm snapped forward, transforming into a very big frying pan along the way towards the side of Doctor Lorelei. Everyone, except Vanilla and Lea, were extremely surprised to react. Several small clangs of metal hitting metal later, the frying pan managed to thwart off several iron darts. The blocked projectiles fell to the ground harmlessly, gathering into one neat pile. The poor doctor was staring wide-eyed towards nowhere, severely shaken by the sudden attack.

The marionettes reacted immediately, jumping to their feet and fell into their defensive stances. Tamasaburo and Baiko burst into the room, catching Emeralda's transformed hand slowly melting into its original shape. They concluded a lot of things at this scene.

The two Imperial Marionettes quickly unfurled their weapons and leapt towards the dark-skinned girl.

This opted Vanilla and Lea to think of several thousand ways of how to dismember the approaching marionettes, which had the intention of harming Emeralda. Both were actually surprised at the strength of emotion they felt for the girl, even if Emeralda was capable of defending herself (and that the girl was actually taller and much more dangerous than the two).

Vanilla summoned something she hasn't called upon for five millennia. When she raised her right hand in front of her, a red haze of orange hexagonal 'hive' bubble appeared a few inches in front of her and her other two companions, who were near her at the moment. The orange field has effectively stopped the beam sword and the naginata that Tamasaburo and Baiko wielded, the weapons bouncing off the AT-Field Vanilla has generated. This stopped the marionettes' attacks, momentarily stunning them.

Lea's staff, which was actually named Vanalgando, appeared in a bright light show, immediately latching itself into her grip as the top end glowed with electrical power. Growling softly at the impudent little dolls that tried to skewer her fellow pursuer of Ranma-sama's heart, she pointed the charged side of her staff without any sort of hesitation towards the marionettes, her eyes glowing fierce red in rage. A blast of electrically-charged ball later, the two marionettes flew over the stunned audience outside of the house, their battered forms cackling with lightning every now and then. They both landed in a heap just short of hitting Cherry's beloved vegetable garden, and didn't get back up. Lea's glare didn't let up, as she sharply turned towards a tall tree that was visible beyond the opened door of the house. Without a word, another bolt of energy blasted from the tip of her staff, hitting something inside the thick mass of leaves atop the tree. A short, female shriek was heard, before an equally-female form fell from the tree.

A marionette dressed in a tight cheongsam that had a huge gaping hole at its chest greeted them. The sightless eyes of the marionette stared at the sky, the hole on its chest exposing a lot of its electrically-inclined insides to the world. Smoke and sparks wafted out of the hole, though.

The witnesses slowly turned towards the irate demon sorceress, who was now a picture of her battle psyche, Ihadurca. Her ornate staff was still giving off electrical sparks every now and then, which caused the marionettes to flinch slightly at the sight since they saw the damage it did to the poor Tamasaburo and Baiko. They dared not move an inch yet, since Lea was still looking quite angry and might attack them indiscriminantly.

"Sniveling little whores! How dare you raise your weapons on my companions so blatantly in front of me!" Lea's voice changed its timbre, adopting a very menacing and evil-sounding tone that brought shivers to the others. Her ongoing anger streak was severely hampered though, when Emeralda's soft voice cut through her haze of madness.

"Lea-san..." Emeralda muttered loudly, causing the platinum blue-haired girl to blink and snap out of her trance, "Relax, please."

The sorceress looked at the green-haired girl imploringly, "But they attacked you, just after you saved their precious woman's life! What do you expect me to do, just sit back and watch! I will NOT allow any one of us get hurt. Ranma-sama will be displeased!"

"Nevertheless..." Vanilla intervened, lowering her hands in the process that allowed the AT-Field to disappear, "The danger has passed, and I don't think the others are as foolish as those other two. Besides, that other one you managed to tag in the tree happens to be the true enemy. Which reminds me, how DID you detect that one?"

Lea shrugged indifferently, saying in a serious voice, "Reflex action, actually. I got used to being attacked by various enemies that used sneaky tactics. They usually hide at high places, taking the landscape advantage into consideration. They would carry assassination attempts through there, so I just reacted accordingly."

"A marionette." Emeralda said curtly.

Everyone blinked when they turned to where the dark-skinned girl was SUPPOSED to be, but she wasn't there. Instead, they spotted the tall girl outside, already inspecting the mechanical body that Lea successfully hit with her energy blast.

"New Hongkong!" Lorelei exclaimed as she ran to the body. The cheongsam was actually a dead give-away of where it had come from. "Why would New Hongkong want me assassinated?"

"Well..." Lea drawled out, "If what I can surmise with all these guards walking around with you, I'd say you're someone really important, or that you're doing something important, or you have something important. Either of the three, the stress on the 'important' is evident."

"I don't understand..." Lorelei shook her head as she stared at the marionette body in despair, "My work... it's atonement... for my sins in the past. If not for Otaru, Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry, I might've already taken my life when the cloning process for the females went underway."

"Whatever." The sorceress shrugged.

Otaru turned to Lorelei, saying, "Lorelei, we have to go back to Japoness Palace. Now that we have intruders within Japoness, we have to make sure the threat has been exterminated first."

Luchs nodded beside the brown-haired Japoness, saying, "I agree with the assessment, Lorelei-sama."

As they all shuffled out of Otaru Mamiya's home, Lorelei looked forlorn and sad all of the sudden.

"I will be trapped once again like a caged bird, but it probably is for the best." Lorelei whispered to herself, only Emeralda caught the gist of what she had said.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In another galaxy, four of the Galaxy Angel members had successfully returned to the Transbaal System. They were currently reporting to their superior, Commander Walcott, about the sudden decision of Vanilla to leave their group.

"This is terrible..." Commander Walcott fretted as he examined Vanilla's pre-written resignation letter. He had never realized that the long-time member of the Galaxy Angels would be the first to resign. Not only that, but Vanilla was a vital asset to their operations. Her powers were mainly to heal people, and she was really good at it. Sometimes, the commander wondered if Vanilla was really an angel in disguise, for real, but now he would never know.

Now that he thought about it, he thought she was a nun. But why did Vanilla leave everything behind just to pursue a man then?

"I wonder why she went with Ranma-san though..." Mint unknowingly voiced Commander Walcott's unasked question, "I always thought she was never interested in those things."

Ranpha scoffed slightly, "I thought she was a nun! She has this 'God is Everything' kind of thing going on around her."

"I think it's romantic!" Millfeulle clasped her hands to her chest as her eyes grew all sparkly. Everyone sweatdropped as the pink-haired girl was suddenly surrounded by colorful flowers, rainbows, and birds...

"Anyway..." Forte interjected, readjusting her hat, "I wonder how we'll tell Nomad about it, though."

"Oh..." The whole group went silent. They jumped when the screen in front of their meeting room suddenly lit up, exposing a weird pink stuffed toy with the face of a fat bird and a body of a roundish cat.

"Err... Nomad..." Mint sweatdropped.

"Tell me about what?" The doll's shrill voice caused the others to wince slightly, but mostly it was because they dreaded the conversation's topic. Too bad they had to say something right now, since Nomad was in the middle of his job, that is, copying his missile guidance system protocols to the rest of the missiles he was asked to program. He took a break and decided to take a peek at the Galaxy Angels' meeting room, since he had heard from the techs down at the hangar that the girls have already returned a few hours ago, and were under a debriefing. He already missed his lovely and innocent Vanilla, and was looking forward to be dragged around by the girl once again.

Commander Walcott and the rest of the Galaxy Angels big sweated as the pink stuffed toy that sat at the artillery section of the base waited for a response from them.

It's going to be a long day indeed.

And Nomad's scream could be heard from the nearby planets and star systems surrounding the Transbaal System after the tale was told.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In planet Terra-Two, Japoness Palace...

"What's this corridor for?" Lea commented curiously as she pointed at the dimly lit hallway that led somewhere, which was slightly hidden from view. She surmised that it led to some place real important, especially when everyone of the planet's residents flinched.

"Marine-chan..." Lime muttered loudly, her eyes tearing up all of the sudden. The other marionettes quickly converged on their distraught companion, shooting a heated glance towards Lea. The sorceress just ignored the looks.

"She's our friend..." Cherry informed them, "She saved the whole planet, when she took it upon herself to absorb the erratic plasma storms that has been expected to occur at some interval. But the power strain was too much, and Marine's maiden circuit shorted out. Marine-chan has been asleep since then."

Lorelei shook her head sadly, saying, "I still have no idea how to fix the damage done to her maiden circuit. But I WILL fix her, no matter how long it takes."

While everyone conversed about the comatose marionette, Emeralda's gaze was at the door that lead into Marine's sanctuary. Half of her consciousness was listening to the conversation around her, but the rest were riveted to the growing sudden impulse to walk to THAT door. Ranma had mentioned to her once that when in doubt, one would resort to trusting their instincts. When she asked about what 'instincts' were, he had explained that they were what her insides were screaming for her to do. It was what she thought was the right thing to do.

Was the feeling she felt the ones Ranma-sama was talking about?

Emeralda really didn't know much, since she was never taught these things back when she was with Fei's Kim. Her reincarnated father/creator gave Emeralda the freedom to learn for herself, and she was slowly picking up things as they go. Still, it wasn't fast enough.

But this feeling... this compelling force that was driving her into an internal turmoil... she wanted to go in there and do... something. She knew, and her body did too, that she could do something. Deciding to follow her Ranma-sama's advice, she abruptly turned and went straight into the dimly-lit hallway, ignoring the shouts of her companions for her to stop. She had to do this, because she knew she can do something.

Everyone stared in confusion as Emeralda basically brushed off their efforts to stop her. Panther and Bloodberry went to intercept, but Lorelei stopped them. The doctor saw that the girl won't be stopped, and trying to do so would invoke another fight between the two groups. Instead of trying to explain why she stopped the marionettes, Lorelei motioned for them to follow the girl, who was already followed by her two other companions.

Now normally, Emeralda would've just smashed the doors open with a swift transformation of her fists into hammers, but doing so would've just agitated the castle guards. Instead, she just looked at the seemingly sophisticated electronic lock that might've been a good security measure, if not for Emeralda's... special abilities.

Without uttering a word, the pseudo-human waved her hand over the control panel for the room's security system. Her hand passed through the construct, causing everyone who had already caught up with her to gasp in shock. Her hand was thrust deep into the circuitry, without disturbing the housing at all.

Emeralda was in fact well-versed with machinery. Her former home, that lab where Fei's Kim had created her, has been a haven of information for her. Most of them were practically negligible to most normal humans, but for someone like her, they were treasures, especially since she was, all in all, a newborn babe at the time. Curious as to how much info she can gather being trapped like that, she had unwittingly tapped into the laboratory computer's mainframe system, and she was able to get most of whatever she knew from there. The rest were learnt according to experience.

Her musings were cut short when she finally found what she was looking for. Emeralda was actually using a revised version of the nano-probing she tried on Vanilla a few weeks ago. She had learned the 'Japanese' language because of the process. Now, she just had to apply the same thing with regards to the machines, just like what she did back when she was just a newborn. The computer system was state-of-the-art, but her nanomachines were phenomenal compared to it. Soon, the system has been partially assimilated into Emeralda's psyche, and now she was shifting through the records stored in the database. She almost gave a short cry when she found the password, therefore opening the door with a silent 'swish'. She quickly pulled her hand back from the console and casually strode into the room.

"Never ceases to amaze me." Vanilla muttered as she ambled past the shell-shocked marionettes, followed by a smirking Lea.

Doctor Lorelei, Otaru and the marionettes finally shook off their shock, as they quickly followed their guests into the room quickly. They did not want anything to hurt their sleeping friend, so powerful or no they intended to fight the outerworlders to the death if they have to. Just as they burst into the room, they stopped and stared at the weird spectacle in front of them.

Emeralda, her face still as expressionless as ever, had her hand buried deep into the sleeping marionette's chest. The marionette was as dark skinned as Emeralda, with dark moss-colored hair that was tied in a high ponytail. Marine's body remained untouched for a few weeks now, and it has been undisturbed still, aside from Emeralda's intrusion. Nothing seemed to be out of order, and the dark-skinned girl's hand seemed to have melted into Marine's chest. Lime was about to run towards Emeralda to lay the smackdown on the girl, but Cherry held her back, pointing out that as far as her sensors indicated, there had been no intensive damage done by Emeralda to Marine. Reluctantly, the protective dark-blue haired marionette settled down to a ready stance.

Emeralda on the other hand, ignored everyone around her completely. Her 'instincts' have brought her here, and when she faced the comatose android, she was compelled to fix the wrong done to Marine. She had placed her hand on Marine's chest, and willed her nanomachines to gather data on the marionette's design as she pressed it into its chest. After a few seconds, the schematics of the marionette's body appeared in Emeralda's mind's eye, and with the information she set upon trying to correct whatever burnt components the unique Maiden Circuit of Marine has acquired due to excess plasma discharge. Marine's Maiden Circuit was different from the other Saber Marionettes', since instead of having only one circuit, her body has been installed with three combined Maiden Circuits.

Emeralda has been quite amazed at the advanced design of the circuit, as the information regarding it flowed into her brain. The Maiden Circuit was an artificial heart, as well as the Brain of the whole Saber Marionette system. Without it, the marionette will be like the normal ones that walked outside the Palace, as well as the Palace Guards. The initial design of the Saber Marionettes were still embedded in Marine's core system, so Emeralda was able to discern that the original Saber Marionettes could only hold one Maiden Circuit, but Marine had the experimental combined three Maiden Circuit. Each Maiden Circuit was supposed to hold a facet of a woman's personality since the body cannot handle the energy stress of combining all three. But Marine's body has been highly modified, giving it extra power to supposedly hold the experimental Maiden Circuit. But in the end, there was still a limit to the design. The maker of the marionette, New Texas, encountered a fatal flaw in using the experimental circuit. No matter how good they designed the body, it still cannot handle the power surge, thus the marionette would've encountered 'heart burns' or 'heart attacks' as well.

But that wasn't all that Emeralda has seen in the information. She had surmised that Marine was a prototype with a specific mission, and that is to sacrifice itself to absorb the excess plasma storm that was predicted to erupt within the planet of Terra-Two. New Texas took it upon itself to become the 'Savior of the World', and created a scapegoat to catapult the country into glory.

It was inhuman! At least, that was what Emeralda was feeling as of the moment. Actually, the dark-skinned girl felt a bit peeved at this New Texas country, for being so uncaring for something they have created. Fei's Kim and Elly-mama had died to protect her, so she knew that it was wrong for New Texas to exploit their creation so blatantly.

They created something to sacrifice itself for their own gains, under the guise of Saving the World.

Emeralda felt apathy for the poor marionette, at least, that's what she thought she felt at the moment. She wasn't really adverse to emotions yet, but she was getting there. What she was sure of, is that she needed to fix this problem. Analyzing the complicated design of the experimental Maiden Circuit, there were several faulty wiring that should've been removed to save excess power surge. Using her nanomachines, Emeralda started repairing the faults first. When she finished fixing whatever she could at the wiring, she inspected the internal structure of the Maiden Circuit itself.

She was actually boggled at its complexity, and she hoped she would do a much better job that the doctor did. There were some data loss that were burnt out when the electric charge from the plasma storm fried Marine's circuit, and it will take Emeralda's nanomachines a few hours before she could reconstruct whatever she could salvage of Marine's data.

Lime, Cherry, Bloodberry, and the rest of those who were watching grew restless just watching Emeralda standing above Marine's bed, her hand still stuck into the other marionette's chest. Only the presence of Lea and Vanilla between the group and Emeralda stopped them from doing anything. Just as they were about to voice their protests, Emeralda finally blinked and snapped her gaze from Marine's face towards the group. Her eyes reflected curiousness, as well as a bit of weariness from the looks of it. Otherwise, they have no idea what her emotions were for the moment, since the cloth covering Emeralda's mouth still wound around her face.

Lea stepped forward, her worried gaze looked from Emeralda's still-buried hand into Marine's chest towards her face, saying, "Are you alright, Emeralda-chan?"

The tall dark-skinned girl just nodded silently.

Vanilla gestured to whatever it was the girl was doing, "Are you sure you will be fine with that? Is there anything wrong?"

"Fixing..." Emeralda muttered loudly, "Lots of damage. Data loss immense... I have to reconstruct data as best as I can."

"Wait!" They all turned to Lorelei, who blushed at the sudden attention. The doctor continued, "You... what are you doing? What do you mean, 'fixing'?"

Emeralda seemed to shrug, but nevertheless answered, "Her creators were... uncaring. Not fair... I want to give her the chance to live."

"But I thought Marine-chan's circuit was almost totaled by the plasma?" Cherry pointed out.

"True..." Emeralda allowed, "Reconstruction requires three hours at least. Total repair impossible, only eighty-nine percent data recovery applicable."

Lorelei made a choking sound deep in her throat, as she gaped at Emeralda, "H-H-How! I only m-managed to s-salvage the M-Maiden Circuit, but d-data recovery?"

"She can..." Vanilla intoned with confidence, "And she will. She is... very special."

Lea shook her head, "Don't ask too many questions, because we won't allow you to examine Emeralda anyway."

The doctor was about to protest, but Otaru just held her back by grasping her shoulder with his hand, and shook his head.

"I can actually understand how they feel, Lorelei-san." Otaru commented, glancing at the group of marionettes that he has grown to love and cherish. Yes, he also included Tiger, Luchs and Panther, even if they weren't really HIS marionettes to begin with. They were his family, and he will do anything to protect them.

Otaru continued, "If someone were to ask me if they can examine any one of the marionettes, I'll be very cross and would probably smack them."

"But..."

"No!" Everyone almost jumped in shock at the sudden flare of temper from the normally happy-go-lucky boy. He continued, "We can evolve our marionettes all on our own, and not from the expense of others. They have their secrets to keep, so we have no right to pry. Besides, haven't you heard? She's made to be human-like, probably the closest one we've ever seen, so it's like trying to examine a real human. I sure can't live with that knowledge, that our advancement was because we took apart something so wonderful."

"But I don't have to take her apart to examine her!" Lorelei replied tartly.

"Impossible..." Vanilla retorted, giving Lorelei an unwavering stare, "Given how much advanced Emeralda's nanomachine colony is, it is impossible for your planet's technology to even comprehend a glimpse of how they work, let alone MAKE them work with your own marionettes. It's like forcing humanity's evolution... it will only lead to dangerous side-effects."

Silence permeated the room as they looked at each other uncomfortably.

A couple of hours have passed since Emeralda started the procedure to recover Marine's memories. The group managed to get through the awkward silence by small talk, a little about experiences and such during adventures, as well as what little they knew about relationships. Also, the marionettes were pretty much hooked on asking about how being a girl felt like to Vanilla and Lea. The two unoccupied guests explained as much as they could, at least, as much as they could explain to them. Not that they had much experience on having relationships and being a relatively normal girl in the first place.

Eventually, Emeralda's head snapped up, causing the others to react as well. They all looked at her expectantly, as the dark-skinned girl closed her eyes, whether in bliss or in agitation they never knew. Nevertheless, the girl turned to them and said, "It is done. Process, completed... more or less, memories accurate at approximately eighty-nine to ninety-five percent. Data corruption, defragmented and allocated as untouchable files hidden deep in psyche, to be reserved if time comes for a possibility of fixture."

The girl turned her gaze back to the sleeping form of Marine as she pulled her hand from the marionette's chest, continuing, "Approximately twenty minutes for self-reboot and self start-up, as well as self-diagnostics."

Lorelei urged the excited blue-haired marionette next to her, saying, "Lime-chan, take Marine-chan to the lab so that we may check if it's true." She watched as Lime immediately cradled Marine's body in her arms and took off to the direction of the palace laboratory, followed by the other marionettes.

Facing the taller form of Emeralda, she glowered, "This better not be a joke! I've been trying so hard to find a way to recover Marine's memories for Lime!"

Emeralda cocked her head to one side, commenting, "I dare not make a joke about it. It would not be funny at all, if I did, and that would make Ranma-sama upset at me."

Nodding dubiously, Lorelei left with the others, leaving Emeralda, Vanilla and Lea inside the room. The three looked at each other silently, contemplating on the recent events that they have experienced.

"They all love that Otaru guy, well, three of them anyway..." Lea said finally, "And they're willing to share."

Vanilla sighed, "I wonder... would it be so bad? We all want the same thing... why do we need to fight about it?"

"Ranma-sama is afraid to hurt people..." Emeralda added, "He would probably try to hold out for as long as he can, until some of us would give up. Rather than choosing one earlier on and let the others get hurt, he tries to take all the brunt of the pain and hoping to let the situation pass."

"But we have to let Ranma-sama know he has a choice in this..." Vanilla said softly, "If it's anything he dislikes, it is the loss of his freedom to choose."

Lea nodded, "You noticed that too, huh? Well... it wouldn't hurt to try and have all of us having a relationship with each other. I mean, he's a Saiyajin anyway. I heard they're insatiable in bed."

"What does that have to do with our topic, Lea-san?" Vanilla groused grumpily.

The platinum-haired sorceress chuckled, "Don't you get it? He can't be satiated by only ONE girl. With his Saiyajin blood only, he can outlast at least three women pleasuring him. But we all know Ranma is... different. He's more than just the typical Saiyajin."

"So..." Vanilla surmised, "We should expect more than three women, then?"

"Most probably..." Lea agreed.

Emeralda nodded and turned to the direction of the doorway, calling back to her companions, "We must follow them. I am interested if I was fully successful in rejuvenating the Saber Marionette."

Lea asked, "I was wondering, why did you help the marionette anyway?"

Sighing, Emeralda responded, "I, for one, knew the feeling of being trapped in limbo..." Glancing at Lea and Vanilla sideways, she continued, "I know you also know how it felt."

Vanilla and Lea had no answer to that, as they fell into a contemplative silence while following Emeralda out of the room.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the planet several asteroids away from Terra-Two, a lone pigtailed hybrid with his cabbit partner dodged another stream of laser fire, as the war of that planet waged on. He was unlucky enough to fall smack into the middle of the thing, as his luck was such. Below them, a view of a war-torned landscape comprised of several hundreds of animal-shaped mecha fired upon one another, explosions scattering here and there.

He finally reached a run-down city, but his luck struck again as a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex-shaped mecha emerged from the ruins. There was also a gigantic statue of a lady framed by a couple of pillars in the middle of the city. It glowed bright blue, and it gave the pigtailed alien an eerie feeling of power. He can feel the same power flowing into every mecha on the planet.

As he idly dodged another volley of Long Ranged Missiles that headed his way, he unwittingly made contact with the weird lady statue.

Again his cursed extreme luck activated, causing the statue to glow brighter than before. The pigtailed young man let go of the cabbit in shock, staring at the glowing figure that he had touched earlier. In a flash of bright light, he disappeared, leaving a cabbit alone in the middle of the battle.

Well, the cabbit, upon seeing her beloved partner disappear into the light and their telepathic connection silenced, she went berserk. Transforming into a huge crystalline silver ship, the interstellar ship blew away everything it saw moving on the planet's surface.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in planet Terra-Two itself, Japoness Palace...

"Amazing..." The brown haired female doctor that resided inside the Japoness Palace murmured as she read the feedback given to her by the sensors hooked to Marine's body. She was very impressed that the data loss that Lorelei has been at a stump to solve before was remedied somehow, even if there was still some memory damage. It was just like a person who suffered a little amnesia, but the rest were intact. They didn't have to start from scratch teaching Marine everything that has to be done to survive.

Cherry and Luchs glanced up from the computer console that they were monitoring for a while now. The purple-haired marionette nodded briefly and said, "It is short of a miracle. It was as if they were as good as new. The cooling system of Marine's Maiden Circuit has been modified as well."

Luchs snorted slightly, saying, "Modified is right. The stress of the energy output can be contained now. Before, Marine can't even allow extreme emotions to erupt from her Maiden Circuit, or else she'll suffer a massive energy output that hasn't been corrected yet in her experimental circuit. That was why she suffered every time she gets angry, or even be depressed so much. Her circuit was slowly deteriorating because of it, but now..."

"Her hand... she just pushed her hand into Marine's chest..." Cherry said in exasperation, "It was... it was very disconcerting watching it."

Their conversation halted when the door to the infirmary swished open, exposing the three aforementioned guests that had weird powers. Lea led the trio confidently, as she and Vanilla placed Emeralda in the middle of their entourage. It was certainly obvious how protective they were of the dark-skinned girl.

Vanilla surged forward, stopping at a respectable distance from the marionettes and the flat bed that held the formerly damaged Marine. She glanced at the immobile figure and inquired, "Are all the repairs as expected?"

"Even better than what I could have done..." Lorelei admitted, nodding to Vanilla.

"It is to be expected..." Vanilla countered, her red pupils straying over to where Emeralda stood a bit to her side, "Since you don't have the necessary technology to perform such a rigid task of recovering nearly lost fragments of computer data."

Lorelei visibly wilted, saying, "Well, it will stay that way, since you don't want to help..."

Otaru bristled, "Lorelei-san..."

Lea scoffed, "Nice try, but that tone won't get you anywhere."

The doctor shrugged slightly. "It's worth a shot."

Tiger interjected in the rising ire of conversation between them as she said, "Marine-chan's brainwave patterns have shifted. She's returning to full activation within fifty seconds."

Before Lime, Panther and Bloodberry could ask, Luchs explained, "That means Marine-chan's waking up."

Bloodberry and Panther, both mollified by their lack of much-needed knowledge in science, chuckled weakly. Lime on the other hand just let the comment pass by her head. Instead, she focused on the phrase, 'Marine-chan's waking up'. In other words, Lime became incorrigible, as she immediately bounced to her feet and fluttered here, there, and everywhere.

The others just patiently ignored Lime's badgering, as they watched the dark-skinned marionette's eyelids flutter in activity. It was a sure sign that she was about to wake up. And wake up she did, as her eyes suddenly snapped open, her pupils still dilated from the long deactivation. The haziness in Marine's eyes slowly decreased as her internal system whirred into activity. Finally finishing her last diagnostics, Marine sat up on the white lab bed, staring around her as she blinked owlishly.

"Huh? Lime-chan, Cherry-san, Bloodberry-san?" Blinking once more, Marine turned to the others, asking, "Luchs-san, Panther-san, Lorelei-sama, Otaru-san... and Tiger-san? What happened? Where are we? Last I remember... I was... the plasma..."

"MARINE-CHAN!" Lime leapt towards the startled newly-awakened marionette and hugged her hard, crystalline tears flowing down her eyes. Marine quickly recovered from her shock and hugged back, her own tears marring her happy face.

"My, such a lively child..." Lea commented in amusement, watching as the exuberant Lime nearly crushed Marine's ribcage. The dark-skinned marionette was already wind-milling her arms in protest of the treatment.

Bloodberry gazed at the scene with a half-lidded look, commenting, "I wonder if Marine's gonna survive a few seconds more, with Lime squeezing the living daylights outta her..."

"Ano... Lime..." Otaru grimaced, watching Marine's face turning purple in suffocation, "Ah... Marine can't breathe..." he finished lamely.

"Lime!" Panther called out urgently, "Leggo of Marine-chan! She's suffocating!"

Lime quickly released her friend, who had swirly eyes because she had lost consciousness already. "WAAAAAAHHHH!" the horrified marionette screamed, shaking the unconscious Marine violently, "She stopped moving again! I deactivated her!"

"Baka..." Cherry and Luchs noted.

Lorelei and Tiger sweatdropped as they witnessed Lime swing Marine's senseless body around.

Vanilla sighed, saying, "She might need repairs again."

Emeralda just blinked.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere...

"I'm starting to hate swirlies..." The pigtailed young man commented wryly as he spun around the dimensional vortex he was sucked into, again. His arms were crossed across his chest, as his feet crossed each other as well. He took the position of being seated atop an imaginary ground as he plunged head first into the swirling mass of darkness that managed to swallow him. His face reflected a slight frown, but his agitation was questionable since the red tail jutting out his backside was wriggling around happily.

The last thing the young man remembered was dodging a lot of laser fire in the middle of that ruined city. Planet Zi, as the natives called that planet, was a highly-industrialized planet. The presence of advanced machinery, particularly those animal-shaped mecha he had seen doing hard labor meant for heavy machinery, proved it. Zoids, they called those machines, in honor of their planet.

It has been a pretty bad four hours since he and his cabbit partner touched down on the desolate planet's desert surface, and he was already involved in a full-scale war involving two factions. One was the united alliance thingie that was formerly two opposing governments, who have banded together to battle the true threat. It was the second group that wanted world domination, not that he was really interested in it. Still, his dropship was totally destroyed by multiple hits from particle beam cannons that came from various parts of the terrain. Next he found himself staring at this huge Tyrranosaurus Rex mechanical replica, which was busy stomping things around and blasting its built-in missile silos in full throttle against anything that stood in its way.

In the end, he had accidentally touched the surface of the big bluish statue that looked like a woman wrapped in mechanical vines. The whole statue was roughly three times the size of the Tyrranosaurus mech that terrorized the planet, and it was glowing a faint blue aura. He had detected a large-scale level of energy emitted by the statue, which was in exchange fed into the various war machines that were still fighting.

When he made contact with the statue, there was a reaction with his aura, and then now here he was, floating along nothing again. And he forgot to grab Rin-Ohki before being sucked in too, but then again, he figured it's for the best. He would probably need an anchor to relatively pinpoint which reality that was.

Yep, Ranma Saotome's life just plain sucked.

It irritated him more when he felt his body shrinking. It would seem that the hole he got himself into was using him as a living battery to power itself. He decided not to cut the power drain, since he wasn't sure what would happen. It could potentially trap him for a long time again in limbo, which he didn't want to happen.

"Someday, I'm gonna reach Heaven and kick Kami-sama's ass. And then I'm gonna smack him some more..." Ranma grumbled to himself as he continued traveling through the wormhole. His only consolation was that this time, he knew who to call when he reaches the other side of this rift. He just hoped Auntie Washuu's experiments wouldn't take too long.

Ah yes, he can now see the end of the crazy tunnel.

In Heaven...

Kami-sama... or Deus as His real name implied, shivered uncontrollably as He lip-read whatever Ranma grumbled under his breath. He suddenly felt clammy as those words spelled an impending doom for Him.

Suddenly He felt vulnerable, especially when Hild wasn't at His side. Then He remembered that the platinum blonde haired woman was pissed off at Him since their conversation earlier, THAT made Him even more nervous.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in Terra-Two...

After the debacle inside the Japoness Castle's med room, Lime quickly pulled the still-disoriented Marine into another room of the castle, to update her about the current situation, and what had happened since Marine fell into stasis. Bloodberry and Panther offered to come with them, as well as Cherry and Luchs. Vanilla, Lea and Emeralda opted to depart the planet anyway, since their main objective was a total bust. After thanking them profusely (they have wisely declined on Lime's hug though) they were escorted outside by Otaru, Lorelei and Tiger.

"Are you really certain we can't ask you to stay a bit longer?" Lorelei asked, eyeing the three guests that have helped them immensely.

Vanilla shook her head, replying, "We need to report back to our main ship, to inform them of Hibiki's absence from this place. The others may have already found him on those other planets we have set to explore..."

"All that technology..." Lorelei grumbled.

Otaru rolled his eyes, "Lorelei-san..."

Vanilla allowed a small smile grace her lips, before smothering it into impassiveness as she turned to the gates where they had gone through from earlier. There were people who still bothered to stop and gape at them, actually, gaping particularly towards Lea. She surmised that since she and Emeralda were practically oozing emotionless vibes since they got here, they thought only Lea was a real female. It was true then, the stories they heard earlier, about how Lorelei was the last and only human female on this planet.

Nope, she doesn't envy the doctor, not one bit.

Although, Vanilla did learn something fresh from this planet, particularly something about relationships. Actually, they were the last people she thought she would learn the lesson, but then life wasn't really all that grand in the least. Unlimited love, shared by mechanical dolls given self-learning capability, which they have showered upon their master. The marionettes decided to share their master, despite their desire of monogamy.

The demonic sorceress, whose reddish tattoos were fully displayed as she was garbed in her battle form as of late, was eyeing the horizon warily. The sun was already setting, and Lea figured they had wasted at least four hours of futile search of this planet. She really wasn't up to looking for the Hibiki boy in the first place, but it was her decision to make the effort. She had presented herself, along with Vanilla and Emeralda, to accompany Ranma. Then Washuu...

((Oh... that puny redhead's gonna feel it later...)) Lea thought to herself darkly, ((Come to think of it, it was all her fault we were separated from Ranma-sama.))

But then, she stopped her thoughts as she received a sudden revelation. Her over-protectiveness over her friends leveled up from being 'casual acquaintances' to 'mates'. A huge step, she realized that, but what can she say? That's how she felt. And judging how Vanilla also stuck up for Emeralda earlier on, it was the same thing with her.

As of now, they were a few minutes outside the huge gates of Japoness, to be escorted to the place where their dropship has been 'parked'. Lorelei insisted on escorting them herself, so Tiger elected herself to come and guard her while the others tend to Marine, since she wasn't as close to the newly awakened marionette as the others were. Otaru Mamiya volunteered to guard Lorelei with Tiger. Several Imperial marionettes were dispatched to guard the group as well, just a precaution if ever someone tried to attack. Tamasaburo and Baiko were still out of commission, after Lea had electrocuted them with her staff.

Apparently, the peace of the moment was to be disturbed, as a wooden arrow came crashing out of the rows of trees that decorated the path. Tiger quickly caught the offending object, snapping it into half as she stood closer to Lorelei. Otaru took out his steel sai and positioned on the doctor's other side. The marionette group blurred into movement, as they quickly assembled around their recognized leader.

Vanilla sighed as she mentally calculated the trajectory of the arrow's flight, finding out where the source of the dangerous weapon was. Emeralda on the other hand has computed it faster than Vanilla, and was now looking directly towards the small shadowed part of the trees just across the willow bark... a pair of greenish eyes were peeping out of it so it seemed. Lea on the other hand already has her staff firmly planted on the ground, waiting for the right time to strike. Now that she really concentrated on it, she could feel various electrical sparks emanating from different parts of the pathway. It was the same as the ones the marionettes from the palace gave out, so Lea concluded that those that surrounded them right now were marionettes. Nasty ones at that.

It would seem that the situation further escalated, when several blurs managed to erupt from the trees. The Japoness group was fairly far from the main capital, therefore if ever they try to call for help, it would be a little too late. Besides, Tiger did promise she'd care for Lorelei, and as an act of self-redemption she'll try to do her best. When the red-haired marionette saw the assassin squad, she grimaced a bit.

Xi'an Marionettes were among the top of the line marionettes in Terra-Two. Their knowledge of the different arts in fighting was pretty much impressive as well. That was why Gartland was adamant on keeping their peace with Xi'an lately, since their marionette power was nothing to sneeze at.

They were all dressed uniformly, quite like the Japoness marionettes as well. They were wearing tight dark green pantsuits, as well as form-fitting dark green Chinese shirts. Their hair were relatively long, and were tied in tight twin buns at the upper part of their head. Most of them wielded twin swords and quarter staves, while some had bows and arrows with them. There were at least two dozen surrounding them right now, and the situation seemed unfavorable for them.

In a clear an tilting voice, one Xi'an marionette stood a little closer than the rest, addressing them as she said, "We have you surrounded. It would be prudent if you surrender all the biological female units in your group, as we salvage what we can from that contraption we recorded that have landed earlier."

"Wait..." Lea deadpanned, gripping her staff tighter, "You mean to tell me, that you're going to take our ship apart?"

"It is prudent for our mission's success..." The marionette replied coldly.

"I see..." Lea growled out. Her armor suddenly blurred and shifted, as her shoulder pads grew and detached itself from her shoulders, floating an inch above her skin. Two large spherical gems emerged from them, maintaining a solid revolution around Lea's form. An intricate golden-colored headband phased into view around her head, which transformed itself into a complicated halo-like attachment. Two translucent wings of energy erupted from her back, bathing the area with a soft glow of light. The red tattoos riddled all over her body became much more pronounced as they glowed with the color of blood.

Without waiting for her sudden change in image to register into anyone's minds, Lea quickly phased herself in front of the offending Xi'an marionette's face, grabbing her by the neck and quickly tossed the marionette over her shoulder. The two orbs that emerged from her now floating shoulder pads removed themselves from their positions, tracking down the still floating body of the marionette Lea had thrown. While in mid-air, the two orbs glowed and fired multiple bursts of energy, accurately hitting the marionette with deadly force. After several shots of beams, the orbs retreated back to their master, leaving in their wake the marionette's body filled with holes. The Xi'an android fell to the ground lifelessly, before exploding in a fantastic ball of fire.

The explosion served as a signal for the others to avenge their own, not that they really understood the feeling since they were the mass produced combat marionettes without the gift of the Maiden Circuit in the first place. They jumped into action, and soon Tiger, Otaru, Lorelei and the rest of the group from Japoness found themselves in a fight.

Tiger leaned and punched right and left, trying to draw the crowd of mechanical dolls away from the one they were protecting. So far, she was quite successful with her endeavor, but her hope was strained to the limit. So far the waves of Xi'an marionettes remained endless. When she destroyed three of them, several more emerged from the shadowed parts of the trees around the path they were in. Their speed was their asset, since the Chinese-oriented droids' designs were favoring speed and stealth over power. Already, Tiger has been hit a few times earlier on, but the hits lack the power it needed to permanently disable her. But what the Xi'an lacked in strength, they made up in their numbers.

Otaru was doing quite well, as he had already dispatched quite a number of the dolls. Their own Japoness marionette escorts faired below the level of their adversaries, although they did manage to cut down some of the attacking party as well. But it was a losing battle for them, since they were only a handful of them left intact. Otaru was quite worried at how many their enemies were, since they were blind-sided by the Xi'an before they managed to call for help. Any attempt to do so would be way too late. He just hoped for the best as he eyed Tiger, who he surmised was doing well in battle, and Lorelei, who stood near Vanilla. The red-eyed albino was looking at the fight impassively, and Otaru concluded that the girl must have summoned the red shield she used to block Tamasaburo and Baiko's attack from earlier. The Japoness national felt he could trust Lorelei's life with Vanilla.

When Otaru spared Emeralda a glance to see if she's all right, he almost stumbled in shock. Out of the sleeves of her clothes, her hands were transformed into a pair of long slightly curved blades. The tall dark-skinned girl remained emotionless as she systematically cleaved and sliced the offending marionettes that came her way. The young man's eyes widened even further when all of the sudden, one of Emeralda's hands morphed into a large spiked mace, smashing a trio of Xi'an warriors into bits as Emeralda swung the new weapon in a wide arc.

While the Japoness hero gawked and fought at the same time, Lea was mowing down everything that wore Chinese clothes, as her eyes glowed red along with her tattoos. Her anger at the situation finally came to the fore, and was now releasing her pent-up frustration against the enemy group. Dismembered marionettes flew left and right, as her staff swung everywhere. Lightning coursed as the orbital orbs floating over her shoulders fired off scathing beams that burned holes into the hapless droids that were unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

Emeralda grew weary of the continuous attack of the enemy. She glared at the expanse of the trees as they kept on spewing marionettes. After shouting a warning to her companions, she jumped high in the air and formed dark wings on her back, allowing her to float in the air momentarily. Calculating the angle of the immediate source of their enemy, she concentrated on her hand. Her right appendage burst into a large scythe, which she used to cleave the air without hitting anything. A luminescent line of... something stayed as it followed the cutting path of her scythe. The slash in the air suddenly opened into a dark hole, something that went inside out and transformed into large jaws with equally huge teeth.

Tiger, Otaru and Lorelei's eyes bugged out as they watched the air distort itself into Emeralda's liking. Vanilla and Lea, seeing that their companions were busy staring at the scene happening above them, quickly disengaged from their own fights and snatched the trio and led them away from the area. Vanilla had seen Emeralda use this technique once before, while Lea could feel the aura of darkness that seemed to claw at the very fabric of reality. They both reached the same conclusion, that Emeralda's coming attack would be big and vicious.

The large maw of darkness, the one Emeralda affectionately called the 'Dark Beast', growled loudly before swooping down into the cluster of marionettes that have been exposed on the open space. Roughly several feet in diameter of space has been reverted into a smoking crater when the maw finally finished chewing its victims. It even spat out the destroyed parts that came from the robots. After its job was done, the Dark Beast growled once before dissipating, leaving only a handful of Xi'an marionettes as well as a wider tree-less area behind.

Leaving the still-stunned group to their staring, Lea had jumped into the fray once again, smashing the rest of the marionettes that have been left by the attack Emeralda threw. The dark-skinned girl on the other hand floated downwards and dashed forwards without pausing, quickly transforming her hands into medium sized scimitars that she used to move down several more Xi'an marionettes by passing. When Emeralda stopped her dash, the marionettes she passed by literally fell into pieces.

Vanilla had been busy protecting the trio of Japoness citizens with her AT-Field. She idle allowed her AT-Field to jerk into expansion, making it smack unto the incoming marionettes that have been brave enough to come and try their luck in breaching her shield. She was panting, since activating her shield for such long periods of time was draining her energy reserves drastically. Compounded with the fact that she has been experimenting on manipulating the Divine Shield given to her, making it an effective weapon that was a defensive one as well. The albino just hoped Emeralda and Lea would hurry up with wiping the rest of the enemy off quickly. She just clutched at her chest and breathed in rapidly, trying to stifle the pain she was feeling at the moment of her exertion.

Luckily for Vanilla, Tiger had snapped from her shock as she recollected herself to battle once again. The redhead's whip came out of its confinement when Tiger grabbed it from its holster around her waist, snapping into the air angrily in preparation for use. A calculated swing from Tiger made the whip to latch around the neck of a hapless Xi'an droid. Glaring at the heartless robot, Tiger pulled back on her whip harshly, severing the enemy marionette's head from its body. Without uttering another word, Tiger snapped the whip back to her hand and smashed another nearby marionette's head with her fist, causing it to cave into itself and drop lifelessly on the ground. The red-haired retainer of Gartland's ruler snorted as she surged into the remaining Xi'an warriors again, snapping her whip all around her.

The formerly oppressed group fought with such ferocity that, after a half hour or hacking down more than fifty Xi'an marionettes, they managed to dwindle down the fight drastically. After the good thirty minutes, there were only six enemy droids visible on the field, and there were no back-ups arriving anymore.

Eyeing the small enemy group with disdain, Emeralda punched her arm downwards into the earth, burying it up to just before her elbow. At the area where the Xi'an female androids were located, several black spikes erupted from the ground, spearing each and every one of the enemy in various parts of their bodies. The spikes hit them all in their vital spots, making them explode after a few seconds of futile struggle.

And with that, the battle drew to a close.

Tiger's clothes were a bit of a mess, but they were still intact enough to provide her with modesty. Otaru's shirt has been discarded, since it has been long ago when it fell apart from the attacks. Lorelei was shaken but perfectly fine, thanks to Vanilla constantly conjuring her AT-Field to protect the doctor. The red-eyed, light cyan haired girl was kneeling on the ground, panting because of the strain she took during the battle. Her eyes were still cold, but was now laced with weariness.

Lea on the other hand was scratch-free, and her armor was only dirty with dust. The enemy wasn't able to touch the demonic sorceress, especially during her semi-rampage and battle lust. She was a bit winded though, and she used her staff to steady herself as she surveyed the surroundings. Emeralda only has a few cuts on her cloak, but otherwise untouched. Her body was still twitching from the euphoria of the fight. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, fighting all out like that made her a bit more relaxed. The dark-skinned, light green haired girl wiped the smudge of ash that clung on her left cheek, trying to tune in into the sounds of the area. So far, there were no enemies detected.

Otaru sighed deeply, tying his retractable sai back unto its holster around his waist. He said, "That was... scary."

"I don't know why Xi'an would do such a thing!" Lorelei despaired, staring at the carnage of various marionette parts in horror, "I didn't do anything wrong, so why are they coming after me?"

"You are a valuable commodity, at least in their eyes..." Vanilla commented, having recovered her breath momentarily, "To gain control over the commodity means they have the power to control its distribution."

"In other words..." Tiger continued, "They'd have full control as to which country would receive the grown female clones in the future. Therefore, it would most likely end up in a bidding."

Otaru nodded. "I can understand that..." he began, "But why do they want Miss Vanilla and the others as well?"

Lea thumbed to the direction where Lorelei stood, saying, "Same as her actually, since we're real females too. Outworlders, but still organic females. That and the idea of controlling powerful alien technology or something would prove useful to them. At least, that's how I might've understood it since they want our dropship as well."

Vanilla nodded grimly. "Our presence here will give your enemy enough inspiration to attack relentlessly. Unless we're gone, your country will never find peace. We must depart immediately."

"Nonsense!" Lorelei crowed, "We can defend you..."

"I will not be a cause of a war between two countries." Lea said flatly, piercing Lorelei with a scathing gaze. The doctor flinched a bit at this.

"Ranma-sama... I want to return to Ranma-sama." Emeralda said as she walked past the group, towards where the dropship was supposed to be.

Lea smirked proudly, turning to follow the dark skinned girl, "What she said. We have someone to return to, and since our mission's done, we have to return to him." ((And also tell him of our plans.)) She thought to herself afterwards.

Vanilla just sighed slightly as she trailed after her two companions. She just hoped that whoever had those marionettes attack them hadn't tampered with their ship yet. It would not be a good thing if they did, especially if she and her friends have found out that it stopped functioning. The thought of being stranded on this planet was not an option for her. And she knows Lea and Emeralda felt the same way as well.

Otaru led Lorelei and Tiger as they went after their new friends in a sedate manner. No matter how odd their circumstances were, they had grown to like their guests. Also, knowledge of extra-terrestrial life gave them hope of being able to travel across the stars once again. News of other colonists that had survived from Earth strengthened their resolve to hasten their scientific research as well.

After a few minutes of walking, the group had finally come across the dropship. Emeralda, Vanilla and Lea were visibly relieved when it was revealed that the ship was intact and untouched. Lorelei, Otaru and Tiger were amazed at the sleek design of it. The doctor was more awed by the concept, since she remembered Mesopotamia and its humongous size. She knew the bulk was needed to hold the fuel, which was adamantly used for lift-off to escape a planet's gravity. As she looked at the dropship now, it seemed that the power source was vastly different from what she had remembered from her own studies. Lorelei would've been tempted to thoroughly examine the ship up close, but the words Otaru had mentioned earlier made her think otherwise. She wouldn't want to rely their technological advancement solely on this, since they'd just hamper their guests' ride home. Besides, just seeing the ship was a gift itself, giving Lorelei an idea on how much improvement she has to make on her own rocket designs. She has to find an alternate source of energy as well, if just to match the bulk size of the dropship.

"Here we are..." Lea said helplessly, gesturing to their borrowed ship as Vanilla pressed a button off to the side. The flattened surface slid to open, exposing the small but advanced interior of the dropship.

Vanilla noted the wide-eyed looks Lorelei and Otaru gave their surroundings as they entered the ship. Tiger's eyebrows raised a bit, but otherwise unaffected by the sight of new a more advance technology before them. "This is not really our ship, so asking permission to dismantle it would not be advisable." she commented wryly, giving Lorelei a pointed look.

To the doctor's embarrassment, Otaru and Tiger turned to her with raised eyebrows as well. She stammered, "O-Of course not! I already know that dismantling your only mode of transportation would be very inconsiderate of me. While I would've wanted to try and understand this technology, I'd rather have my friends go home instead."

Vanilla looked at her for a few moments, before nodding in satisfaction. She started up the computer and allowed the engines to warm up. She figured it would take at least four minutes for the warm up.

Emeralda turned to a console wordlessly and typed a few commands. A soft whirr of the component beside the computer sounded and pieces of paper came out of the component's slot one by one, filling up the tray that was conveniently place below the slit they were coming out from. After a few seconds the printer finally stopped, where the light green haired girl in turn gathered the papers from the tray and gave them to Lorelei without a word. After which, the girl just turned and went further in of the ship, probably to the sleeping quarters.

Seeing Lorelei just staring at the papers in wonder, Vanilla sauntered up to her side and took a peek at what the brown haired girl was holding. Reading some of the words on the papers, Vanilla said, "Emeralda just gave you some of the diagrams of this dropship, complete with the designs for the new compact engine to be used. She was a bit generous today."

"Heh, trust her to be cool 'till the end..." Lea said in amusement. She was a bit amazed at Emeralda's sudden generosity today, especially since a lot of people had been attacking her without any real reason whatsoever, but Lea just shrugged it off as one of the girl's quirks.

The initial rattling growl of the engines earlier finally gave way to a much smoother hum afterwards, signaling Vanilla that their engines have warmed up. Turning to the Terra-Two natives, she said, "Our preparations are complete. We will leave now."

Otaru nodded. "I see. Thank you for allowing us to see your ship, and we owe you a whole lot fixing Marine-chan as well."

Tiger stepped up, bowing to her waist. "On behalf of Lime and the others, I wish to thank you, especially Emeralda-san, for everything you did for us."

Lorelei finally snapped out of her trance. "I... I thank you so much! This... you've done so much... how can we ever repay you!"

Vanilla tilted her head in recognition. "We don't need any repayment. It's just circumstance that we got to your planet, and have the means to fix her. Don't worry about it."

Otaru led a still out of it Lorelei, who clutched at the papers in her hand like they were the greatest treasure in the Universe. Tiger was following them, but before she could reach the ramp that led outside, she turned her head over her shoulder and said, "I hope you found the answer to whatever you were seeking."

Lea walked up beside Vanilla. "Eh... we don't know what you're talking about."

Tiger nodded once. "You were troubled when you first arrived here, as if you were trying to seek some answers to some dilemma you were having. And I saw how you stared at Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry as they fawned over Otaru-san."

Vanilla shrugged. "I think it has been resolved. Even if they didn't know about it, they helped us a great deal."

"I'm so glad that's solved, at least on our side. We still have to know if our guy is receptive to the idea." Lea said thoughtfully, tapping a finger to her chin.

Tiger faced outside and continued walking as she said, "Just be sure to explain that you're all in for it. And that you all care for him." She finally stepped off the ship, allowing the door to slide close.

Outside, the trio watched as the ship slowly lift itself off the ground, before finally blasting off and propelling itself into space.

"I hope they can get back to where they're headed safely..." Otaru said, still looking up at the sky.

Tiger smiled. "They will. They are strong-willed women."

"I wonder though..." Lorelei said softly, "They seem to be much closer than friends, though they don't show it too often. Does it have anything to do with how they're staring at Lime and the others...?"

Otaru looked at the doctor without understanding. "What? What did I do?"

Tiger shrugged noncommittedly. "I don't know. I just hope they can answer their own dilemma."

"Dilemma...?"

"I am not in the liberty of answering that question, Lorelei-sama."

It was then that a call from a group of marionettes caught their attention. Lime, Cherry, Bloodberry, Marine, Panther and Luchs finally reached them, but they were disheartened to know their good Samaritans already left.

Nevertheless, they still shouted their thanks to the sky, hoping the recent visitors would hear them.

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In Nifelheim...

She was dreaming. That was what she realized she was experiencing when she got wind of what was happening to her. The woman's dark green eyes looked about her, and saw a scene that has been one of her most cherished ones in her Existence.

She was sitting in the middle of a flower-filled meadow with different colors from each type of species of every known flora. Her blond hair shone against the soft glare of the day. She was picking up some of the flowers and were adding them to the growing wreath that she was making.

A soft rustle alerted her of a presence of another person in the field. Her soft red lips quirked into a small but beautiful smile as she looked up. She saw the one she had been waiting for, but then she frowned cutely when she realized the wreath she had been making for him was not finished yet.

The young man that just came up to where she was wore a shiny silver plate of armor on his torso, and a dark magenta color of loose pants. His arms were trapped inside a pair of silver bracers, and a black cloak fluttered behind him. His face, which was not as angular as most men she met, was rather soft and rounded at the right spots that added more to his handsome figure. His eyes were amazingly pure black, without any pupils within them. However, she felt strangely drawn into them.

"-You always did like the flower fields, Hild.-" The young man said softly as he smiled at her. The woman, now known as Hild, laughed softly as she raised a hand to show the unfinished flower wreath to the young man.

"-As you can see, you came a little bit too early, Chaos. If I knew better, I would say you meant to sneak up on me all the time. Am I that irresistible to you?-" Hild giggled as the man called Chaos' cheeks burned a bit of red.

"-I assure you, my lady, that was never my intention.-" Chaos grinned as he plopped down the ground beside Hild.

Hild scoffed as she continued to weave another batch of flowers into her work. "-Flattery would not get you anywhere, Chaos.-"

"-Hild.-" The woman's fingers froze in mid-weave as she heard her name intoned in a very commanding but gentle voice. She slowly placed the wreath down on her lap and faced Chaos, whose eyes were intently watching her every move. Silence reigned for a short moment, but for Hild it was a very long time. Before long, she started to fidget in nervousness.

"-Please...-" Hild's voice came softly, her throat was quivering in longing, "-Please... do not look at me that way, Chaos...-"

Chaos allowed a small smile grace his lips. "-I always thought you would love to know you have a profound effect on me...-"

Hild's breath came out in a shuddering release as she continued in the same soft and subdued voice, "-You don't understand... I... when you look at me like that... I feel...-"

The woman almost jumped away as she felt a soft caress float across one of her tattooed cheeks. She had just created them too, a pair of five-point stars that she fancied and had them etched on her cheeks. She knew that the bright color of the tattoo would expose the sudden redness of her cheeks that lit up in a blush, which she knew that was caused by Chaos' touch.

"-Hild... my dearest Hild. Know this: I completely feel the same way as you do, every time you're with me.-" Chaos said softly.

Hild almost choked, as she felt tears course down her cheeks. Ignoring the warm pelts of salty liquid flowing down freely on her face, she whispered vehemently, "-You are very precious to me, Chaos. I love you very much.-"

The hand that caressed the blond haired woman's face quickly encircled around the back of her head as Chaos pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly into himself, "-And I love you too, my dear Hild.-"

Hild clung desperately to the man, her sobs turning into soft cries of happiness as the flower wreath she had been conjuring a while ago fluttered down on the ground and was neglected.

The soft wisps of her Dream were still quite vivid, but Hild finally sat up from her luxurious suite in Niffelheim, with her face flushed and breathing hard. Being the ruler of one of the major dimensions of Reality brought a lot of benefits to her, but she was still as empty as before. Nobody should make a false assumption, though, since Kami-sama, rather, Deus, her erstwhile bedmate and lover for over countless eons since the creation of the Realms of Reality had been very good to her. But try as she might, she could never forget the man, rather, the Being that always visited in her dreams. The pain of the Loss she felt when His final act of sacrifice to save all Reality was still very fresh in her heart.

Chaos wasn't just a name for him, it was very... Him. He was always the Balance Keeper, the one who was actually making the Final Judgement when Deus, Chaos and herself convened on matters regarding Existence. He always disrupted any disagreements that would erupt in the decision-making, and has always been fond of those Mortals.

Out of the Three of Them, Chaos was the one who got the most of the traits from the Abyss. He was the perfect representation of Neutrality, and he always does what he liked to do. Yet for some reason, his great scope of power was never abused. In fact, Chaos usually mingled with Mortals. Chaos usually walked amongst them, share food with them, and even taught them some tricks.

He was... he was Chaos. Simple as that. She always felt that she knew so much about him, but she never can tell what was going on in that mind of his.

Of course, all she cared about was that Chaos loved her. That's all that mattered to her.

That was why she gave herself to him one night, and it was something she could never forget.

That one time, no matter how trivial it would've sounded to the ears of others, had a very huge impact to her and her existence.

Her daughter, Urd, was conceived that night. How anyone couldn't get the hint that Urd was never Deus' daughter was beyond her. Hild had thought about it, that if Deus and she would ever have an offspring, the opposing polarities of powers would've been so immense that the child would either die because its body ripped into shreds, or that it would've grown mad over the years because it cannot control its power.

Urd had more of her real father than anyone would've ever thought, since the poor darling girl was just too chaotic when it came with her powers. Her potions usually produced the weirdest side effects, which greatly amused Hild to no end.

But it was also a week after she finally knew of her conception, that the titanic battle of the gods occurred, where Chaos had given his existence to power up the very powerful null singularity field that imprisoned the Ancient Gods. Chaos' energy powered up the same shielding that closed off the gods' former primary planet of origin, and has trapped all of the remaining Ancient Gods for countless millennia.

Because of this, Hild was thoroughly devastated, and had thought of plunging herself into the same energy field that Chaos fed his energy into. Doing so would destroy her existence, but she felt that without Chaos her life meant nothing.

It was Deus that had pulled her back, reminding her of the unborn daughter in her womb. Chaos and her daughter, an innocent casualty if she ever did throw herself into the mercy of non-existence.

So she lived, if not for herself but for her daughter's welfare. Deus had been watching her like a hawk the rest of the time, and acted as a willing step-father for her daughter. Hild knew that little Urd felt something off between the child and Deus. That was why the little tyke was constantly being mischievous and disobedient with Deus' rules.

Chaos' influence on their daughter was profound and obvious, but no one was able to connect the dots. It was as if everyone had forgotten Chaos' sacrifice for all of them, and it made Hild angry and reclusive to herself. Only Deus was brave enough to confront her.

But still, her daughter's presence was still there to remind her of Chaos' former existence, that he loved her.

Shaking her head, Hild settled her weary head down on her pillows once again, ignoring the tears that sprang out of her eyes. It was during these moments, that she allowed herself to be emotional.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

NEXT CHAPTER:

Ranma's side of the mini-adventure. A botched summoning attempt by a nearby dimension's resident villain pulled Ranma out of where he was currently. As stated in this chapter, Rin-Ohki expectantly went loco, blasting everything that moved within her sights.

As for Ranma... well...

Superheroes. Now, Ranma was familiar with the term, it's just that he's rather weirded out seeing heroes wearing their colorful costumes. Heaven sent some of their soldiers as well to take Ranma out, but then the Divine made a slight miscalculation sending a particular Heavenly Batallion leader...

Next up... an angsty dark bird, a reminiscing valkyrie, a completion of merging, a massive information overload, an ancient weapon's return to its rightful owner, a visit to a parallel hometown...

Of course, don't forget those men and women wearing their underwears the wrong way. Not to mention those cheesy villains with cliche battlecries...

Masks, codenames, minions, idiotic speeches...

Ranma finds himself in a world full of people who don't know how to wear their clothes right. And they're being praised for it!

AUTHOR RANTS:

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Galaxy Angels - Vandread - Tenchi Muyo, Ryo-Ohki!  
- Xenogears - Evil Zone - Saber Marionette J Again - Zoids: Chaotic Century (A few bits and pieces)

Yep. Updated. Cool ain't it?

Pardon me for taking this long to update the fic, but I was swamped with ideas. I don't know which to type in first! I was so confused!

Well, I have several other future chapters half-finished already, so I 'might' update faster in the near future.

Maybe.

Okay. I just had to admit it. Lady Ayame wrote most of this chapter. I wrote the Ranma parts though. Why? I can't seem to get myself in a female mindset, and Aya helped me through it.

Hmm... what else? Oh!

Someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION (DIMENSION X)

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION (DIMENSION A)

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION (DIMENSION B)

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migrain she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jedai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'realtime'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the seige of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	17. Chapter 8b

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... probably two to three chapters more, and Arc 1's done.

This chapter will focus on what happened to Ranma's side quest on Planet Zi, as well as introduce a possible companion for him in the future. This is also Ranma's first encounter with some of the Divine Army's soldiers (I just thought up a name for Heaven's foot soldiers... go figure).

This will be a good opportunity for Vanilla, Lea and Emeralda to test their newfound girl power syndrome.

This is a Ranma/Teen Titans crossover. Yep, them... those teenagers who owned their own Tower that for me is really architecturally unsound (a giant T atop a small islet in the middle of the water? Come on... one earthquake and down it goes... been wondering for how long Slade's gonna figure THAT one out).

SPEAKING of prereaders... it would seem that they haven't replied to my emails yet for two weeks already. I sent them both copies of the chapter, but they haven't replied at all. I sent CROSE the chapter 6 times, and no response yet. I figured something's wrong with his email system that seemed to have blocked emails coming from me, so I'll just post this chapter and have him read it here and comment about it. I'll just repost the chapter if changes were made.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver andSilver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 8B - THE WIND BENEATH THE RAVEN'S WINGS...

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In another reality...

For a long time, she has been drifting. A past that she cannot escape seemed to be nipping at her future's heels every now so often. Her world has always been filled with darkness, and her emotions should always remain and check.

Her powers have always been controlled by her emotions. One brief moment of forgetfulness, and a whole row of glass windows explode in a fantastic manner.

As of the moment, she was dredging inside her mind, trying to pacify her errant thoughts as she has once again almost lost her cool against the pressures of her responsibilities. Being a teen superhero has its perks, but it also had its share of bad karma.

Right now, though, she was actually staring at this strange apparition that had appeared inside the recesses of her mind, warning her about something. Sure, an occasional thought of an immediate future flickered every once in a while, warning her of the consequences of future actions that could affect both her and her teammates. But being visited by a giggling version of her, dressed in a tight fitting pastel pink midriff with tight dark purple miniskirt really disturbed her.

And that smirk on her doppelganger's face... ugh!

""Something's coming... something big... and it's gonna hurt your head!"" Her doppelganger chirped, causing her to wince in irritation.

She decided to quell her curiosity though, these dreams usually meant something, and it wasn't good to ignore them. ""Tell me more."" she droned impassively, trying hard to get rid of that tick her left eyebrow was making.

But that blasted doppelganger of hers just shrugged back, saying, ""Sorry. Can't tell you much. To tell you the truth, it's really gonna be a massive one, but as far as the lines of fate are concerned, it's really not gonna be bad for anyone, I think.""

""Gee thanks."" She intoned dryly, ""That really helps.""

""Don't mention it!"" The double grinned. ""By the way, I hear that siren again!""

""Oh."" Was all that she was able to say, before her consciousness was pulled back from her psyche. She could hear the loud wail of the alarm siren as it signified another one of those days where they would encounter another threat to their city, Jump City.

The speakers all over their Tower cackled into life, with their leader's voice bellowing, ""TITANS! We have a situation!""

Sighing to herself, she gathered her dark blue cloak and covered herself in it, melting into the shadows as she prepared another day to fight crime.

She reappeared later in the living room, where her companions stood waiting for her.

Their group's virtual leader, Robin, was dressed in his usual red and green ensemble with a black cape around his neck. His utility belt, a tradition he acquired from his mentor Batman, wound around his waist. The black and white mask he wore on his face has always been there since she met him. The shiny 'R' stitched at the corner pocket of his costume was a symbol of his authority, as much as Batman's was a large bat.

Her 'friend', the red haired Starfire, was floating next to Robin. Her tight-fitting purple clothes has always been what she wore in every battle they went. She has a small emerald stuck on her fore head, contrary to her own dark red chakra gem on her own forehead. Her eyes were the deepest green that she had seen on anyone. A Tamaranian genetic trait, so it wasn't really that mysterious.

Lounging around was the short, green-skinned boy named Beast Boy. His animalistic face was twisted in its usual grin, and was currently in an animated conversation with Cyborg. He has elfin ears that have been deformed since birth, and he can change into any animal he wished. He's the practical joker of the group, and a health freak. He had this obsession with tofu, but it was quite understandable. He reasoned that eating what he turned into was like cannibalism.

Cyborg was part human, part machine. It was the simple explanation, aside from which he could fire plasma bolts from the cannon that formed via his arms, and various high-tech weaponry that littered his cybernetic body. He was very strong, compliments of his cyborg body. He was quite the mechanic, as well as the overall technician of the group.

As usual, she looked at them in an impassive manner, unwilling to show any emotions that could cause some unneeded damage in their... home. She, Raven of Azarath, would however help her teammates no matter how much the consequences can be. In some ways, this has been the only family she ever knew and cherished, and she wasn't about to let them go.

As of now, though, the Teen Titans were needed by Jump City once again.

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It wasn't really his forte, but the super villain Slade thought a change of pace was in order. As of late, he has become too predictable, and his slippery foe Robin and his merry band of Teen Titans were getting more and more accurate at guessing where his hideouts were at. Slade has been losing some of his best drones lately, and it was time for a change.

Slade was born out of the darkest pits of the slums, and he enjoyed tormenting Robin as a training regimen for the boy. True, some might think that he has an unhealthy obsession on the boy, but who wouldn't? The boy has a lot of promise, and a picture of a future heir on Robin was very much appealing to him.

His face was covered by a full-head mask, and only one eyehole for him to see outside. It represented his passion, half red, half black, his mask was his reminder of his mission. To spread as much villainy as he could, and to keep those 'super heroes' up to their toes. His body was covered in a black material similar to his mask as well, and he was quite proud of his well-formed body that was quite comparable to Gotham City's Batman.

Right now, he's in the middle of a ritual.

A Magical Ritual (note the capital letters).

True, it wasn't even NEAR his style, but Slade needed something new. He stumbled upon some interesting texts in his vast library while he read to pass the time, and he has come upon a very promising spell.

The ingredients needed were easily obtainable, and the steps were fairly do-able. So here he was, stupidly chanting at the side of a large pentagram symbol he had his subordinates etch a while ago on the floor.

Some candles all around, some of those weird shrubbery he had bought all over the seedy shops he knew from the Underworld, and some choice words he had trouble speaking of in the first place... but still. A summoned demon was a welcoming thought. If Slade had managed to summon this mythical creature, as per described in the book he picked up, he could actually order it to destroy his adversaries. Not only that, he could summon one again if the former was destroyed for some reason.

Slade would've cackled with glee, if only he wasn't busy reading the text.

Anyway, he finally finished muttering those groups of phrases the ancient people called language, as the pentagram glowed bright red. Slade felt an ominous energy suck the life out of the room he was in, producing a micro-shudder from him. He watched in interest as a slight wind picked up in the middle of that sealed room, and a bright ball of light gathered at the center of the inverted star he drew. He normally didn't trust the supernatural, but seeing his work bear into fruit spurred him on.

Slade stood back and watched the proceedings in wonder. ""Now THIS is interesting..."" he said to himself.

To his growing surprise, though, the ball grew in intensity AND size, almost engulfing the room with its radiance. Gulping a bit, Slade backed away to the lone desk at the far end of the room he was in and ducked to the other side. The ball of light grew, until Slade heard the ominous creaking of the roof. Sure enough, the ball blew off the ceiling and part of the walls, before escaping into the daylight and skirting off somewhere.

Slade slowly got to his feet, all the while staring at the path where the ball he summoned took. He growled, saying, "That can't be good."

Not waiting another moment, he pulled a cellphone from his pockets and dialed the number for his group, instructing them about the current situation.

Slade needed that ball, and whatever he summoned, and FAST!

And the great ball of light, for all its shining glory, was gleefully skipping along the rooftops of Jump City, hitting an occasional errant billboard sign and electric post. More and more people managed to see the strange phenomenon, and they grew most concerned about it.

That's how the Teen Titans, who were now speeding after the playful light, were able to know about it.

The chase went on for about thirty minutes, before finally coming to a stop when the light crashed itself into a vacant lot just outside the concrete city. A small forest was beyond the area, and a lot of birds were disturbed by the sudden intrusion. The four teenage super heroes gathered around the crater the miniature comet created, their weapons and powers charged and ready for anything that could possibly come out of an errant ball of light. The smoke finally cleared, and they were quite surprised at what they found.

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"Oh for f---'s sake!" A shrill male voice shouted from the hole, causing the Titan members to jolt out of their shock. A small boy lay face up inside the hole, his black trench coat dusty from the impact while muttering some choice foreign words that seemed to be grating in their ears.

The young boy was between eight to ten years old. His forehead has three gems embedded on it, each with different colors of gold, silver and black or more of a dark purple. He had a pair of dark tinted glasses that covered his whole eye area, and his hands were covered by dark fingerless gloves. He has raven black hair that was tied in a small pigtail that hung down on his back. Around his neck was a simple black choker, but if someone would look closer some kind of symbols were etched on the surface of the neck protector.

But before any of the teens could actually do anything productive, a deep voice echoed all over the place, causing them to freeze on their places. It was a voice they learned to despise, since it came from the man that made their life difficult most of the time.

""I believe you have something that belongs to me."" Said the voice, making Robin growl in anger.

""SLADE!"" Robin snarled as he turned, facing a man clad in a red and black clothes. His face was covered in a full-head mask, and there was only one eyehole. Half of the mask was colored red on the side that has the eyehole, and the other was black.

""Hello, Robin my boy."" Slade said calmly, and one could actually HEAR the smirk in his voice. However, instead of taunting Robin some more he went straight into business mode and gestured to the newly formed crater. ""As I said earlier, I'm only here to claim what's mine. So you can rest assured, we're not going to clash today.""

Robin glanced at the crater briefly, before turning back to glare at Slade. ""We're not going to let you have it!""

""Truly!"" Starfire agreed, her head bobbing in midair, ""It has done nothing to deserve your cruelty!""

The diabolical man laughed loudly. ""It's not an option, kids."" he said, signaling something to the mechanical troops he had hiding amongst the trees, as well as those behind him. The robot troops surged forward, charging their weapons along the way.

The former subordinate of Batman shouted to his companions, ""Titans, SEPARATE!"" He quickly grabbed his retractable baton from his belt, twirling the lengthening rod as he jumped into the fray. He landed in the middle of a small circle of the mechanical menaces, and he twirled around with his baton in place, destroying those that had been in the way of his metal staff.

Starfire flew into the air and glowed bright green, sending green bolts of energy towards the robots. The mechanical soldiers were melted into useless piles of metal scrap. She continued furling her green blasts into the enemy lines, mowing them down like rice stalks ripe for the picking.

Beast Boy transformed into a huge green rhino, barreling his hardened body into the group of enemies. He quickly trampled unto the robots that were damaged by his rampage. Using the rhino's big bulk, he managed to shear a third of the enemy forces, just by slamming into them alone. He then transformed into a gorilla just to spite his foes, as he picked them two at a time and smashing them against the ground.

Cyborg smirked as he raised his right arm, transforming it into a large cannon that fired ridiculous amounts of energy bolts that fried everything that stood in their way. Alongside Starfire, their firepower combined was a sight to behold.

""Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"" Raven chanted, as tendrils of her dark magic emerged from her shadow. The dark energy wafted around several of the androids and caused them to short circuit. Other droids were reduced to smoking debris when the shadows were done with them.

While the general mayhem of battle occurred in the background, Slade had already skirted at the side and headed towards the crater. Under his mask, his smirk was profound. If only he could get to his summoned, he could finally order it to attack the Teen Titans in order for Robin to be forced back into his apprenticeship once again.

The man stopped at the edge of the crater, expecting his horrifying monster standing in the middle awaiting for its summoner's orders.

Instead, he found a child lying face up on the ground with a scowl decorating its face. As if sensing Slade's approach (which he did), the child snapped its head to his general direction. A slight shimmer of gold emanated from the dark tinted glasses, causing the hairs at the back of Slade's neck to rise. It was blaring 'DANGER' to him.

""Dare? Omae no namae?"" The boy asked him, an angry expression creasing on its face as he stared at Slade.

""Hmm... I wonder what language he speaks."" Slade asked himself thoughtfully.

The boy flipped upwards, landing on his feet a few ways from Slade. Cocking his head to one side, the boy said, ""English, huh? Well... I asked your name.""

Slade, having recovered from his momentary surprise that the 'demon' he had summoned learned his language quickly, straightened up and declared, ""I am Slade. That's all you need to know.""

The boy yawned slightly, causing the masked man to bristle in irritation at the blatant disrespect coming from the 'demon'. ""Yeah? Whatever. I don't wanna know, and I'm not gonna start caring. I'm not even gonna ask about your tacky costume.""

""What!"" Slade snarled, before reigning his temper once again, ""Why I ought to...""

""SLADE!"" Robin's shout caused Slade to curse under his breath. Had it been that long already? Or was his army losing its touch? He'd better remember to tweak up the power of those droids later. Turning to the approaching teens, Slade noticed that the army he brought was now decimated, which left only a pile of metal all over the place.

Mentally filing away his findings for later, Slade addressed the angry group in front of him calmly, though a small sweatdrop fell at the back of his head, ""Well, well... my army hasn't been up to its usual high standards lately. Anyway, now I have a new playmate for you to try your luck with.""

Facing the now slightly irritated boy in the middle of the crater, Slade said, ""Now demon, get rid of everyone except the boy with the cape and mask. I need him as my... heir.""

The boy looked back at him wordlessly, while the Teen Titans gripped their weapons and charged their powers, ready to strike back if this... demon tried to attack them. Suddenly, everyone was dumbfounded when the boy snorted loudly.

""You expect me to follow you? Who do you think you are, my mother?"" The boy asked angrily, causing Slade's fist to clench in anger.

""Didn't you hear me demon? I summoned you here to help me, so you better pay your debt of gratitude of me pulling out of your hell and giving you life in this world! Follow my orders!"" Slade shouted at the boy.

""... so you're the freak who made that stupid whirling thingie and pulled me out from where I was? I got sick in the stomach because of that!"" The boy growled out. He slowly walked towards Slade, who finally found something really strange on his situation. The Titans were also surprised at the sudden change of pace, their eyes bugged out as their luck seemed to have changed for the better. They slowly backed away from the confrontation.

The boy continued, undaunted by the looks of fear he got from everyone. ""You want me to be thankful to you, after pulling me out of the moment when I was helping some people fighting a war! I should pound you into the ground for grabbing me out of my reality, you obnoxious bastard!"" he screamed, leaping towards the frozen form of Slade at high speeds. The ground he jumped from exploded because of the strong force.

Slade saw the boy disappear from the place he was staring at from before, and the boy suddenly appeared right in front of his face. The man couldn't do anything but take the simple straight punch that landed on his face with a loud crunch, causing his right cheek to distort rather ridiculously. The force of the blow lifted him off the ground, and actually sent him flying to god knows where. Not that Slade would've worried about it, since the man had long been unconscious right after the punch had landed. He crashed into the lake a few kilometers away, where he was whisked away by some of his reserve droids that had stayed out of battle just to wait for something like this to occur.

Slade would've been proud of them, if he were conscious.

Back to the place where the Titans and the boy were, the whole area was silent, save from the breaths coming from the Titans themselves. The boy was still hovering in midair, having to do so in order to reach that prick's face for the punch. Slowly, he retracted his arms to his side and stared at the group, all the while floating. Nobody said anything for a long time. Well, actually, only a minute or so.

""Oh for crying out loud..."" The boy deadpanned, slowly floating back down on the ground. He stood his ground, still staring at the immobile teens in front of him.

It was quite a comical sight, watching the teen's faces contorted in different funny expressions. The one with the colorful costume and white mask over his eyes was staring at him slack-jawed. The green skinned kid was slack-jawed AND drooling at the same time. The half-man, half-machine one was tinkering something on his wrist without breaking his wide-eyed gaze on the boy, and was visibly sweating for some reason. The red-haired, green-eyed girl floating a few feet above the ground was beside the one with the white mask, and was also staring at him with those wide green eyes of hers. The one with the dark-blue cloak was... well... mysterious, and the boy didn't bother looking inside that cape of hers. Obviously she was a girl, since she has the... equipments for one in front of her chest. A band of sweat was flowing down the side of her head, though, so who knew what the girl was thinking right now.

It was Cyborg who first broke the impasse. ""One... punch..."" he muttered. He was still nervous, his right eye busily taking data about the boy as he tried to calculate the boy's threat level.

His statement, however, broke Beast Boy out of his own stupor. Perking up, he said in awe, ""Dude... that kid just blew Slade away with ONE PUNCH!"" He gazed at the smaller boy with puppy-dog eyes, and wanted so much to ask a lot of questions from him.

Starfire turned to the direction where Slade flew and commented, ""I wonder... did Slade manage to survive his flight? I sincerely hope so, for death is not something to be taken lightly.""

The others just ignored her, but they all rolled their eyes and snorted at the innocence of their resident alien.

Raven just kept silent, her mouth in a firm line as she stared at the boy. The boy, though, stared back just as impassively, causing Raven to blanch internally. The girl was an empath, and she was currently trying to 'feel' something from the boy, anything, that would indicate the newcomer's current feelings at least, but she got nothing from him. While she needed to physically touch the boy to get anything concrete from him, current emotions should be easy to pick up. Raven didn't know what scared her more, whether it was of the boy's strength, the speed, or the boy's ability to seemingly block out her psychic powers.

Robin, ever the diplomatic leader type, stepped forward tentatively and said guardedly, ""Who are you?""

Raven had the sudden impulse to smack her forehead in irritation, for once not agreeing to the tact her leader was showing as of the moment.

The boy just continued to stare at them, though to one in particular they couldn't really know, since those sunglasses of his covered his eyes completely. He finally replied, ""I should be asking you the same question. I mean, I'm the one who was taken from my reality you know.""

The ever stoic Raven had to stifle a slight smile that threatened to form on her face, lest her emotions suddenly run wild again. She had to give the boy some credit. It was true that he had no idea what had happened, and as to why he was here in the first place. It was kinda rude of them to demand who he was when he was actually the victim in the situation.

Or... he could just be faking it and was waiting for the chance to strike at them, as per orders of Slade. But then again, that wouldn't be it, since the sound of flesh smacking flesh she had heard from when the boy hit Slade was pretty solid. No amount of faking could be done with that, unless Slade somehow developed invulnerability. Also, the Slade they encountered was strangely the real thing, not the usual cyborg counterparts he usually sent after them. The boy must've been really important for Slade to leave for his cyborgs, so he had to get his quarry himself.

How interesting.

A low growl echoed all over the area causing the Titans to turn towards Beast Boy, who blinked back at them innocently.

""What!"" The green changeling asked exasperatedly, his expression was miffed, ""It wasn't me you guys!""

""Err..."" The boy offered, causing them to turn their attention back at him, ""That was me. You see, I've been fighting from where I've been, and I'm pretty hungry right now. So... if you're not gonna introduce yourselves to me, better leave me alone so that I can find something to eat."" He pretty much ended the conversation his way, which was quite amusing coming from some kid seemingly younger than they were. The Titans actually parted to make way for him, as he trudged by them without a care in the world.

""I'm Raven."" A small, but firm voice echoed in the silence of the lot. Everyone was quite shocked to find who said it, since the owner of the voice was none other than the goth girl herself, Raven. She, the Ice Queen of 'I don't care about everyone' was the first to introduce herself?

The boy stopped walking, already quite a distance away but was still able to catch the name that the girl spoke of. Turning slightly to the side, the boy said, ""The name's Ranma. Nice ta meet'cha, Raven.""

The girl in dark blue cloak nodded with the tiniest movement, almost not perceptible to the others except to the boy. ""You are not really a demon, are you?"" she asked in monotone, but one could almost hear the slight amused tone of her voice.

The boy turned fully to her direction, smiling slightly, ""Who knows? I was already called a lot of names before, some even worse than others."" It's true, Ranma could remember the time when him, Ryoko and Inuyasha were considered as the Three Demons of Japan.

""But you're not."" Raven stated flatly.

Ranma shrugged. ""Dunno. Didn't bother to find out. I could outfight any demons I faced so far, and some pretty bizarre beings as well. So I really couldn't tell...""

Raven nodded. ""I see."" she muttered. Floating in the air, she floated towards Ranma and said, ""Food, right? Follow me. I can get you some."" she continued on, flying towards the direction of the Tower.

The boy chuckled slightly, saying, ""Sure, but I gotta warn ya... I eat plenty."" Without another word, he floated in the air and followed the girl. Something red and furry curled up on his back, before falling down and twitching at his backside, greatly startling Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg. The three boys recovered quickly though, since it was a pretty normal sight for them.

Starfire, though, was staring at Ranma's red tail in shock, as if she had seen something truly horrible. Which was probably the case, but that would be told later.

She was pulled along by Beast Boy and Cyborg, following Robin as they ran after the two that left earlier, intent on finding out what the hell just happened with Raven.

Not that the pale girl had shown too much emotion lately, but the way she interacted with that questionable boy was way too weird for them to stomach.

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Inside the Teen Titan's Tower...

The whole entourage had an uneasy truce going on. Raven and the boy, Ranma, sat on one side of the dining table, happily munching on some sandwiches. Raven was actually sporting a tiny smile as she watched the boy eat whole loads of sandwiches that he simultaneously created and destroyed in a matter of seconds.

Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire sat on another side, seemingly keeping their distance from the duo. It was weird enough to see Raven willingly take a guest in the Tower, but the sight of her eating amicably with someone was rather disconcerting. The most affected was Starfire, who was normally chatty and vibrant, and now she was staring at Ranma suspiciously.

""You eat too much."" Raven observed as she took a bite out of her own sandwich. She was on her second sandwich as of the moment.

Ranma nodded. After swallowing a mouthful of bread, he responded, ""Yep. Needed the food to recover, since I usually burn the energy away quicker than normal people do anyway."" He was currently on his fifteenth serving, and still going strong. It's a good thing Raven took the liberty of doing the grocery shopping earlier today, so the pantry and refrigerator were stocked with newly re-supplied food. Of course, by the way her guest was eating, the stock would last only for that day.

""Slade was the one who summoned you."" Raven commented.

Ranma scoffed. ""It was that masked dude, right? Weird... ordering me like that.""

""He said something about summoning a demon. He probably miscalculated somewhere, or used a wrong ingredient...""

""Feh, that's why I don't like magic much. Been exposed to that too much too often, and it usually brought me weird things, mostly bad for my health."" Ranma chuckled.

""I use some magic."" Raven's monotone drabbed, her eyes narrowing.

The boy rolled his eyes, saying, ""I didn't say I don't like yours in particular. I just avoid magic in general, to keep me from making contact with them. I usually mesh badly with magic, and this strange accident proved it, again.""

""Where are you from, anyway?"" Robin asked suddenly. Raven's head snapped to him, and the boy wonder could actually feel her glare, but he paid it no mind. He still bore on Ranma, who stopped chewing and adopted a thoughtful pose.

""I can't really answer that..."" Ranma said sadly, ""I'm actually lost in between universes, lost in time, lost in parallel worlds... I'm so lost in most ways possible. I ran from my own side of the universe, after a tragic thing happened to me. Betrayal is a strong catalyst... anyway, that's all. I'm lost... drifting along the universes where ever it takes me. I actually have some companions, which I'd love to return to right now. But I'll have to find a way first, probably take whatever source that Slade guy had used to pull me out of my universe.""

""You are a Sai-Yahn!"" Starfire blurted out. She pointed a shaky finger at Ranma's red tail, saying, ""You... you are... you are abominations in the universe! You must all be destroyed!""

""Starfire? What's wrong? What's a Saiyan?"" Beast Boy asked curiously, glancing at Ranma.

Raven hummed. ""I remember some stories about them. A proud warrior species, notorious for their incredible strength and ability to adapt into any situation. They can fight losing battles and turn the tides of war to their favor. They were bred for fighting, and that's what made them one of the greatest warriors in the universe.""

""They destroy worlds!"" Starfire added passionately, glaring at Ranma.

""Shows what you know about me in particular."" Ranma mumbled loudly. ""You're one of those, 'goody-do-gooders-who-thinks-they're-really-all-that-good' types of people, aren't you? Just for your information, the violent types were my ancestors. They know almost nothing but to fight. I, on the other hand, was born here on Earth."" He watched with an internal smile as Starfire's face melted into a shocked expression, along with Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy. Raven just raised an eyebrow as a response, but he could feel a spike of something from the girl. Whatever it was, it just blew something in the next room, but nobody noticed it anyway. They were all currently staring at him, and it was starting to get freaky.

""Ahem. Anyway, you haven't introduced yourselves yet. You already know me, so I'm at a disadvantage."" Ranma reminded them, as he took another bite at his sandwich.

Raven quickly composed herself first, saying, ""Right. Well, the one with the mask is Robin, the red haired girl that's glaring at you right now is Starfire, the green-skinned boy with the weird goofy face is Beast Boy, and the big guy with metal all over his body is Cyborg. Of course, again... I'm Raven. We're a group called the Teen Titans.""

""Ahh..."" Ranma gave the gothic girl a thumbs up. ""That's cool. Sounded like those are your codenames or something though. And the group name... weird. Teen Titans huh?""

""The names are our codenames, and our group name is aptly given."" Robin said simply, crossing his arms across his chest.

""Alright. Fine by me."" Ranma noised, as he finally finished off his twenty-fifth sandwich. ""Anyway, thanks for the food, but I'd like to go find that Slade guy now...""

Starfire's 'hmph' was soft, but it was still heard by everyone. ""It would be the best course of action. A Sai-Yahn on this planet is a sign of bad luck.""

The other members of the Titans looked at her in surprise, their ears not accustomed to hear the normally cheerful Starfire to be so vindictive to someone. Her uncharacteristic scowl was already disturbing enough.

Ranma sighed. ""Yeah... well. It's partly true, since as of this moment, other powerful beings from all over the universe would've felt my power reading by now. They'd probably be curious, and would come to this planet to investigate the source of the reading. Some of them might even be thrilled at the thought of fighting someone strong.""

""You sound so sure."" Cyborg commented.

Ranma just shrugged noncommittedly. ""I've already had experiences on that one.""

""You see!"" Starfire pointed out smugly.

""Actually, he should stay here for a while, since he still has no idea where to start looking for Slade."" Now, everyone's shocked gaze turned to Raven, who carefully tried not to scowl at everyone looking at her, ""It would be pointless for him to just go around without knowing how to find Slade. Who knows? Slade might even find a way to catch Ranma off-guard and have him attack us after Slade has brain-washed Ranma. It would be... interesting to find out how we'd fare against someone like him, right?""

Ranma visibly slumped at his seat, glaring slightly at the seemingly smug face of Raven. ""Well, gee. Take out my fun, will ya? Besides, I'm not that easily brain-washed. A little gullible, maybe... but...""

Raven looked at the boy flatly. ""If you think you're going to have free reign over the city without supervision, then you are sadly mistaken.""

""So, like, where would he sleep then?"" Beast Boy asked rhetorically.

The red-haired Tamaran princess huffed as she floated up in the air, her nose pointedly tilted upwards, ""I refuse to be associated with a barbarian! My room, or anything near it is off limits to someone with the likes of him!"" Without waiting for anyone to reply, she floated up to the second floor and went into her room, slamming the door loud enough to shake the walls slightly.

The green-skinned shape shifter finally broke the small gap of silence that erupted in the room, saying as he looked at Ranma with a bit of pity, ""Bummer dude... Star's really pissed at you.""

""I don't think he'll like her room anyhow."" Raven muttered to herself.

""I never saw Star act like that before..."" Cyborg said slowly, then his eyes lightened up as he continued, ""Well, except that one time when we did that practical joke on her.""

""Oh yeah..."" Beast Boy hummed, ""When we hid those dolls of hers, she went Rambo on us. Man, I was sore for weeks because of that stunt.""

Raven's eyes narrowed slightly, ""Anyone would get angry if their prized possessions were taken away like that. And, add to the fact that you entered her room without any permission whatsoever...""

""Still..."" Robin interjected, stopping whatever sparks of conflict that would erupt in the group, ""Star did leave us a problem. Not that I'd let this kid stay in Star's room. So, where do we put him?""

""I'm not a baby, you know."" Ranma deadpanned, scowling a bit as he crossed his small arms across his chest, almost mimicking Robin's gesture earlier, ""I've been in a training journey most of my life, always on the road with my sleeping bag and the stars as company. I'll survive anywhere, even the couch.""

So, it was then decided that Ranma should stay on the couch temporarily.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It wasn't really a very sleep full of a night for Raven, for her dreams have been more persistent lately. Something about the big 'thing' that would happen soon...

The doppelganger she met earlier had been replaced by the normal residents of her mind, which were her personalities. Not that they were much help at all, since they were all hinting on the same thing. Suddenly, her own mind has become secretive of those flashes of clairvoyance she sometimes got and kept her guessing by stating riddles.

So it was understandable that the next morning, there was one unhappy Raven who lacked sleep that greeted the morning.

She knew she was always the first one to wake in the Tower, and she used the time to make her habitual cup of tea every morning and go straight to meditation on the roof.

Raven was sitting half-asleep on the stool inside the kitchen waiting for her hot water to boil when her eyes snapped open, remembering their guest that they let crash on the couch the night before. Glancing at the u-shaped seat near the wide screen TV in the Den Room, she cursed silently when an empty cushion greeted her.

Turning off the stove, she quickly melted into the shadows to transport herself to the highest point of the building instinctively, where she could see everything around the city. When she appeared on the topmost part of the Tower she stopped herself, spying on the small black-clothed form of her quarry.

Ranma sat at the edge of the tallish building, mentally asking himself how something as big as this and 'shaped' like a giant T could stand firmly like this. As far as his limited knowledge of construction was concerned, it wasn't really possible. But then again, stranger things had happened to him already, so was it any surprise?

The boy stiffened slightly when he felt the presence of the girl that had given him the food yesterday. That girl in the dark blue cloak... Raven. He also started feeling something tugging in his mind, which he was pretty sure was someone trying to tamper with his mind. He usually had this feeling when the Amazons back in his Home World tried something of the sort, like mental manipulation or something. Not that it would work, especially after the Neko-ken was solved.

Ranma knew that the goddess Bastet couldn't have erased the technique from his mind. He ascertained that the technique became an effective mind shield, a natural barrier to his mind aside from the passive one his Masu genes has. Instead of being a nuisance in his head, Bastet had helped him convince the mental kitties to work with him. Now, he has some sort of various amount of divine and demonic spiritual kitties littered in his mind, prowling for any intrusions from outside forces. After all, the 'cats' were just defending their territory, which was his mind.

He felt the itching fade, deciding that the girl Raven had given up on reading up on his surface thoughts for the time being. He was thankful too, since who knows what the self-adapted mental barrier could do to anyone who'd force themselves in there?

""Hey."" Ranma heard Raven's monotone voice call out from behind him. He inclined his head to acknowledge her, but didn't say anything else.

""So..."" Raven continued haltingly, ""You woke up early.""

Ranma nodded. ""As I told you yesterday, I'm used to traveling. That includes waking up before dawn. I'm a martial artist, and I usually practice at dawn.""

""Oh... you're done practicing your... Art?"" Raven asked as she sat just a little behind Ranma.

""Yep."" Ranma breathed in deeply.

Raven paused slightly. ""You have those... gems on your forehead."" she said softly.

Ranma snorted as he turned his head to the side, looking at Raven at the edges of his eyes. The dark tinted glasses on his face prevented the goth girl to affirm that Ranma's gaze was really on her. ""You have a gem on your forehead too."" he smiled slightly.

""It's a chakra gem."" Raven said simply.

Ranma shrugged. ""I don't know what mine are. They just appeared one day.""

Raven gestured to his eyes, saying, ""You have glasses, even during last night. Why?""

The boy adjusted the shades up on the bridge of his noise and replied, ""I can see well enough even with it on. As for the 'why', well, why does that Robin guy wear a mask over his face like that?""

""Fair enough."" Raven said grumpily.

""Most people are not particularly accommodating with what I am, hence the reaction of that red haired weird eyebrowed girl. And believe me, looking into my eyes will just aggravate the situation."" Ranma said vaguely.

""You're not an ordinary child, are you?"" Raven asked, but at the tone of her voice it wasn't really a question, but rather a statement.

""No, I'm not."" Ranma admitted after a short tense silence.

""I can't read your mind."" Raven said in accusation, touching the boy's bare hand slightly.

Ranma shook his head. ""You won't be able to. Besides, you wouldn't want to read what's in my mind."" His face suddenly soured, as if he remembered something significant, ""Hmmm... and I shouldn't know much about these things. My integration of my distant past memories are partially completed. And no, don't bother asking about it. I can't explain everything to you, yet.""

""Who are you, really?"" Raven had abandoned her emotionless tone, as a bit of awe and curiosity seeped into her voice.

""Hey..."" Ranma groused, ""Isn't it my turn to ask questions?""

""Oh?"" Raven fidgeted in her seat.

""Uh-huh..."" Ranma smirked, ""Like what someone non-human like you doing here, and why are your emotions all suppressed... VERY suppressed? Don't you know it's bad to stop emotions?""

Another short silence fell between them. The wind blew slightly, causing Ranma's pigtail to wave weakly behind his head.

""You don't have to tell me why."" Ranma amended, after deciding that Raven wouldn't answer his question anyway. ""I would just like to remind you that it will be like an overflowing plastic bag full of water. It will explode one of these days.""

""It's not like I really wanted to do it...""

""But you do it anyway."" Ranma said tonelessly. ""It probably has something to do with your body or your powers or something. Am I right?""

Raven's heart thumped loudly in her chest. ((How the heck did he know that?))

Ranma glanced back at her. Seeing the slight change in her expression, he snickered, ""Yep. I was right. And besides, I could feel those power spikes coming from you whenever your emotions go up to high levels.""

""How did you know all that?"" Raven demanded silently.

Ranma shrugged once again, turning to the slowly rising sun, ""I used to base my energy attacks from emotions. I know how it worked. I understand what you're going through---""

""Nobody understands!"" Raven said loudly, causing a metal pole beside them to bend crookedly. She quickly forced herself calm as she settled on glaring at the boy.

""I do."" Ranma stated simply, causing Raven to pause in surprise. Continuing, he said, ""It's like how my power got out of hand in the beginning. I went berserk, attacking everyone in sight. Allies or not, I mowed them down. They had to physically knock me down to get me under control."" He lifted his hands, allowing the sleeves of his trench coat to slide down his arms, revealing a pair of gold bracelets around his wrists, ""I wear limiters for that. Normal control will never be easy for me, since I have a high learning curve, as well as very high adapting rate. These limiters regulate themselves according to my current power. At least, that's how my aunt explained it...""

Raven didn't need to pry Ranma's mind for the truth. She could actually feel his power being suppressed by the simple gold bands around his wrists. ""Oh... you do understand..."" she muttered.

""I could help you control your powers, you know..."" Ranma looked thoughtful. He was startled though, when he found himself in the hands of an over eager Raven, who was clutching at the lapels of his oversized collar. Geez, when did the girl have the time to stand and grab him like that?

""You can? HOW?"" Raven asked excitedly, but then winced when one corner of the rooftop exploded into dust, causing a slight dent on the building.

Ranma chuckled weakly, his feet now dangling a few inches off the ground as Raven lifted him off the cement roof unknowingly. Damn, women don't know their own strength sometimes. ""Err... training for it, of course.""

""Training..."" Raven drawled out, slowly letting Ranma go. ""I've been meditating for control my whole life...""

The boy nodded as he floated a few feet away from the ash-skinned girl, readjusting his clothes in the process. ""That's good too, but it has a limit. Meditating is for finding your calm. You have to use your emotions constantly, and at the same time remember to maintain your center throughout to control your power bursts. That's why you have to train yourself. You must've shut off your emotions after the first incident that involved your emotions, so you haven't really trained on emotions and restraint on your powers at the same time. THAT is not good.""

Raven fell silent as she contemplated on what has been said. She has been so used to meditating her way out of her rampant emotions that she hasn't even given thought of using any emotions in the future. She just accepted the fact that she was someone who might never experience the joys of showing anger, or sadness, or even be capable of expressing love to others. Sure, she could show SOME emotions, but they are very small in comparison to how a normal human should use in their daily interactions.

Kind of like how Beast Boy almost collapsed when he just laughed because of a joke. Even Cyborg, being half-machine that he already was, could actually show emotions, unlike her. Raven had to suppress all of her emotions, lest it would produce a hole in her mental prison of Trigon.

Raven's thoughts suddenly focused on her mirror, wondering why she had to bring that always. She also wondered if she would even need the mirror once she has control of her emotions.

""You're only doing it half-right."" Ranma's statement broke Raven out of her thoughts. ""And in the long-run, you saw meditation and stifling emotions as a way to escape from your control problems. You gave up on trying to find another way.""

((To... escape?)) Raven thought to herself, trying hard to find a way to bury that strange feeling of anger that suddenly quelled inside her. She wanted to shout and defend herself from Ranma's hidden accusation, but the truth also outshone the retort she had thought up. It was true, that she had given up on everything related to her emotions. She had already accepted that she would always be running away from her father Trigon.

""Hey, you okay in there?"" Ranma asked suddenly, causing Raven to shake her head to clear her thoughts.

""I doubt it would help me any."" Raven said in a flat voice, but her eyes showed a different matter. It was as if it was pleading out to Ranma, to say something that could actually warrant the small flicker of hope in her heart.

Good thing Ranma's mouth ran on the right direction, as he said without a second of thought, ""Sure it will. As long as you want it, we can work it out.""

""But..."" Raven's face saddened somewhat, as she remembered something critical, ""You are going to be busy finding Slade, so that you'll get home sooner. You're not going to have time to train me.""

""Hmmm..."" Ranma toyed with the bracelet on his arm, turning it around and around, ""I don't know... I do have another method for me to get home, but it's kinda last resort. But since you want my help, I can't refuse that."" It was true. Ranma couldn't resist anyone who needed help, especially when it concerned training and self control. Somehow, his mind has already mapped out how he would train the girl, and he was quite excited about teaching.

The dark purple-eyed girl looked at Ranma curiously. ""What do you mean?""

""Eheh..."" Ranma chuckled lightly, ""Don't worry about it. I've got it covered.""

Without saying another word, he waved his hand in the air. At first, Raven was rather skeptical as to why Ranma did that, but then she was quite surprised when a transparent keyboard faded into view. What's more surprising was that Ranma was able to type with it. A small screen appeared on top of the keyboard as well. The goth girl tried to stifle a gasp of shock, but a small squeak came from her lips as she stared at the obviously highly advanced computer system the boy had in his disposal.

Ranma turned to the origin of the squeak he heard and grinned. ""My aunt gave me this one. She called it the STCOS, or Subspace Transparent Computer Operating System. But I just call it SubTrans Computer, or STC for my own shortcut.""

Seeing that the girl had nothing more to add, Ranma turned back to whatever he was doing with the STC. He smiled slightly as a very familiar image popped out of the floating LCD screen. He typed for a moment with the transparent keyboard that was floating in mid-air. With a satisfied sigh, Ranma finally stopped and pressed 'Enter', sending a message to wherever.

Curious at seeing the boy smile like that, Raven looked over Ranma's shoulder, catching a glimpse of the face that was displayed on the LCD. It was a face of a red haired girl, at least a year or two younger than Beast Boy's age. She has green eyes, and her red hair was spiked and shaped like a crab. The girl's pronounced smirk was screaming 'I'm the best'.

""Aren't you a bit too young for her?"" Raven asked with an eyebrow raised. A small twinge in her heart, though, made her pause a bit. ((What the heck was that?)) she wondered.

Before she could even ponder on it, Ranma had already thought of a response, his face screwing in a bit of disgust, ""Not that it would matter, but no, she's not someone like that. She's actually my aunt. She can control her physical looks, and she loves appearing like a kid. Makes those who see her underestimate her.""

""Change her physical appearance?"" Raven parroted softly, looking at Ranma intently. Then it hit her, something so blatantly obvious that she felt so stupid not thinking of the possibility. The 'boy' in front of her smirked as he watched her face slowly showing signs of epiphany.

""I think you got it."" Ranma commented lightly, turning his gaze to the quiet sea. The whole Titan's Tower was surrounded by the bay, and beyond it was the city's boundary. On the other side though was the expanse of the blue ocean, a sight Ranma usually saw in female form, since water plus Ranma equals a female Ranma.

Raven finally got her vocal chords to work. ""So... you're... not really of that age? Wait... of course... you act too mature for an eight year old. How can I miss something so obvious?"" she hissed at herself in irritation.

Ranma chuckled, ""We have our moments. Don't worry about it, since not many knew that I can manipulate my physical looks. Have you heard of the Mass species by any chance?""

The ash-skinned girl nodded once. ""Yes. They have been extinct for a long time. I heard that they were formless, but still had the inclinations of genders. They have bio-energy that seemed to be extremely powerful. They can transform into anything they wished, and also can assimilate other species that they wanted. They were persecuted because of this, but in truth they were a very peaceful race. Why do you ask?""

The pigtailed boy patted his chest. ""My aunt saved me from near death once, using the last DNA samples she had of the Mass. It means, that I have Mass genes in me."" Facing a silent Raven, he continued, ""My aunt is a scientist, the greatest in the universe, so she claims.""

""So... that's how you got your shape changing ability?"" Raven asked after a moment of tense silence.

""Not really. As far as I know, my aunt has no Mass DNA. I just wanted you to know that about me."" Ranma stated simply.

""Why? Why would you tell me such an important fact about you when you just met me? Why do you trust me that much?"" she asked.

The boy shrugged slightly. ""Because I wanna trust you. I wanna show you I do trust you, and that you should trust me too.""

Raven raised an eyebrow. ""Again, why? What if I don't tell you anything about me at all?""

He shrugged again. ""Cool with me. It's just that it seems to me that you don't trust anyone in this place. Don't bother denying it. Sure you trust them some, but not enough for you to share to them what's troubling you everyday.""

Raven sighed, rubbing her forehead in irritation. ""And how did you come up with that hypothesis?""

""Simple..."" Ranma raised a finger in the air, ""Instead of staying downstairs and chatting with them, since they're probably already awake down there and preparing to seize the day, you're here with me.""

""I..."" Raven stuttered, finally realizing that the 'boy' was right. ""It's not like that... I... I have to guard you...""

Ranma waved his hand in the air, ""Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me, whatever that is. And besides, guarding me? Please... I can take care of myself pretty well. That's kinda a very lame excuse, don'cha think?""

""Uhmm..."" Raven didn't know what to say after that.

""Don't worry, I don't hold it against you. But really, you have to trust someone sometime."" Ranma smiled at Raven, ""Especially since I'll be training you soon. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about myself as well, as a gesture of giving you my full trust. I feel that you can be trusted.""

""But... why?"" Her voice croaked.

""Dunno, really."" Ranma snorted, ""I don't need some spectacular reason to trust someone. Call me infuriatingly stupid for being so trusting, but no matter how you see it I do choose who I trust. And I just felt I could trust you with my life. I also want you to feel that you can trust me, and you CAN.""

Seeing the girl was still at a loss for words, Ranma started to float into a lazy pattern around Raven. ""Raven, it's not bad having a friend, no matter how grave your excuse for having none of them otherwise. It gives you someone to vent your frustrations to. And... it's also a start for you to control your powers.""

The boy suddenly remembered his own past, where people around him seldom listened to whatever he wanted to say. He didn't have anyone to turn to, not until the last visages of his memory of Nerima. It was only when he exploded in fury that he got everyone to at least stop for a moment and listen, but everything has been taken away by that accident. When he did manage to return, he found out that everything has changed.

Looking back to his memories of that betrayal, Ranma found that his anger was already gone. It faded as his travels wore on, replaced by something akin to amusement as well as melancholy when he thinks about Nerima.

Raven, on the other hand, was beyond baffled at this boy's proclamation. A friend? Can she really do this? She has been known to go off the deep end when she even tries to have some emotions seep out of her psyche, but a friend? She breathed in quickly, trying to suck air as much as she could in fast, furious gulps. Her life was thrown out of balance, just because of the untimely appearance of this being that seemed to be a few steps ahead of her thoughts. It seemed that he doesn't even know how he affected her so much, which greatly aggravated her more.

So it was really understandable when Raven felt something poke her forehead. She blinked as her sight refocused itself in front of her. She stifled a scream of shock as she saw Ranma's dark glasses-covered face was so near hers. Instead, she pulled back quickly, causing her to fall on her behind on the concrete roof of the Titans Tower.

""Hey, you okay?"" Ranma asked worriedly, looming over the fallen form of Raven.

It was then that the rooftop's only exit to enter the main building opened, revealing Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg.

""Hey Raven! The food's getting co---"" Robin and his companions stopped on their tracks as they took stock of the scene.

Raven on the floor. That Ranma kid floating over her. The flustered look on the ashen-skinned girl.

""I KNEW IT!"" Starfire crowed as her eyes glowed bright green. Her gloved hands quickly gathered green energy, preparing to blast Ranma to kingdom come.

Robin quickly fell into a battle stance, pulling his baton from his utility belt. ""Titans, GO!""

Beast Boy transformed into a greenish lion and scampered towards Ranma, who has adopted a look of bewilderment on his face. If it wasn't such a serious matter now, Beast Boy would've laughed at the boy.

Cyborg just grunted as his eyes narrowed, his arm transforming into a huge laser cannon and aimed it carefully at the floating boy. He didn't want to hit Raven accidentally.

To the one who was on her ass on the floor, the whole scene was one big surreal episode. She was still reeling a bit from the bit of surprise seeing Ranma's face ever-so-close to her face, so Raven was a bit livid as of the moment. It was unreal, watching the events occurring as of the moment in front of her. On one hand, she debated on stopping the huge misunderstanding that seemed to have popped out, and on the other side she wanted to see how Ranma would fare in this predicament. And judging from that adorable shocked expression on his face, Raven thought this ought to be fun.

Okay. That was pretty weird even for her.

Ranma on the other hand was extremely surprised when the boy with that mask on his face started instructing the other members of their group into attacking without preamble. He suddenly had a brief flash of memory, of what he had to go through almost everyday back in Nerima. The constant misunderstandings and unreasonable battles have plagued his mind. He wanted to chuckle, but as of now he had to dart away from the still-downed form of Raven. As much as he worried for the girl, he had to lure those gung-ho Titans away from her, lest they accidentally trample on the girl in their attempts to attack him.

However, his surprise was now gone, replaced by a wide grin as he felt invigorated once again for some reason. Ranma quickly swerved to the right, dodging the lunging green lion that tried to claw the hell out of him. He ducked as a blue beam passed over his head, which came from the half-machine that tried to take his head off. His right arm snapped to his side, blocking the metal bar that almost hit his side. He quickly released the bar and somersaulted in the air, effectively dodging the five green spheres that exploded on the space he vacated. Ranma landed on the far end of the spacious roof of the Tower, allowing himself some space from his attackers.

""How dare you attack friend Raven!"" Starfire cried out, summoning several star bolts that she momentarily hurled towards Ranma, who just weave and dodged out of their flight paths. This further angered the Tamaran princess in a near boiling point, her usual calm attitude gone for the moment.

Ranma chuckled as the last star bolt whizzed past him. ""I didn't attack anyone."" he said calmly.

Cyborg grimly said, ""Save it, monkey boy. You hurt one of us, so you pay!""

""Okay... can you calm down and let me explain first?"" Ranma asked loudly. He received no response, except a large green globe of Starfire's energy blast. Deciding to show his immediate annoyance at the silent declaration of war against him, Ranma calmly swatted the irritating ball to his right, allowing it to disperse in the air.

The seemingly young boy watched as the Teen Titans collected themselves and attacked at the same time, all four members charging towards him like mad. He wanted to scoff at the way-too-obvious mode of attack, which would definitely give away any element of surprise the group might've had.

Ranma shook his head. While not really adept into talking to people peacefully (usually, he ended up insulting them into attacking him), he decided to just give the Teen Titans a bit of a workout. He glanced briefly towards Raven, and he saw that she was a bit appalled at her companions' actions, but was clearly amused with that slight smirk on her face. Instead of wasting his breath explaining his side of the story, Ranma quickly hopped into the fray once again.

Dodging the lunging greenish monkey was a cinch for Ranma, and he surmised that the changeling of the group was untrained at fighting. Beastboy was used to relying on the strength of his transformations, but he never really trained into self-defense, or even fighting all that much.

Cyborg was more of a brawler, and Ranma noticed that immediately as he let the half-machine man's fist fly past his head as he tilted it to the side. Ranma twisted his body as Cyborg's other arm slammed into the concrete floor the pigtailed hybrid was on before, crushing some of the Tower roof into a crater.

The red-haired Starfire was kinda like Cyborg in fighting actually, with the way she just let her energy balls fly off towards him. Good thing her companions were so used to this that they already knew when to dodge those projectiles, but how about the innocents? Ranma was starting to dislike the floating girl a bit now, as her eyes burned bright green with fury.

Robin, Ranma surmised, was the only one without any super powers whatsoever within the group. His martial arts skills were commendable though not as extensive as Ranma's was, and his battle wits were quite an asset. Nevertheless, Ranma could see that Batman's protege has quite an ego, something Ranma could relate upon with. He just hoped the kid would grow up soon from this, since Robin wouldn't have much time being immature. Robin led a group of Super Heroes, sworn to protect Justice and yadah-yadah, and his overgrown pride would be a liability.

Whoops! Ranma chuckled slightly as a starbolt clipped his left shoulder, causing him to wobble slightly. It didn't really hurt, but force is force, and it still pushed him around a bit. There wasn't any damage to his body suit though. What made his eyes widen was the big cannon aimed towards him, courtesy of Cyborg. It would seem that the others served as distractions as the half-machine man stepped back to charge his weapon. Ranma could now feel the excess plasma discharge emitted by the weapon, and it was pretty powerful.

""Eat this, monkey-boy!"" Cyborg yelled as he let lose the accumulated energy from his arm cannon.

Ranma had no time to retort as the bright blue plasma blast hit him squarely on the chest and exploded upon impact. He was blown back by the force of the blast, causing him to tumble heavily across the T-Tower's rooftop. His impromptu tumble finally stopped near the edge of the roof, obscuring the area in a thick cloud of dust.

""Ranma!"" Raven's voice was muffled by the sound of the explosion.

Cyborg grinned in triumph as he held his cannon arm up, saying, ""Boo-yah! Who's da man!""

Beastboy transformed back to his humanoid form and punched his hand up in the air, shouting, ""We got him!""

""Nice work, team..."" Robin sighed as he clipped his retracted metal staff back unto its holster around his waist. He smiled slightly at his celebrating team mates, not noticing Raven starting to stew in anger a bit further away. But he saw that Starfire hadn't join their glee. Instead, the girl was staring at the dust cloud that formed on the other edge of the rooftop, her usual cheerful face marred by a slight frown as she glared at across the roof.

The leader of the Teen Titans strode towards the floating red-haired alien, asking, ""Star, what's wrong?""

Without turning away from her gaze, Starfire answered, ""The fight is not over, friend Robin. The Sai-Yahn were never that easy to defeat.""

""Well..."" Robin scratched the back of his head, ""This one's probably weaker than the others, since he grew up on Earth as he said...""

""He is very powerful. I can feel the energy that his body conjures even if he is at rest..."" Starfire said resolutely.

Robin was about to answer, when a chuckle from the dust cloud was heard. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and slowly turned towards it in dread, hopeful on Raven's point.

""That stings..."" Ranma's voice rang out from the dust cloud. The dirt finally settled, and revealed the young boy's unscathed appearance. Other than being dirty, there was virtually no scratch on the boy made by Cyborg's attack.

Seeing that the four kids attacking him earlier were about to let lose another bout of attacks on him, Ranma quickly intervened as he said, ""Oi, can you just listen up even for a minute? You keep on attacking without any reason to do so, you know!""

This caused the four attacking Titans to pause in their tracks, eyeing the fuming red-tailed boy warily.

Ranma snarled, ""Damnit, you stupid idiots, listen up! I didn't do anything bad to Miss Raven. If you'll just look a little longer, you'll see that she's just startled, and fell on her butt.""

Simultaneously, the four battle-ready Titans turned to Raven, who was already standing and has her arms crossed across her chest with an annoyed look on her face, eyeing them warily. It was a strange sight, watching four super heroes slowly slump like that.

""As much as it would have been amusing to watch your collective butts being handed to you by Ranma, I just like to ask... what is it that you're fighting him for?"" Raven asked softly.

Robin was scratching his chin as he looked as his companions for a witty retort. Beast Boy has long transformed back to his humanoid form, and is now cowering behind Cyborg. The half-machine man stood straight rigidly, now eyeing Raven's twitching form nervously. Starfire was still floating in the air, but her earlier angered expression was now one of confusion. She chewed her lower lips as she looked at Raven.

They all looked at Ranma when the boy began to chuckle slightly. Seeing that the attention was riveted on him, Ranma commented, ""Err. Sorry. I was just remembering those times when I experienced the misunderstandings in the past. Back where I was raised, which was in Japan, our bathrooms have no locks, instead we have sliding doors. They were called furoba, and were usually composed of a dressing room, a washroom, and the small tub of water where one can soak. The furoba's sliding door can be secured by placing a sign signifying that someone's in the furo. Well, the furoba is an excellent source of accidents. You can just imagine the mishaps... I can clearly remember that one time accident that has branded me a pervert, when I was the one who was walked into in the first place.""

""Japan?"" Beast Boy asked curiously. ""But Star said...""

The pigtailed boy nodded, ""Duh... I already told you, didn't I? I was born and raised on this planet.""

Raven cracked a small smile. ""You must really be a pervert, allowing yourself to be exposed at that age too.""

Ranma pouted, ""You're being mean. It wasn't my fault.""

""But, we saw this Sai-Yahn knock you down. Is it not our prerogative as your friends to help you?"" Starfire asked meekly.

""As you can see..."" Raven gestured to herself, ""I'm still in one piece. Besides, I can take him..."" She suddenly glared at the pigtailed boy, who had a hand in the air and his mouth open, ready to retort to Raven's assessment. The dark-purple haired girl hissed, ""Shut up, Ranma.""

""Feh. Touchy."" Ranma grumbled. His senses suddenly blared internal klaxons, causing him to jerk a bit. He quickly scanned around him and faced East. From the far horizon, he saw a small pillar of light touch down on Earth somewhere at the distance.

Raven felt a slight shiver pass through her body as well, being a little sensitive to spirit energy. Her gaze snapped to Ranma, who was looking pensively at something. She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened.

The other Titans were just confused when the two suddenly fell silent, gazing at the same spot in the horizon. When they turned to take a look at whatever for their attention, they finally saw the strange beam of light lanced from the heavens vertical to the ground. Whatever it was, the look in Raven's face says it wasn't good.

Ranma suddenly spoke, as he slowly rose higher in the air, ""Stay here. This is something you probably won't win against. Chances are, this was something meant for me.""

The pigtailed alien hybrid had a sneaking suspicion that he was the target of whatever appeared on the other side of the beam, since the power level can be felt even from this distance. It also reminded him of how Bastet, the Goddess of Cats had felt when he tried to search her aura. Instead of ki, or life force, Ranma felt something a whole lot different. It was as if Bastet was made out of pure light, which was later explained to him as Mana. Whatever arrived gave off the same feeling to Ranma's senses.

Not bothering to say any more, his silvery aura burst from his form, startling the Titans badly. With a determined look on his face, his body shot from zero velocity to Mach 3 in less than thirty five microseconds. The resulting sonic boom knocked the Titans off their feet, causing them to fall down on their butts on the concrete roof of their Tower. They continued to stare at the fleeting form of Ranma in the sky, visible because of the silver streak of his aura.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In another part of the Universe, there was a small planetoid that has been isolated from 'normal space' when it was pulled into a person's 'subspace zone'. Normally, no ordinary being in the Universe can do such thing, but this person was hardly ever normal in the first place.

The person's subspace zone was an enlarged dark zone where various advanced equipments that would probably never see the light of the normal space. Its interior housed the captured planetoid, and was now a home for a large laboratory. The planet itself was littered by ultra rare plants, some weird animals that were believed to be long extinct from various parts of the Universe, and some banned equipments that the person managed to 'acquire'.

Inside the laboratory, the whole area was currently in stasis mode, since its master was asleep somewhere. Suddenly, the main control panel of the lab computer lit up, and it beeped harshly as an urgent message tried to assert itself into the system.

A string of curses filled the air, followed by some rustle of clothes and stomps that slowly led towards the main console. The silhouette of the laboratory's owner revealed little of its form, but it was quite small in height. The person's hair was a weird but spectacular disarray of spiky locks. The person pressed a button on the keyboard and let the information trickle into the screen.

The person called out something in a shrill voice that caused the lights of the laboratory to turn on automatically, bathing the whole room in a bright flash of white light. It revealed the owner of the lab, who was actually quite female. A pre-pubescent female wearing a tight fitting black body suit underneath her brown cloak, which covered most of her body. Her spiky hair was dark red in color, and her green eyes were still half-shut with sleepiness.

But her tiredness vanished when she finally read what was in the message. She quickly typed something into the console, and read the results once again. She fell back to a seat that was waiting for her from behind.

"By all that is holy..." The young girl muttered, massaging her forehead with her index fingers, "This is a rush. I knew I shouldn't have left Earth when Tenchi married into the royal family of planet Jurai. But with her grandfather Yosho going with her in Jurai, I have no choice but to leave too. Teaches me not to trust my brain..."

Shaking her head in self-pity, she turned to the data on the screen once again, a wide grin decorating her face now, "Where have you been all my life, my pretty guinea pig? Hehehehehe... I will enjoy examining you my pretty! But first!" Her grin became even more pronounced as a certain line in the information sheet flashed, "Won't she be surprised when she learns of this? I wonder... I betcha she'd have a heart attack!"

She cackled for a while as she typed into her console once again. A transparent screen appeared in front of her, displaying an image of a regal-looking stoic woman with brown hair cut to her neck. A large gem decorated the woman's forehead, her pasty white skin just enhanced her beauty that blended well with her dark lipstick. Her cheeks had leaves attacked to them, and her eyes were the strangest ones of all. Instead of the whites that normal humans had, hers had dark blue on them. Her pupils were almost non-existent, but to someone who was very observant they revealed to be much darker in hue than the dark blue that surrounded them. There were also slitted, not much different from a feline's.

The woman's gaze focused into the redhead's own, and a small scowl slowly emerged on her face. With a firm voice, she said, "Well, to what do I owe you this summons, sister? Do you wish to finally submit yourself to me?"

"Hardly..." The redhead scoffed, smiling ruefully at the seemingly older woman's image on her floating screen, "Can't I just call my lovely sister just to see if she's okay?"

It was the seemingly older woman's turn to sniff snidely, as her gaze turned into a hard glare. "We both know how you are, sister. You don't just call for to exchange pleasantries. If you do not wish bowing down to me, why have you disturbed me?" she asked in an agitated voice.

The caller sighed dramatically, "Oh pooh! So you've got me. Aww alright, I'll tell you." She leaned conspiratorially towards the screen, stage-whispering, "I received an urgent message from Earth. And I think you'll be as excited about this as I am right now." The redhead paused as she stared at the slowly simmering woman with a lazy grin.

The recipient of the call finally got tired of the silence and almost growled out, "So! What is so important about this business from Earth! What is it to me then! Prove it to me or I will have you destroyed sooner than scheduled, sister!"

The redhead snorted and waved her angry comments away. Apparently, she wasn't concerned at the threats. "Fine fine... whatever you say, sis. Anyway..." she said as she pressed something on the console, "Here's a copy of some of the data I got from the message. As they say on Earth, 'Read 'em and weep, sister!'"

Blinking momentarily, the older woman on the screen turned to the side and looked at something beyond the caller's view. The normally stoic expression on the woman's face melted into confusion first, which was followed by a very shocked one. Her eyes widened marginally as her jaw hung slightly.

"By the gods... what is this!" The brown haired woman screeched, her wide eyes looking into the redhead's own.

The caller raised an eyebrow as she replied, "Oh, so you do understand what this means, right? Does this mean you're interested? We can meet somewhere and investigate this ourselves. I'm going to send my response now."

The shocked woman just nodded dumbly to her in response, causing the redhead to cackle in amusement.

"You should be happy, sis, that you were able to leave an offspring, even if it was from another dimension!" The redhead continued chortling as she watched the other woman blush faintly.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back on this reality's Earth...

"Now what?" Ranma muttered in Japanese as he sped towards the ray of light. It dissipated a few seconds ago, but the excess of the energy discharge still hung in the air as he zoomed towards its location.

Finally, after several minutes more of flying in cruising speed, Ranma was now hovering above the spot where he approximately saw the beam touched the ground. Sure enough, a crater can be seen below, still smoking a bit from the beam's impact. He could see five people on the ground, and seemed to be in some kind of a formation, like in the military. Ranma cautiously willed his body down to the ground, preparing himself from a probable battle. The people were powerful, and divine energy reeked from their aura.

The assembled people all turned to where Ranma had touched down on the ground, their leader standing in front of their formation.

The leader was female, wearing a dark blue armor that had two floating shoulder guards at her shoulder blades area. A huge sword was strapped at her hip, and an ornate helmet with feathers sticking out at the sides covered her head. Her face was of a beautiful woman with light blue hair, but her eyes were cold and calculating... but for some reason, they also had some sort of a weird glint in them, kinda like how Nabiki used to look at him whenever he just got out of the shower wearing only a towel around his waist.

The rest of her followers were all females, wearing a light gray armor version of their leader's. They all stood in attention, awaiting further orders from the female commander. They were also currently gazing at a leering manner towards the boy Ranma, who was actually squirming a bit at their silent inspection of him. Ranma could actually feel the interested stares the group was giving him.

""We finally found you, Ranma Saotome."" The leader of the small platoon said calmly.

Ranma scratched the back of his head, wary as to why these people knew of his old name. He never said anything about it. ""Err, right. But just Ranma will do.""

""Appropriate. I am Lenneth Valkyrie from the Heavens. As you might've noticed from our formation, these are my soldiers, my fellow Valkyries sent to deal with you."" The woman allowed a small smile grace her face, before composing herself. Her head snapped to the side, her eyes boring beyond the mountains that surrounded the small valley they were in. ""We have company.""

Ranma paused and felt for some aura he might've missed earlier, and was surprised when he felt a few good several people with very strong aura approaching their location at very high speeds. ""Ah... yeah."" he said slowly.

Sure enough, a group of people flying appeared in the horizon. As they drew near, Ranma saw that the one on the lead was male, and wore a flashy red cape and blue tights costume, one that has a huge 'S' plastered on its chest and the back of its cape. On that person's side, a bit further back, was a green man, kinda like Piccolo, now that Ranma had noticed it. He wore a blue-green cape, and a simple body armor. On the other side was a woman with black hair. Her bodice was strapless, and it was glaring red in color, with a simple golden lines design that zigzagged across the chest. Her arms were covered with bracers, and a coil of rope dangled on the side of her dark blue lower covering. On the other side of the green-skinned guy was a man in black and green tights, his chest decorated by a symbol that looked like a letter 'O' that had a couple of lines parallel to each other at the top and bottom of the sphere. He was glowing dark green as well. It was also weird that this same guy had some sort of a green bubble connected to something on his finger. Inside the green bubble was a guy in red overall tights that had a symbol of a lightning stitched into his chest, and beside him was another man in a black cape and gray tights. This man has a bat symbol exposed on the front of his clothes.

There was another approaching group a bit of a distance away from the first group, and it was being led by a large green Pterodactyl. On its back was Robin and Cyborg, with Raven and Starfire flying as escorts. Ranma winced at seeing these children in this predicament.

The woman shook her head, saying, ""Mortals can never mind their own business. They always wanted to meddle into affairs they were never involved into in the first place. Such is their downfall.""

""Probably."" Ranma muttered loudly. ""But it's also our strength.""

The woman chuckled slightly, turning her attention towards the pigtailed boy, ""You are hardly mortal anymore, Master Ranma. And yet you are. Such a contradiction.""

""Feh, I'm so glad I amuse you."" Ranma said drolly, as the two groups of super heroes touched down a little further away from them.

""Who are you? Why have you come to Earth?"" The man wearing the blue spandex with red cape that had the large S displayed on the chest of the costume stepped forwards first. It would seem that he was the leader of the group, and Ranma knew that the man was quite powerful.

Lenneth just turned her head to the side and addressed the newcomer, ""You should not meddle with affairs not of your concern, Kryptonian. Or would you rather be called, Superman? I apologize if that was what you would have wanted.""

Not even waiting for a viable response from the surprised superhero, she turned to the others behind him, saying, ""The same goes to all of you. Martian Manhunter..."" she nodded to the green man.

""The Green Lantern..."" a nod came to the man with green eyes and a green field of some sort surrounding his form.

""Wonder Woman..."" Lenneth looked intently at the only woman of the group as of the moment, who has black hair and blue eyes. Wonder Woman's eyes widened as she barely remembered something she had heard from her lessons of Mythology from her mother. The sight of the legendary warrior of the Asgardian Pantheon greatly shocked the Amazon.

The Valkyrie turned her stare to the man in a red spandex, ""The Flash...""

""Uhmm... hi?"" Flash attempted to lighten the mood, but failed miserably as he was thoroughly dismissed by Lenneth.

""And of course, Batman."" Lenneth shrugged at Batman, who stared back silently.

A sudden eerie silence fell as the groups sized one another up, but it was broken when the Teen Titans' group finally reached the area. Beast Boy allowed Robin and Cyborg to jump off from his back before transforming back to his normal form. Starfire and Raven landed at Robin's side, while the Boy Wonder took the lead and stepped in front of their side.

Ranma groaned loudly, as he smacked his palm to his forehead, ""Geez... didn't I just tell you guys not to follow me? Crazy kids...""

""Kids?"" Beast Boy screeched incredulously, pointing at Chibi-Ranma, ""Dude, you're a kid too ya know!""

""Looks can be deceiving."" Lenneth cut into the conversation amicably, ""Master Ranma is anything but a child.""

""'Master'?"" The Martian Manhunter, J'onn, asked curiously. ""The matter right now, is that why have you come here?""

Lenneth sniffed loudly as she looked at J'onn in slight irritation, ""What we want to do matters not to you, mortal. However, since you are to be persistent if my person would not give any response to your query, I will reply anyway. We have come here to take Master Ranma, intact or not. Of course, we preferred him intact, but it is of no consequence as to in what state.""

The aforementioned person snorted. ""That's really reassuring.""

""You must be desperate to have him."" Batman commented, as he stole an inquisitive glance to the pigtailed boy. His eyebrow raised when he saw the red furry tail coiling and uncoiling behind the boy. ""He's an extra-terrestrial... or is it a mutant? Is he some kind of experiment that escaped your laboratories?""

""That's new..."" Ranma muttered, but was ignored.

""Laboratories? What do you take us for...?"" Lenneth asked outraged, her eyes boring into Batman's masked ones.

""ANYway..."" The man known as Superman stepped forward, almost stepping over the Valkyrie's 'personal space' which almost caused her to growl at him, and said, ""We won't let you take or harm this child. Extra-terrestrial or not, he hasn't done anything remotely wrong yet. So, we will defend him.""

Lenneth bared her teeth at him in askance, ""Did I ask permission to do so, mortal? You do not understand... we WILL take him, whether you like it or not. You mortals love to dabble on affairs not of your concern. But, this is one predicament you do not want to immerse your heads into.""

""We'll take our chances..."" Superman said stoically, his eyes narrowing into slits, ""We will fight you.""

The blue-armored Valkyrie lifted her hand to the hilt of her blade that hung on her hip, and said in a cool, monotone voice, ""Is that a challenge, mortal?""

Before Superman could step up to the plate and retort to the irate woman, Wonder Woman had stepped between the two powerful beings, her expression a little shaken as she looked at Lenneth pensively. She replied in a soft but audible tone of her voice, contrast to the usual loud brash attitude she usually displayed in her previous fights, ""We will not challenge you, Mistress. Please forgive our transgression.""

The rest of the Justice League stared at the Amazon in shock. They have never seen her so humbled, ever.

Lenneth looked at Wonder Woman in slight appraisal, nodding in appreciation, ""At the very least, the Amazon knows of some manners.""

Batman looked at Wonder Woman quizzically, who refused to look at anyone but the ground below Lenneth's feet. He asked carefully, ""Diana, are you all right?""

Wonder Woman nodded. ""Yes. Please... just be silent and do not aggravate the situation."" she hissed back to her teammates, her head still bowed slightly.

Unfortunately, Flash's mouth was a parody of his super speed, which immediately ran amok. ""What's the hold up? We can beat these girls, right?""

Only the Flash's fast reflexes saved him from the titanic energy wave that passed by him. He stumbled to the side as a narrow trench exploded on the energy's path. He felt something sharp press into his throat, causing him to gulp loudly and froze him immobile.

Superman and his other teammates were shocked into immobility, as they watched Lenneth drew her sword from its scabbard with nary a sound. A huge explosion of power erupted when she slashed the sword towards the Flash's general direction, missing the red-clad super hero by inches. As if to add insult, Lenneth's form blurred and reappeared upon Flash's prone form, her sword already poised for the killing blow pointed out to his neck. The Teen Titans were very surprised, at seeing someone could beat the Flash's speed easily.

""I suggest you curb your tongue, mortal."" Lenneth's voice was cold and ruthless, as she pressed her sword into Flash's throat warningly. ""I do not have time to waste on someone like you.""

Wonder Woman gasped, ""Please! He's normally a crass individual, but don't harm him because of it!""

""Let him go, Lenneth. I think he got the idea."" Everyone turned to gaze at Ranma, who stared at the scene impassively. They have momentarily forgotten that he was there, and that he was actually the cause of all these.

Lenneth wordlessly pulled her sword and pushed the Flash to the side, causing the nervous Justice League member to fall down on the ground on his knees, clutching at his neck thankfully.

""Are you ready to come with us then, Master Ranma?"" Lenneth asked once again as she sheath her sword back into its scabbard.

Ranma pulled an eyelid down with his finger and stuck his tongue out of his mouth, causing the four other Valkyries to gasp in indignation, while Lenneth's brow twitched in annoyance. ""No way! Nobody has any right to order me around, not even God himself!"" he declared loudly.

The lead Valkyrie sighed, ""Please, Master Ranma! You have already been declared as a Heretic of Existence. You are to be hunted down and taken to the Almighty, intact or not! Even the Doublet System, the Rule that prevented the Angels and Demons to exterminate each other, has been lifted just for this occasion! Please be reasonable... I do not wish for us to battle!""

Suddenly, a tense silence followed. Everyone watched in fascination as Ranma's earlier teasing face melted into a serious one, his stance quickly shifting into a passive battle stance.

""Is that a challenge, Lenneth?"" Ranma's voice has taken a seemingly deeper tone, causing everyone to shiver slightly at the sudden gust of cold wind.

The other four women warriors finally moved to flank Lenneth, their hands on their own weapons as they grew alert in case of any attacks that may commence.

The leader of the Valkyries allowed a small smile to grace her face. ""I would never presume you would allow yourself to be captured without a fight. Shall we do this?""

Ranma's own grin matched Lenneth's own, as the lone boy and the five Valkyries slowly edged away from the crowding group without removing their stares from each other.

""Hey, wait a minute!"" Green Lantern called out, his ring glowing green once again, ""We can't allow that boy to fight those women!""

""I dunno... I think he's lucky those women are after him."" Beast Boy muttered to himself, earning a bop to the head from Cyborg.

Wonder Woman stepped in front of the Green Lantern's way, barring the irate warrior from pursuing the group of travelers. She looked the wielder of the Power Ring and said seriously, ""We cannot interfere with the events to follow.""

""You already hammered that idea down earlier, Diana."" Batman said tonelessly, ""What we'd like to know is, why?""

Diana spun to face the impassive expression on Batman's visage, saying, ""Don't you get it? When they said they're Valkyries, that wasn't just an expression or a call sign."" Turning to look at J'onn, she continued, ""You know, don't you? You felt it. All those years you've been traveling in other worlds, you should've known who they were. Those weren't mere mortal beings... they're warriors of the gods.""

""Surely, we can---"" Superman began, but a scathing look for the simmering Amazon silenced him.

""Those warriors are familiar to us, since we have some sort of link from Athena. The gods are actually categorized by Pantheons, or in human terms, clans or houses. The Valkyries are from the Norse Pantheon, and are Odin's personal bodyguards and warriors. Odin, roughly speaking, is the lead god in the Norse group."" Diana explained impatiently.

""But still..."" Flash has recovered enough of his bravado to stand and step to the direction where the women had left. But something made them stop.

""Stay there!"" Ranma's voice stopped the Justice League and the Teen Titans on their tracks, as the pigtailed boy and the Valkyries moved away from the area. ""There are some fights where you shouldn't interfere. This is my fight, my honor. To disrupt my fight is slandering my honor."" the boy said coldly without turning to them.

Raven nodded in understanding. ""At some point, he is right. He accepted the challenge by himself, and he is also confident he can handle himself. We have no right to take that away from him.""

Batman turned a cold glare on the cloaked individual, saying, ""Be that as it may, but what about the damage they could potentially create? It's not their planet after all---""

""Actually..."" Raven cut into Batman's tirade, ""Ranma was born and raised here, on Earth.""

The Justice League's response was a general chorus of, ""What?""

""So he says..."" Robin asserted.

Raven glanced at the leader of the Teen Titans. ""I thought of all people, you should've noticed the small details. The way he interacted with people, the way he knew everything about this planet, the foods he loved, and the way they are cooked... all signs of a typical Earth born person.""

The boy wonder sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, saying, ""Well... okay. You've got a point there.""

""A Sai-Yahn... born on Earth..."" Starfire mentioned thoughtfully, ""I heard that in every planet a Sai-Yahn was sent to, the planet was either destroyed, or appraised to be sold to the highest intergalactic bidder.""

""Saiyan..."" J'onn, the Martian Manhunter, stared after the departing group, ""I remember. Extremely powerful warriors, if not the strongest of all in the Universe. A Kryptonian would find it very hard to do battle with a Saiyan. They thrived in a harsh environment, and their planet was called Vegeta. The planet was a natural training ground, where Saiyans are born in a gravity much higher than Earth's. They lived to fight, and their social status depends on how well each of them fights. They were hired as a mercenaries by an intergalactic family called the Cold Empire, which terrorized somewhere in the southwestern hemisphere of the Universe. This hemisphere is under the jurisdiction of another alien race, called the Juraians, which are probably the only beings that could stand up to the Saiyans.""

Turning to Superman, J'onn continued, ""And based on the amount of energy being emitted from the boy, he could beat you by strength alone.""

An explosion cut into conversation, as the whole crowd's attention was taken to the rising cloud of dust from the direction where Ranma and the Valkyries went a short while ago. Another loud explosion rocked the area, causing the Justice League and the Teen Titans scrambled towards the place of the battle, but careful not to rouse the Valkyries' wrath on their intended intrusion.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

""Crap..."" Ranma muttered to himself as he dodged another vacuum wave-induced arrow coming from a Valkyrie warrior. The four other warriors that came with Lenneth had each different elemental masteries. They complimented one another as they attacked as one, with Lenneth leading the charge.

He was idly wondering what made him accept the challenge in the first place. It was like he saw flashes for a moment, then his mouth moved in its own accord. Before he knew it, he was already in the fight for his life.

Sturmhild, the Valkyrie who wields the Bow of Eternal Winds, has excellent control over air and lightning. The arrows coming from her quill were all imbued by magic, particularly Wind magic.

Terris, the Valkyrie who wields the Hammer of Oblivion, has command over the Earth. She could mentally command clumps of earth to pull themselves out of the ground and hurl them towards her enemies. Her hammer can induce an earthquake of extreme magnitude when it hits the ground. Imagine what it could do to anyone's head.

Filaender, the Valkyrie who wields the Sword of Flame, can summon the magma from underneath the Earth. She can command any fire, and can create hot energy balls of fire that can reach the temperature of a miniature sun, and other toned down versions of it. Her flame covered sword can slice through most things like a hot knife through butter.

Aquarius, the Valkyrie who wields the Staff of Water, can actually force moisture out of the air and the ground to be formed into ice crystals or any form she wished it to be. As her name denoted, her mastery over water and every form it took was superb.

Whoops. The pigtailed boy grimaced as an arrow filled with wind magic grazed his shoulder, tearing another part of the black clothes that he wore since he got to this dimension. It's not really hurting him, the magic and all, but the clothes were the only ones he had after all. Also, he'd rather not show everyone his new armor yet. According to the reactions of the Nirvana Crew, he looked pretty damn cool in it.

The boy spun horizontal to the ground when he felt a tingle of magic approaching him once again. He shot his hand forward, completely halting his spin on midair, and he saw a shard of earth and a sharp spike of ice converging on his position. Using the same hand that stopped his earlier momentum, he pushed his body off the ground, allowing the two elemental projectiles to miss him totally. He landed a few feet from the attacks' detonations, when he stepped back and allowed another arrow of wind to stick unto the position he was in before. The trio of multi-colored gems on his forehead gleamed in anticipation as he smirked at the Valkyries that dared to challenge him. He vaguely heard the soft landings of those super hero guys that he met before. He could also hear some of the gasps of surprise from them, which forced him to blink and examine whatever caused them to be surprised.

Well, the entire place was like a moon's surface, full of craters and smoking piles of smoking debris.

Lenneth was actually impressed. She had thought that her personally-trained Valkyries would be able to finish the job in less than five minutes of struggle. The reports from Asgard must be true then, that Ranma was the epitome of fighting. Her blood suddenly boiled, but not unpleasantly so, since she has found someone she could actually let loose on and survive.

Someone who would survive and might even WIN against her in a power fight.

Well, actually, she hadn't been briefed thoroughly about this mission. She was just summoned into the Almighty's royal hall, and was given a folder and some light orders on how to proceed. The mission parameters have been sketchy at best, and the details in the file she was given was still not sufficient. All she knew was that Ranma Saotome, who declared himself as Ranma Choushin at some point, had been involved in a temporal anomaly and was now on his way to acquire Great Power. There was the main clause as well, that Ranma was a Universal Heretic, the first one of his kind. The Almighty has generously explained to her what the unfamiliar term was, and from what she could garner from his extravagant story of the distant past, Ranma was a HUGE threat to the Universe. It would seem that he can affect ANY fate or destiny he accidentally brushed on, and forever changing paths certain universes had to take.

Because of this, the information has already been sent to her other counterparts in other parallel worlds, sent by Lenneth herself.

She has selected the prime and best student Valkyries she could find, and lucky for her they seemed to have taken different aspects of elements. The variety was a huge welcome, since this Ranma's capabilities drew a big blank.

Lenneth mentally shook her head as she gazed at the boy a few ways before the Valkyries' positions. As if by some telepathic command, the four elemental soldiers looked back at her quizzically, asking for an answer about something. She just nodded her head, and the women understood her meaning.

It was time to up the ante, and to finish the fight with a flourish.

""By Mars..."" J'onn muttered loudly, gaping at the amount of life energy each of the warriors inside the huge natural arena were emitting.

Ranma was actually surprised when he watched two of the women move faster than they had moved earlier, and the other two Valkyries rushed towards him. As good as he was in fighting, he still had a lot to learn about team tactics. He was never one for team fighting, but he can hold his own. The group of Valkyries were the gods' finest warriors, bred to fight huge and powerful demon armies and even fight at the Twilight of the Gods.

The pigtailed hybrid quickly leapt upwards to gain ground from his adversaries, but it was then he realized it was a ruse, since Sturmhild was one of those who had moved earlier on. Ranma felt the tingle at the back of his head, a sure sign of magical discharge. He was almost cut in half as a finer version of his own vacuum blade breezed by him. The front part of his clothes were already torn away, revealing the black newly modified body suit Washuu had tinkered on for him. He kicked into the air, causing a slight gust of wind to tunnel down to the ground that caused a slight crater, as he was propelled higher in the air in faster speeds.

His senses were still screaming magical energy at him. He was slammed by huge chunks of ice that came raining down from the sky. Ranma finally discerned who the other Valkyrie was. He saw that Sturmhild and Aquarius were floating above him, as he turned and fell to the ground back first with a loud crash. The whole area shook, and a whole load of cloud dust exploded upon impact.

Undeterred, Terris and Filaender released their own elemental attacks at the spot where Ranma fell, creating more explosions of dust from the area. Sturmhild and Aquarius landed beside them, watching the scene impassively as Ranma got pummeled by the attacks. They both lifted their hands in the air and summoned balls of divine mana energy, casting the elemental destruction to mesh with the attacks being thrown into the mess in the valley.

Back to the stunned super heroes, Raven breathed out, ""He's not fighting back. Why?""

Superman finally recovered his bearings and said, ""The boy's being pummeled! We can't let that happen!""

The Kryptonian was about to leap into the fray, when a cold voice interrupted him.

""Do you really believe that?"" Lenneth's unemotional voice startled the costume-clad people, both young and the old. They hadn't even seen the dark-blue armored warrior from the heavens move near them, yet there she was near their position, watching the chaos that was in the middle of the miniature arena of the area that was enclosed in a huge circle of mountain ranges. Her eyes obviously reflected a slight amusement as the earth was rocked with shattering explosions of power, which still haven't abated a bit.

The Flash retorted, ""I don't know about you but... I don't think even Darkseid can stand up against THAT."" He was still quite weary of Lenneth's blatant annoyance for his theatrics, so he settled on just skirting away from the woman's territorial circle for a while.

""How can anyone release so much power without the environment suffering for it?"" John Stewart, AKA Green Lantern, asked curiously.

Lenneth shrugged. ""There has been a divine shield situated all over the area as we speak. It may let organics inside, but the destructive energies are filtered into free form energy and allows them to disperse harmlessly outside."

Seeing the shocked look on everyone's face, she scoffed, ""Do you believe that we would stoop so low as to go about and destroy everything just because we can? If that is what you think, then you are gravely mistaken. But then again, I never did expect anything more from mortals.""

""You expect us..."" Superman gestured around him, indicating himself and the rest of his team, ""To just stand back and watch this... mindless carnage in front of us? You didn't even offer a good explanation for doing this, other than stating how... lowly... us mortals are.""

""It is not over."" Raven's monotone voice droned, causing everyone to face her in wonder. The ash-skinned girl wouldn't speak unless spoken to, or there was something significant she wished to say. It was surprising, for her teammates as well as their sometimes partners the Justice League, for her to speak so freely. She also allowed a small sense of wonder in her voice when she did, since she was also quite surprised that she did it in the first place. But the scene was so interesting for her.

Raven could understand Superman's views on the situation, but she knew who these beings were. She was half-demon, and that side of her was screaming danger to her regarding these women. Not in the sense that they're going to do something remotely evil to the world, but it was wariness that she understood. And the 'mauling' she was watching in front of her... and the words the Valkyrie has spoken a while ago... it all gave her some clues as to why she still felt Ranma's energy in a particularly high but slightly fluctuating level.

The foursome of Valkyries that followed Lenneth had long stopped their bombardment of elemental attacks, allowing the dust and the debris to settle down, as well as to see if their quarry had been subdued.

When the dust finally abated, only a moundful of rocks was all that was visually left in the middle of a huge crater.

Everyone fell silent. The Justice League members, as well as four of the Teen Titans were staring at the scene in abject horror. They have just witnessed a murder, and they were virtually powerless to stop it.

Lenneth, Raven, and the four Valkyries were alert, watching the mound warily. One would see that they were waiting for something to happen.

A small burst of sand erupted from the mound of dirt, caused by a black fingerless gloved hand clawing out of the small hole it came from. The Valkyries watched in grim anticipation as another black fingerless gloved hand erupted on another part of the mound, which was quickly followed by a slightly muscled arm that were covered by the tattered remains of dark cloth, but underneath it was a layer of sleek black material. The part of the arm near the hand was covered in a thick dark blue bracer, that has a golden band near the hand side.

The Justice League and the Teen Titans watched with baited breath as the mound exploded, and a black and blue blur came out of the dust cloud.

Lenneth looked at the figure. ""So, you will finally take us seriously, Master Ranma?"" she was oddly smiling. There was also the slight wavering near the end of her question. She could feel the power rolling in waves from the figure that came out of the ground.

""I really didn't want to, but you were pushing it."" A deep baritone voice answered back gruffly, surprising the League and the Titans respectively. The shrill voice of the boy from earlier was gone, replaced by something far more primal and powerful. They all stared at the figure that rose from the literal grave.

The figure of the boy they had met earlier was gone, replaced by a young man no older than eighteen years of Earth age. His body was covered in a sleek black body armor that was like a spandex in some aspects. His body was covered in a dark blue armor that looked like a thick shirt. His groin area was covered in a thick white bikini brief type armor. A red furry tail slithered hither and yonder at the base of his spine, which his armor had a hole for. His dark blue boots reached up to his knees, and it has two golden anklets around the ankles themselves.

Around his neck was another thick ring of gold, and his face was smooth. His forehead displayed the trio of gold, dark purple and silver gems that shimmered every once in a while. His formerly black hair was now flaming red, still tied neatly in a tight pigtail at the back of his head, giving everyone the impression that he was definitely Asian. But the part of his face they were drawn into were his eyes.

The black tinted eyeglasses he wore was discarded by the blasts, and now Ranma's eyes were clear for everyone to see. His pupils were golden in color, which were surrounded by blue-gray instead of whites as per normal humans. It accented the golden orbs of his pupils a lot more, giving the effect of a brightly shining sun in the middle of a cloudless day.

Nevermind the fact that there was a silver aura surrounding his body, which has encompassed at least a ten-foot radius around the former boy. A bit of lightning arched all over his body as the aura burned brightly.

The crowd finally realized that he was still floating in mid-air with his battle aura in full swing, currently glaring mildly at them in annoyance. His arms were now crossed across his chest.

Beast Boy whistled appreciatively, ""Well, I've heard of growth spurts but... damn! That was one quick spurt! And the hair... man! It's wicked!"" A smack on the green boy's head from the metallic hand of Cyborg caused him to yelp.

""That doesn't happen, idiot."" Cyborg said in annoyance, visibly confused at what had happened.

""That's impossible."" Robin muttered more to himself, but he was heard by those around him anyway. He discreetly looked down on his own body, finding a barely adequate comparison to the one who was a kid from before.

""By Athena... I've never seen the likes before."" Wonder Woman said in awe. She was a warrior, and she was trained to recognize an opponent's skill. What she was witnessing right now was raw power, something she hadn't felt on any human, ever. The way the boy was currently releasing with his aura was unlike anything she has ever seen.

Superman raised an eyebrow. ""So he grew, what's so great about that?"" he said snidely, feeling very secure about his own body. Behind him, Green Lantern nodded in agreement. Although Stewart was also a bit impressed at the amount of the energy spike the transformed boy released prior to his transformation was phenomenal.

Compared to their bodies, Ranma was actually more of a lithe dancer with slightly muscled parts of his body. Just enough for everyone to see they're there, but not overly specify the thought.

Unknown to all of them, Raven's gaze was still locked on the floating figure, muttering softly, ""So cool..."" But it wasn't soft enough, since Lenneth's eyes followed hers as the leader of the Valkyries' face lit up in mischievousness.

Shaking her head out of her 'childish' thoughts for the moment, Lenneth stepped forward, her hand resting on top of the hilt of her sword. She gazed up at Ranma and smirked, ""Well well, we meet at last for real, Master Ranma. Ready for round two?""

The transformed young man grunted as he closed his eyes in irritation, replying, ""I don't fight women for no reason."" But his reasoning, albeit insulting, was deftly ignored mostly. When he opened his eyes, the women warriors have already moved.

""Sonic Flash!"" Sturmhild yelled, firing off three arrows imbued with charges of wind magic towards Ranma.

""Rising Earth!"" Terris slammed her enormous hammer into the ground, letting a couple of huge chunks of earth fly up. She then batted them towards Ranma, her hammer's head glowing with mana.

""Frost Dagger!"" Aquarius gestured some unknown symbols in the air with her staff, gathering the air molecules from the air. She formed a big ball of water in front of her, and stabbed her staff into it. The water froze and broke apart, its crystal dagger-like debris homing to the transformed boy's position.

Filaender waved her glowing sword in the air, shouting, ""Flame Pillar!"" A huge wave of red hot flame shot out of her sword, racing towards Ranma as well.

""NO!"" That alternate Earth's super heroes shouted as the attacks came speeding towards the unmoving Ranma. As they prepared to jump and defend the young man, Lenneth's sword made a soft metallic hissing sound as it slid out of its scabbard.

Lenneth's eyes glowed softly for a moment, as she said in a low and menacing voice, ""I will warn you for the last time. Do not interfere.""

Up in the air, Ranma's eyes narrowed a bit as he saw the massive amounts of mana energy being hurled towards him once again. He had wanted to test his endurance against magical attacks, especially his armor. But his body, as if acting on instinct, his back flared up in pain, causing him to grimace slightly. All thoughts of everything around him disappeared for now, as he felt the familiar twitching his back muscles were exerting as of the moment. He held the same feeling of energy that gathered at his back, but it was all in vain. He grunted as THEY burst out of his back.

A shimmer of white exploded behind him, as Ranma saw the elemental attacks close in around him. At the same time, sharp lances of pain erupted in his cranium, making him wince as he balanced his attention between his head and his back.

Ranma barely even noticed that he was already in the middle of the maelstrom of energy that was already breaking through the reddish barrier he had put up. As of the moment, his mind was in the middle of unlocking some more of his long forgotten past, rather, his past lives' memories. Just as Chaos promised him they would.

There was a loud explosion, followed by a shower of multicolored lights flying all over the place. As the light show finally subsided, the whole entourage was treated to another strange sight.

""What... what are those!""

No one can really tell who said it first, but it seemed that they all said it at the same time. They had been surprised when a flash erupted from Ranma's floating form, before the attacks made by the Divine warriors were deflected in all directions, each exploding away harmlessly.

When everyone's attention finally focused on the young man himself, they received yet another shock.

Ranma was apparently unharmed but... there were two silver wings jutting out from his back.

Two massive wings, enough to cover his whole body like they were doing as of the moment. Wrapped around Ranma's body, it served like a long silver full body cloak.

Ranma gave silvery translucent wings that had wrapped themselves around his body protectively a brief gaze of surprise, ""Uhmm... it isn't that time of the week yet. I wonder why they came out like that...?""

At this sudden change of pace, the Valkyries slowly backed away, eyeing the gently-flapping appendages that had burst out of Ranma's back.

Lenneth on the other hand was rooted in place, staring wide-eyed at the new predicament, ""How! The reports never said anything about you being an Angel!"" Her eyes then narrowed when she fully inspected the appendages, saying, ""Wait... no. Those are not Angel Wings. Those are manifestations of power...""

Sighing, the pigtailed young man floated downwards, eyeing Lenneth and her fellow Valkyries curiously. As he landed on the ground, he noticed that the various... 'heroes', he reckoned, dressed in different flashy-colored uniforms were wary of him. Ranma was slightly confused at that point, since he knew that they were powerful in their own might. So why did they fear him?

A slight pain throbbed into his head once again, reminding Ranma of the phantom memories that flashed into his mind while he was buffeted by numerous mana-induced elemental attacks. He paused in his contemplation, trying to ascertain how he knew what to call them in the first place.

His memories flashed him something akin to people avoiding him in his lost distant past. He was Different from the rest of the Abyss' creations, and it showed how his powers had manipulated all of Creation itself, even without his consent. Only a few people tolerated his presence in the same place long enough, and one woman was actually talking to him. Another flash flared in his mind, and he barely recognized the woman he had dreamt long ago, a platinum blond haired woman with weird and seemingly childish star tattoos all over her face.

""Why the heck am I thinking of Hild right now of all times..."" Ranma muttered to himself as he shook his head. His puzzled expression suddenly became evident as he asked himself, ""For that matter, I wonder why I never knew who Hild was before, and now I do... anyway. What a rush...""

Back to the others, the four most powerful Valkyries, aside from their leader Lenneth, were now standing around their leader. Lenneth was still gazing at Ranma contemplatively, fingering her sword Levantine. Dimly hearing her subordinates asking her a question, the harbringer of death snapped her thoughts from the young man that had completely surprised her and turned to her four companions.

""What do you intend us do now, Lady Lenneth?"" The Valkyrie of the Earth asked the question she knew her other fellow Valkyries had in their own minds regarding the current matter.

Lenneth Valkyrie eyed everyone warily, assessing the situation with her sharp wit and battle-honed strategic sense. After a few moments of formulating her reply, she finally said, ""You must rest your weary bones. I will do battle in your stead.""

The other four women bristled to protest, but when their leader raised her hand they were effectively silenced. Seeing that her subordinates followed accordingly, Lenneth continued, ""I understand your feelings, fellow Valkyries. My decision to have you stand down does not mean you have failed your mission. Rather, you fought very well, in most circumstances.""

She paused to glance at Ranma's way, who was still confused at the alien information flowing inside his head. ""There have been certain factors that have arisen, and we have none of the information regarding them. His current battle prowess was unexpected, since it was never described as such in the reports. It would seem that no one in Asgard expected this much power from one like him.""

""Indeed."" The Valkyrie of the Fire element agreed. Sheathing her flaming blade into its special scabbard around her waist, she continued, ""The attacks we threw at his person would have destroyed most high level demons and some mid-level gods. He just took them easily, and it was as if he was never hit in the first place.""

""Hey."" A bewildered voice broke everyone's lamentations. They all faced Ranma, who was idly rolling his shoulders to make himself accustomed to his wings once again.

Lenneth stepped forwards, unsheathing her sword in the process. ""Do not be hasty, Master Ranma. I believe it is my turn to do battle with you.""

The young man smacked his face with his hand, saying, ""I just can't catch a break, can't I? I don't even wanna fight girls without any real reason whatsoever.""

The Valkyrie took the comment in stride. ""I may be able to change your mind. Lord Odin wished for your capture... or death. Whichever of the two may come first is acceptable.""

Ranma shook his head dejectedly, folding his wings behind his back. ""Both doesn't seem too favorable for me, in any way."" he said softly. Looking up to the leader of the Valkyries, he said in firm resolve, ""I don't fight girls for no reason.""

Raising a delicate eyebrow in amusement, Lenneth smirked slightly at the stoic Ranma, ""Well, I might be able to give you a good reason to fight a 'girl' like me then."" She lifted her divine sword at eye level, it's curved tip pointing towards the young man.

Seeing the sword Levantine pointed at him, Ranma felt a brief flash of pain all over his body, but it was focused mainly in his head as he winced slightly. Shaking his head to ward off the momentary dizziness, he carefully considered his options.

But as always, Ranma Saotome's life was never easy. As with his experiences in the past, his opponent never gave him the time to form a nice retort when the girl leapt into the one-sided battle, with the intent to decapitate his head from his body.

The fight was on.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In all the multiverses, there has always been a single focal point of Existence. This is the center of Everything, the point of origin. This was where the initial Dark Abyss forged the multiverses from the recesses of its power, as well as its inhabitants.

The gods and goddesses, as well as demons and demonesses that existed up until now were part of this Existence. Only the most prominent and strongest of the divine and the demonic were able to sustain their Existence well enough to repel the twists of the Timelines branching out. This constituted of the Trinity of the Divine, the Ancient Gods, and the second tier of divine and demonic generations of beings that spawned from the initial ones.

There was a general timeline for the main point of Existence, and as of now, at present ranging from all the Multiverses' points of view, the prison planet holding the Ancient Gods at bay was now waning.

Chronus, the gigantic leader of the Ancient Gods, was patiently waiting for his minions to finish drilling a hole into the very powerful shield Chaos has given his life to put up into. And since no one from the Ancient Gods can really do anything but wait, they amused themselves by carefully prodding mixed events and odd occurrence all over the multiverses. Minor changes into the different timelines that their powers can affect somehow was enough for now.

One such backlash of power tendril drifted into the current Universe Ranma was into as of the moment, and a portal of some sort erupted in the vast darkness of space just outside the Jupiterian space. A good twenty to thirty dark silhouettes exited the portal, and went straight for a collision course with the planet Earth.

Ranma, for all his mortal looks (relatively) and all, is Chaos personified. Not some cheap imitation, or an avatar even, but Chaos himself. His whole being was derived directly from Chaos itself. After countless eons of drifting along the multiverses, the dispersed energy of Chaos after he had erected the barrier to imprison the Ancient Gods had gathered into one point once again, and they all garnered into Ranma's body.

There are some strays here and there in other dimensions, but they were impure forms of Chaos.

And everywhere Chaos goes, chaos will follow. That was why the newly arrived alien beings that had just come out of their dimensional warp headed out directly towards Earth. It was as if they were drawn into it.

Ranma would probably recognize them. He had already encountered them before.

Back in the undetermined version of an altered Earth Ranma had fallen into, the young man shivered unconsciously as he dodged another one of the swipes from Lenneth's sword. He felt the tinge of wrongness echo all over the dimension, but he still hasn't been able to ascertain what that feeling was, since he wasn't fully merged with Chaos' memories.

Not yet, anyway.

To the witnesses watching the spectacle, they had mentally compared this battle from the previous one, and the differences were glaringly obvious.

If the first bout was all about strength, power, and flashy moves... this one was almost the exact opposite.

There were still a bit of power moves being thrown here and there, as they had witnessed earlier when Lenneth had thrown something called 'Nibelung Valesti' towards Ranma. The red-tailed being with silver wings had dodged the attack, but its power shuddered the entire area, even as the ones watching were outside the erected divine barrier. But no, this battle was different, because the flashy moves were limited to a T, and they were moving at supersonic speeds that the spectators were hard-pressed to follow. Probably only Flash and Superman could follow the battle, the others were just staring as to where the next point the fighters will appear for a split second, frozen in their battle stances, before disappearing into motion once again.

Ranma just shook his head as another flare of pain wracked his limbs. It had been progressively getting more frequent, especially as that blasted sword of Lenneth's was swishing near him. It was as if his body was reacting to something related to the sword. He almost got hit twice by that special sword maneuver Lenneth pulled on him because of his distraction. Not only does the pain in his head constantly irritating him, but now the pain in his body was adding to the effect. Also, flashes of memories kept on showing in his head here and there during the fight, causing him to almost stumble awkwardly in the middle of this fight. His armor, no matter how powerful it may seem, has already some scratches on some parts, because of some nicks Lenneth managed to sneak into his defenses. Still, they weren't too serious, but the sword was really powerful. Not only that, but Lenneth was a pretty damn good swordswoman.

Still, she was a woman who had absolutely no affront towards him, and she was only following orders. So here he was now, not able to form a decent counter attack, since he was still a bit leery about fighting women, especially those he has no quarrel with. Sparring is good, but fighting like this still hasn't given a good feel for him.

After a few minutes of the high-paced battle, Lenneth finally leapt for a bit of distance from Ranma, her sword poised at her side. ""Why do you not fight back!"" she growled out.

Ranma had already spun away from her latest swipe, and was quite grateful that Lenneth decided to back away for the moment. It gave him a few seconds to collect himself. He finally replied, ""I told you earlier, I can't fight you. Not only because you're a woman, but because I don't have a reason to fight back. That's no disrespect, mind you, it's absolutely the opposite. I respect you and your dedication to your work, but I think you might have been... misinformed.""

Again he shook his head. Where the heck were these words coming from? Oh, Ranma knew they was from him, from his lips, from his mind... but still! Were these the effects of the ongoing assimilation between himself and Chaos?

Hmmm. Something to ponder in the future. Ack! He did it again!

Anyway, no need to ruminate on the mysteries of his universe, because as of the moment Lenneth was progressively getting angrier by the minute at his response earlier. Geez, can anyone really turn THAT red when they're honest to bursting with anger? Do Harbringers of Death have heart attacks?

""I am to beat you, or even kill you for that matter, and yet you think that those are not reasons enough for you to fight?"" Lenneth asked incredulously.

Ranma just shrugged. ""Kinda... I mean, you don't really WANT to kill me, you just had to coz of some mission.""

The Valkyrie's eyes flashed bright blue as she growled out, ""You miserable worm! I will decapitate your head and throw your soul into the abyss of Niffelheim! The words of the Alfadur are Absolute! We do not question them!""

""Then you are just a Puppet, foolish Valkyrie."" Ranma's face suddenly grew grim, as his eyes flashed golden for a moment. The tone of his voice dropped into an icy one, causing it to reverberate all over the area. Everyone who had the misfortune of hearing his words shivered visibly. ""You say you follow without question. Only Puppets follow their Puppeteers without question, since they do not have the Will to question so."" Then all of the sudden, his face grimaced a bit as Ranma grabbed his head with his right hand, saying, ""The hell? Where did that thought come from?""

""How dare you!"" Lenneth's voice was reflecting unbridled fury, as her sword glowed angrily to match her mood.

""Sorry..."" Ranma said sadly, still shaking his head ruefully, ""I don't know what came over me. But you have to admit, what I might have blurted out was right. Only a puppet follows without question."" Snorting loudly, he exclaimed, ""Well! I think it's time for me to... disappear right now.""

Without waiting for a response, Ranma quickly flapped his wings instinctively, and shot upwards the sky. Only to smack into the divine barrier that has been set for the battle beforehand. The pigtailed hybrid slid off the light blue barrier, but immediately regained his composure as his descent stopped in mid-air.

""You were saying, Lord Ranma?"" Lenneth asked amused, her earlier anger towards Ranma's words were momentarily forgotten. But one could see in her eyes that there was a slight flicker of doubt already forming.

""Dammit, that hurts!"" Ranma whined as he rubbed his head, his eyes screwed shut.

Lenneth wasted no time, leaping into the air and prepared her sword for her final blow. With Ranma preoccupied at his predicament, the maneuver was completed all too well. It was too late when he finally regained his bearings on the fight, since when he opened his eyes Lenneth was already upon him with her sword already in a slashing motion to slice his head off. His blood pumped into his veins, as the pain in his brain and body grew intense. Time slowed down as everything went into slow motion, slowing up to a point where everyone was almost stationary. This was the point where his point of view blanked out.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Don't worry, this is probably the last time I will appear before you, Ranma." His own voice echoed inside his head.

Opening his eyes, Ranma saw he was back at that point in his mind where he first saw his other self, Chaos, which was in the same Darkness. "Oh great. You again. I thought the last time WAS the last time?"

"You'd like that, won't you?" Chaos' grinning face slowly melted into a serious expression. "We need to hurry, since I won't be here for long. This time, I will vanish FOR GOOD."

"Why?" Ranma asked curiously, sitting down atop of the same nothingness around them. He sat in a yoga-like stance, crossing his arms across his chest as he gazed at Chaos.

His replica shook his head, gesturing all around them, "This place is my, I mean, our own personal space, where our memories of the long distant past were kept. It's slowly being integrated into yours since that first time we talked. I know you can't see it clearly, but now it's really small. I'm just about to do the final touches before we fully merged as one being. I was supposed to just disappear and follow the flows in your head after the assimilation, but I need to explain some things to you."

Ranma nodded sadly. "I see..." he muttered, quite distressed that Chaos was slowly fading away. Even if it was just a memory, having someone to talk to inside his head, albeit weird, was quite invigorating.

"Do not fret..." Chaos chuckled slightly, "I will never disappear. You need to remember, that I do not exist anymore. Not really, since I've already been gone for a long time. I am YOU, Ranma, and you need to know and remember that. I'm just a fragmented memory designed by me, no... by YOU, to allocate and guide yourself to assimilate these ancient memories you lost in the past. I don't really exist, other than in your own mind. The truth of the matter is, Chaos is Ranma, and Ranma is Chaos."

"I am Chaos." Ranma intoned hollowly. He was worried how everyone would take that if they ever hear it.

Chaos smirked. "They'd just scream holy terror and run around like headless chicken, trying to babble and find a way to banish you. Relax, and lemme assure you. Chaos, I mean your area of power, not you, isn't evil at all. It's just an in-between of two opposing powers, those being Order and the Dark, or Nightmare as the ancient texts had written. You are the last to be created out of the three of the Trinity of Power. The Abyss, or the Darkness that initially existed at the Dawn of Time, set out to balance out the power between your two other brethren. Other than that, you were also the ones who defeated the Ancient Gods. The latter were the first beings created from the Abyss, and they grew corrupt when they were roaming the cosmos unchecked."

"A weapon---" Ranma began to ask, but was interrupted by his counterpart.

Chaos shook his head. "No. A balance to keep the powers in check. And in the end, Chaos is the Balance for the Balance."

Ranma frowned, "How can you---"

"---finish what you're trying to say, Ranma? I think you have a short-term memory, since you've forgotten that I'm just a figment of your interactive imagination. I'm YOU, you idiot. Of course I know what you're thinking." Chaos deadpanned.

"Oh yeah." Ranma said meekly, scratching his head in shame.

Chaos shook his head, saying, "I don't have much time, and I really need to explain something to you."

The doppelganger gestured to his right side. A bright light flared momentarily before dimming into the form of an intricate katana. But it was no ordinary katana, since its blade was more than twice the normal length of one. The hilt was a made out of silver feathers that were wrapped around it, and its length was bit longer than most. Its end has a diamond-shaped dark purple gem. The blade itself was at least an inch thicker than most, and four smaller round gems lined up from near the hilt upwards to at least one sixth of the length of the blade. The blade itself was jet black, as if the light around it was being sucked into it.

Ranma was awed at the sheer presence the blade gave out, before the deluge of memories barraged his thoughts. Visions of him in a different time wielding the same sword, which was at least twice his height. He used it in battles before, cutting down enemies like a hot knife on butter. The blade has a name, and it was he himself that gave it its name. Ranma cast a curious glance at his other self.

Chaos noted the hint of awe on Ranma's face. Nodding at the real Ranma's inquisitive glance, he continued, "Seems familiar, isn't it?"

"The... Masamune..." Ranma whispered.

"Your blade..." Chaos agreed, "The same blade you forged from your own essence and lifeblood, it has come with you. I don't know how, but it's inside you right now."

Ranma looked at Chaos sharply, "What? How can that be?"

The other just shrugged nonchalantly. "Dunno. It's currently within you, and it's also struggling to come out, since you're in a desperate situation. Now you know why your body's hurting all over."

Ranma's eyes glowed slightly, "And also why my head hurts like hell."

"Exactly." Chaos' form wavered a bit, causing the image to grimace. "I think I'm finally disappearing. About time too. You're finally complete. But the changes don't really affect you all that much, just that you'd know a lot more than you used to. Your personality will gradually change over time as well, but it will be mostly because of how you'll use the knowledge you'd gather from here."

"Ah." Ranma nodded. Then, he readjusted himself so that he now sat on his knees. Looking at Chaos briefly, Ranma bowed deeply, saying, "I wish to thank you. You've done well, considering everything."

Chaos laughed softly, his form was slowly dispersing, "No need to thank yourself. One would think you're vain enough to be impressed by yourself."

Ranma returned the smile at the slowly disappearing form, "We're the best after all."

Chaos' form gazed softly at Ranma for a moment, before it finally exploded into motes of light. The same motes of light gathered into Ranma's mental body, completing the long circle that has been waiting for countless eons.

Ranma's eyes glowed for a moment as his body assimilated the final burst of energy that has been Chaos. The whole area started shaking, as the black nothingness slowly dissolved.

The young man stood, glancing at his hands in wonder. Facing the eternal abyss of his mind, he said in an eerie dual-voice, "Chaos is Ranma, Ranma is Chaos. I am Chaos, Chaos is I. I am Ranma, and Ranma is I."

With one final smirk, Ranma, or Chaos, muttered in a now-single voice, "It is Done."

The whole place dissolved in bright lights.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The bright flash in his head slowly receded, and Ranma found himself in the middle of battle again. He almost panicked when he saw Lenneth's determined face and her blade now almost upon his neck. He quickly shifted his head slightly to the right, and allowed the righteous blade to pass by his face. He felt a few strands of hair from his bangs fly off to kami knows where, after they've been glanced by the deadly blade of the Valkyrie. Time finally flowed normally once again for him, and the Valkyrie just spun away from the attack she made. She looked at her blade in confusion, then at Ranma.

""I do not know how you managed to evade my strike."" Lenneth said grimly as she took another stance, ""But this time, I will have your head.""

But Ranma wasn't paying any attention to her, rather, he was looking at his body intently. He was currently glowing slightly, and he could actually see inside his arms right now, like an x-ray. There were points along his arms that glowed, which were centered on his wrists. A pair of round objects glowed dark purple inside his wrists. He also noted that somewhere at his ankles, a pair of dark purple glows also emitted in them. The last point was a dark purple diamond-shape in his chest, which was the largest of them all.

""The Masamune... it is reacting to my aura."" Ranma intoned ominously, half-ignoring everyone watching as he stared at his glowing body.

Lenneth seemed to have felt something peculiar as well, since she paused on her tracks and just gazed at the glowing winged being in front of her. Not that she was any less angry at what has transpired earlier, but her anger was shelved back to minor importance as of the moment since the energies she felt from the pigtailed man was spine-tingling... as well as strangely familiar and nostalgic to her.

The Chooser of the Slain was one of the second tier divine beings, one of the most prominent Aesir one level under Odin. Freya, Frey, Loki, Baldur, and the other important individuals in the Norse Pantheon were in her class, as well as her sister Hirst.

When she was but a trifling of her youth, she had seen the greater gods at work. In fact, her own style of fighting was derived from her self-proclaimed master (although the same-said master never knew he was a master of hers). Lenneth had long watched her idol at work, especially during those scuffles with the Ancient Gods. Watching him defeat legions of summoned golems single-handedly made her resolve of getting more powerful even stronger. She was not alone at worshipping him, Loki has been trying to follow his footsteps as well. It seemed that Loki had been particularly interested in chaos as well.

Yes, her idol was the great Chaos himself.

She followed him everywhere, and even though nowadays she thought she was quite the weird stalker in her childhood, Chaos never turned her away. In fact, he always invited her to accompany him whenever he went to the gardens of Heaven, where he would meet the Nightmare Goddess Hild. Contrary to what people say about her, Hild was actually a pretty nice woman. Compassionate and kind to her, at least. The older goddess never grew tired of explaining things to Lenneth, about how the universe came about, and how the cycle of life works...

Chaos would just watched them while he lay on the grass, listening and occasionally interjecting some added information regarding the subject. He was a great prankster too, usually aimed towards the uptight Thor and Heimdall.

It did make Lenneth wonder though, why Chaos never wanted anyone to call him 'Master Chaos', or 'Lord Chaos', or whatever title that should denote who he was. If he heard anyone call him that, he'll just flash one of those rare frowns of his, and demanded that he be called normally like everyone else.

Alfadur was Lord Deus, and Hellwren was Lady Hild.

Chaos would've been the in-between, but he firmly stressed not to think of him that way, or even treat him as one. He mingled with the mortals most of the time, which was frowned upon by the rest of the second tier of divine that never knew of who he really was.

Lenneth shook her head as her point of view slowly went back to the present, where she was currently facing one of the most dangerous battles of her life. Her opponent was extremely strong, much more so than those high level demons and gods in Heaven and Hell. Her exploits have been focused on gathering and sending souls of valiant heroes to Valhalla, the hall of the Fallen Heroes, to be ascended into Einherjar. She was used to seeing powerful people, but in all her gathering, she never met anyone as strong as this one before. One came close though, that man turned kid in that dimension where Shen Long got involved personally. She idly noted how similar this situation was to that one, but the resemblance was zero, aside from the tail. But even that had a wrong coloration.

Anyway, she was supposed to concentrate on her battle... hey, was that a very long katana forming in front of Ranma just now?

Sure enough, the dark purple gems that had appeared all over various points in Ranma's body had somehow ripped themselves out of his body, and converged into one point in front of the man. The blade from Ranma's last vision of Chaos slowly formed in front of his eyes. His wings had shed a few of its feathers, and an invisible gust of wind brought them to the formation as well. The feathers had formed the hilt, while the purple gems formed the highly extended length of the dark blade.

Everyone, Ranma and Lenneth, as well as those outside the divine barrier watched in fascination as the blade literally wove and shaped itself out of those that came from Ranma's body.

Ranma was actually too busy gawking at the weapon's presence to notice the flare of pain all over his body, even if his immune system was working in overtime. The wounds he sustained from the points on his body where the gems came from were slowly closing up as he watched the katana finish its formation.

With a final pulse of light, the almighty blade solidified, dropping itself into Ranma's suddenly outstretched hands. Ranma blinked at this, wondering just why his arms moved automatically like that. But when he felt the katana's warmth encompassing his body, the confusion over the events vanished.

He suddenly KNEW, that he was to wield the blade. Ranma's instincts claimed his ownership of the Masamune. And now, because of the energy discharge needed to actually form the sword itself, the Light Hawk Wings that jutted out of Ranma's back, his own manifestation of his mother's legacy on his bloodline, shrunk into two miniature-sized wings. From its gigantic size earlier, the pair had become as small as a young swan's wings now. Of course, Ranma didn't notice any of that.

A soft clang of steel made Ranma jerk his gaze to the side, catching Lenneth's shocked expression as her grip on her own weapon slacked. The Levantine fell to the ground, and with it the Valkyrie's body as she fell on her knees.

""Masamune... Lord Chaos?"" The once proud Valkyrie squeaked, her eyes wide in slight fright and, weird enough, anticipation.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The Justice League, as well as the Teen Titans, who have been watching outside the confines of the barrier were quite shocked when Lenneth fell to her knees, staring at Ranma in shock. Sure, it was pretty amazing that something THAT long came out of Ranma's body (the sword's blade was almost twice Ranma's total height). That shock has been amplified when the Valkyries that has been with them had dropped their own weapons. What they don't know is that the four divine warriors could lip-read whatever Lenneth was mumbling inside the barrier, since it was pretty far away to be read by normal people. They were anything but normal people.

The later generations of Valkyries that had come after Lenneth and the rest of her group were a bit negligent of their history. But EVERYONE knew of the old myths about what had really happened during that age-old war of the Ancient Gods. It was then that the loss of a very important figure in the Universe, the Balance Keeper himself, had given his essence to imprison the Ancient Gods. Sturmhild, Filaender, Aquarius and Terris were among the best of the best in the Valkyrie Force. They KNEW their history.

And the lessons of Chaos, the Ancient Gods, and the War has been their history.

Seeing their senior officer fall down on her knees, staring at the mortal they've been sent to eradicate or capture while mouthing something about 'Chaos-sama' got the other Valkyrie's bristling in nervousness. Their mission has been shady at best since they got it in the first place, and they were a bit skeptical as to why certain protocols had to be implemented just to capture this certain individual. The Doublet System has been disabled, just so that everyone may participate in this 'Hunt'.

For some reason Thor, Heimdall, Loki and a few other very high level divine and demonic entities expressed their disgust at the gesture, and had explicitly replied their negative answers about it.

The stand-off between the Creator, Thor, and the rest of the gods that had declined was legendary.

Of all the beings in the Heavenly Plane, only a few people really knew the being known as Chaos, since he vanished just before the second generation of divine and demons emerged. Of all the divine though, only the Creator, Hild-sama, Loki, Thor, Heimdall and especially Lenneth were familiar and remotely close to Master Chaos.

And now, based on Lenneth-sama's reaction upon seeing the sword in the hands of the mortal they were after, it would seem that their mission has become quite complicated.

""Can anyone please tell us what's happening!"" Superman grumped as he seethed at where he stood. He has been itching to fight the young man inside the divine barrier. His own Kryptonian blood has been burning for something to fight. While he was here on Earth, there was no one he could unleash his full power with. He couldn't just up and find Darkseid now, can he?

Batman glowered, as if he can do something else at the moment, ""I think that something has shocked our guests about this boy.""

""They are talking something about 'Chaos'. At least, that's as much as I can read from the woman's lips."" Raven commented as she watched Lenneth's lips move inside the barrier intently. Her eyes glowed a bit as she fed power into them, so that she could see what was happening inside the barrier a whole lot clearer.

""No... Master Chaos? Impossible!"" Terris whispered harshly as she looked at her co-worker and best friend, Aquarius.

The blue-haired Valkyrie just nodded, saying, ""It is what I can read from Lady Lenneth's lips as well.""

The fire-haired Filaender grimaced, ""If that is true... then... could we have made a mistake? What could Heaven be thinking, sending Lady Lenneth after him...?""

""But Lord Chaos has been gone for so many eons! It is highly unlikely for him to..."" The silvery haired Valkyrie of the Air, Sturmhild, frowned to herself as her voice softened towards the end of her tirade.

""EXCUSE ME!"" The private conversation between the four Valkyries was rudely interrupted by the irate voice of one Jon Stewart, current wielder of the Green Lantern power ring. Wielding the ring in itself was a great feat, that is if he wasn't surrounded by certain immortals that could wipe his sorry butt in battle.

The warrior women turned altogether towards the Green Lantern, and the man had to back away slightly at the glares that has been thrown towards him.

""We do not need to explain ourselves to you."" Aquarius replied coldly, giving the Green Lantern a glacial look.

Terris sighed as she glanced at her fuming co-Valkyrie, adding, ""We do need to say something about what is happening. This IS, after all, their reality.""

The blue-haired woman snorted as she grumpily turned away.

Filaender smirked slightly. ""Always the pacifist, aye Terris?"" she said in amusement. Turning towards the baffled Earth heroes, she continued, ""We do have the privilege of telling you some things. You have heard of the Theory of the Big Bang, the creation of the Universe, correct?""

Nodding, Batman answered for the group, ""That's right. We believed that everything came from one point, which expanded by itself into what is known as our universe today, and is still continuously expanding as we speak. But that doesn't explain---""

""Be patient, MORTAL."" Sturmhild growled out, her face a mask of unbridled irritation as she scoffed at the mortals in front of her. She felt that she owed these people nothing to explain what she had in mind, but Filaender already began, so it might as well be at best if the fire Valkyrie finished it anyway.

Terris stepped in front of the angry silver haired woman, saying, ""Be at ease, Sturmhild. We do not need to be so spiteful of them.""

Shaking her head in disgust, Filaender effectively ignored Sturmhild's angry mutters as she continued, ""Where was I? Oh, the Big Bang... well. It was almost precisely correct, the theory I mean. Everything in this Universe began in a single unified Darkness, which everyone in Heaven has dubbed with many names, such as the Abyss, or the Source. Nevertheless, it was there, and it after so long remaining dormant in the middle of Nothing, it became sentient.""

""I have been... acquainted with that myth."" J'onn muttered loudly, causing everyone to turn to him. He looked up as his eyes glowed in remembrance, ""My clan used to tell stories of gods and goddesses, demons and demonesses, battling for supremacy over the Universe. They all came from the Great Source of All.""

""Part of what you said is... true, Martian."" The fire Valkyrie nodded at the green humanoid appreciatively, ""You know your myths well, I commend you. The Divine and the Nightmare did come from one Source. The Abyss had made the Ancient Gods first of all, somewhat like a test of some sort. They were known as the Titans in Earth's mythology."" She glanced meaningfully at Batman, who nodded in approval.

Inclining her head, she went on, ""The Ancient Gods were the First, and were the ones who actually shaped the first stars and planets in the Universe, as well as forging the first forms of life all over. But the power over Creation corrupted their ideals, thus they became ruthlessly imperious. They toyed with whole races with their power over everything. The result was... total anarchy.""

Everyone shivered at the ominous tone of the divine soldier. They started having their own visions on how the story had turned out. It wasn't pretty at all.

Filaender nodded at the pale faces of her audience, ""So you see, the Darkness had a reason to become concerned at the sudden twist in the Universal Balance. The Darkness had to compensate... and compensate the Darkness did."" Looking directly into the eyes of the people in front of her, she continued, ""The Darkness amassed Its greatest powers, in order to forge Its greatest counterparts. Three new Beings managed to emerge, each fully empowered by the Darkness' full might. The first two were polar opposites, Night and Day, White and Black... and they were known as the Order and the Nightmare. The third was given the final burst of energy from the Darkness, so instead of having Its own domain, it was almost the same as the Darkness itself. It was further known as... Chaos.""

""Chaos?"" Cyborg interjected, his face a mask of confusion, ""Isn't that, like, evil or something?""

Terris furiously snapped her gaze towards the mechanical humanoid, who flinched visibly as he felt the hot stare directed to him, ""Chaos is NEVER evil! You mortals just perceived something mysterious as something to be feared or destroyed, did you not! Magic, witchcraft, demons... some things you never did understand, you try to destroy!""

""Chaos is the Balance of All."" Aquarius said stonily, catching the audience's attention effectively, ""Chaos is the Unknown factor, the one that maintained spontaneous change in the Universe. Without it, evolution of various species will stop to a grinding halt, and there will be no Change. There will be no powerful Kryptonians, Tamaranians, Azarethians, or even the psychic Martians. The Amazons will die out because they will never learn how to fight effectively, since the chaos is gone. But make no mistake! Even though there is no chaos, it never meant that evil will disappear. So, what happens when the evil attacks a really docile environment? Instant Doom to all there Is.""

""Just because chaos is not there? I thought that to have peace, chaos should be removed in the picture!"" Flash gasped out incredulously.

""It shows how much you mortals knew of the consequences of Everything in the Universe."" Sturmhild scoffed.

Filaender sighed loudly, causing the bickers to minimize enough for her to continue her narration, ""The Chaos was the Balance between the Order and Nightmare. He, yes, Chaos slowly personified as a man, was a kind-hearted soul. He usually prances around Heaven, doing whatever he wants. Anyway, establishing that, he was the Mediator between the Order personified, who became a man as well, and the Nightmare, who personified as a woman. Lord Chaos called himself Chaos, retaining what the Darkness named him. Order adopted the name Lord Deus, and the Nightmare named herself Lady Hild. Lord Deus and Lord Chaos were best friends, brothers actually, and they treated each other as such. But to Lady Hild, Lord Chaos was her Love.""

""Incest?"" Batman raised an eyebrow underneath his mask.

Wonder Woman shook her head in understanding, saying, ""In the Beginning, the divine were all connected with each other anyway, so incest was never a problem for them.""

The fire Valkyrie nodded in approval, ""That is correct. To us, Incest was never an issue, since our ancestors were siblings and lovers by themselves. Anyway, the three of them were called the Trinity, a basis of most forms of religion that are present nowadays. And they were also responsible for creating the first generation of divine under them, with the three of them as the 'Originals', and the Ancient Gods as 'Ancients'. The Ancient Gods and the Trinity were the Original Generation of Divine beings.""

""The First Generation of Divine Beings..."" The Green Lantern parroted.

""Loki, Freya, Thor, Amaterasu, Susano-Oh, Raijin... they are some of the gods that has been bred out of the last remnants of the Abyss, before it disappeared into History forever."" Filaender said sadly.

""The Ancient War..."" Everyone's attention turned to the new speaker, which was Terris, ""The war between the Ancient Gods and the Trinity and its followers began in earnest. It has been brutal, and stretched for so long. We had feared it will never end. her voice faded as she stared into the scene inside the divine barrier, where Ranma and Lenneth still gazed at one another silently.

Sturmhild followed the Earth Valkyrie's gaze, her scowl lessening, ""Lord Chaos took it upon himself to finish the fight himself. In the final twilight of the battle, he relinquished his full power into entrapping the Ancient Gods, after an elaborate ruse had lead them into the abandoned first planet of the multiverses.""

""It was a brilliant plan, one worthy of Master Chaos."" Aquarius said softly, ""When he did release his power, he also gave up his own life. In return, his final spell encased the planet inside a very powerful divine spell that no one, not even Lord Deus or Lady Hild themselves, can ever break into it. The Ancient Gods were trapped.""

""So this... Chaos... sacrificed himself to build up a prison for those Ancient Gods, right?"" The Martian Manhunter asked skeptically.

""LORD Chaos."" Sturmhild stressed firmly, glaring at the slightly perturbed green alien as she growled softly, ""Without such sacrifice, the whole of Existence would still be under dark ages up until now. Which meant that you, or any one of those not native of Earth would have been lost out there somewhere. You could be anywhere but here, and suffering too.""

""We did not realize he is THAT resilient. After being dispersed like that all over the multiverses, he still managed to bring himself back together, even if it did take him some time."" Terris muttered.

""Wait..."" Wonder Woman cut into the conversation as she looked at the Valkyries intently, ""You mean to say that... that boy... he's...""

Just then their conversation was hampered when the huge divine barrier in front of them popped like an oversized bubble, dissipating into small motes of light that floated up in the air before disappearing eventually.

It was then that they saw the stubborn and seemingly aloof Lenneth Valkyrie, commander of Heaven's Warriors, the one who leads dead heroes into the halls of Valhalla, currently being carried by a confused Ranma, who just gazed at the unconscious woman in his arms.

There was so much confusion, and everyone just gaped at the scene.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

""Well... this is pretty awkward."" Ranma mused as he mentally sorted all of the flashes that still tended to pass his brain every now and then, at the same time sitting calmly inside the design-challenged building of the world-renowned heroes called the Teen Titans. He was sipping the camomile tea Raven has made for him as he sat on the floor of the room, having gotten used to it for all of his life. He never did have a good feel for the soft things anyway, well, except women anyway. Gah. Where did that come from?

The whole group was currently assembled in the 'Game Room' of the T-Tower. Some of the members of the Justice League namely Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Martian Manhunter were currently watching the whole scene intently. The Green Lantern and the Flash had elected to return to the Watchtower, the Justice League's own headquarters situated just a little bit above the Earth's orbit. Thanks to the Batman's resources, they were able to keep watch on the planet in the best place possible.

The Valkyries were present as well, surrounding their still-unconscious leader who was laying atop the comfy couch. It was graciously offered by the Tower's owners.

There was a long strained silence as the whole group blinked at the nonchalant off-handed remark by the pigtailed young man sitting in front of them. They had wanted to ask multitudes of questions regarding what had transpired from earlier, but the whole ordeal has been too bizarre for anyone to even make a peep out of. They had accompanied the young man as he ventured towards a place where he could set Lenneth down, and they ended up in the Titan's Tower.

It was almost a couple of minutes past when the silence started the eerie scene was stopped, thankfully. It was then when Terris, the unofficial temporary leader of the Valkyries (actually, everyone just let her do as she pleased since she's the meekest of them all, and the usual neutral party), decided to voice out what most of her fellow Valkyries around her had in mind, as she asked, ""Lord... Chaos? Is that really your person?""

It was the catalyst to a long winding barrage of questions from the crowd. Well, mostly questions anyway.

""Lord Chaos...!""

""Why haven't you returned to the Heavens?""

""Why are we hunting you? Why are you being targeted?""

""What's with the wings?""

""Who are you, really?""

""Why are the gods so intent on finding you?""

""This is excellent tea, Miss Raven.""

""Uh, thanks, I guess...""

""Dude! You have a wicked right hook man! We should fight sometime!""

""What are your intentions?""

""Although you are of a Sai-Yahn race oh vile one, you fight superbly with honor! I commend you for it!""

""You just have to teach me how to make ladies faint like that man!"

The poor pigtailed hybrid sweatdropped was everyone's faces suddenly loomed in front of him, threatening to swamp him with their questions. His wings were ruffled, literally. Clearing his throat, he struggled not to scream and scoot back in horror as saying, ""Err... wait... uhmm... that is...""

""Everyone, back away."" Raven's scowl radiated from under her hood, showing her displeasure at the treatment of Ranma. The others scooted back nervously, since the ashen-girl's eyes glowed for a moment, and a large window pane from the lower floors exploded in response to the girl's slight outburst of emotions. Breathing in deeply to relax herself, she said cautiously, ""We don't need to crowd him. He can choose whether he'd explain or not. We can't make any demands from him.""

""But Raven... we need to find out if he's an enemy or..."" Robin's monologue faded as the eyes of his white mask widened when those shining purple orbs of Raven's eyes glared daggers on him.

Raven almost growled. Another window pane exploded, but now it came from above the floor they were in. ""If there was a remote chance he was an enemy, then explain why you're still there? He could've finished us off if he wanted to. And don't even start with your 'villainous plots' spiel, because I'm not in any mood for it.""

Robin has already raised a finger to point THAT out as well, but his voice was caught when Raven finished with that statement. He sweatdropped as slowly placed his hand down to his lap, meekly looking at the proceedings.

Seeing that everyone had committed themselves to actually listening first, Raven turned to Ranma and nodded at him slightly. The pigtailed boy caught the meaning and returned the gesture.

Ranma sighed loudly, expelling the stress he had gathered since everything started. Gazing at Lenneth briefly, he was awed when flashes of memory from long ago passed across his thoughts again, containing images of the same person, laughing and playing with him. He was her master in the fighting arts, and a mentor of some sorts for most things. He took time talking with Lenneth, usually alongside... Hild. Now there's a name that brought a slight smile to Ranma's lips. He finally figured that the woman reminded him of Ryoko, as well as Lea as well. He also noticed he felt as strongly for Hild as he felt for Ryoko, and the other girls with him.

Ranma blinked owlishly behind his dark-tinted glasses that were miraculously intact even when it was blasted many times over during that obscene power fight. He had to give it to Washuu, creating stuff that were clearly useful most of the time.

It was a weird revelation for him, realizing how utterly stupid and ignorant he was before his memories of the past reawakened. He groaned mentally as he reviewed his life of the present, appalled at how socially inadept he was. He had vague pushes from his ancient memories that he gained from his past life, but that was it. He still has no idea how to handle his situation logically, so screwed up was his current mortal life that every knowledge in the Universe (at least, during the Past) were useless. Shaking his head off the depressing topic from his so-called life, Ranma saw everyone looking at him curiously, probably wondering about the emotions quickly pacing themselves on his face. It must've been a comical sight for them.

""Well..."" Ranma began, scratching the back of his head as he gazed at the faces paraded in front of him. They were curious, and he wasn't about to fault them with that. He was a visitor to their world, an enigma to decipher, but he wasn't about to reveal all of his cards yet. Like in a fight, it's his style to keep a lot of important stuff to himself, only releasing them when they're desperately needed. Snorting slightly, he continued, ""To answer the lady warriors, well... I'm Chaos, and at the same time, I'm not.""

""HUH!"" was the general consensus of mostly everyone within the conversation as they tried to interview this weird... being in front of them.

The young man with the red tail wriggling behind him managed a soft sigh, preparing for a long and winding speech about some of what he had deciphered from his former life's memories, as well as his present life as well. Looking towards his restless companions, he began with a severely edited version of his mortal life as Ranma Saotome, the young man who became the genetic rebirth of the highest form of kami, Chaos. After the mortal details came some of the information gleaned from his ancient memories, but they were vaguely sketchy at best.

Ranma decided to hurry things along. The stares were starting to get to him.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Three hours later, just above the sands of Saudi Arabia...

"You don't have to tag along, ya know." Ranma grumped as he flew in the air above the Arabian territory. He reverted back to Japanese speech, since it's quite easier for him to do so since he grew up in the language.

On opposite sides of his floating body, two women from the group have accompanied him. On his left was the brooding Raven, who voted herself into the task of keeping tabs on the alien hybrid. Ranma was still a big 'if' on the Justice League and Teen Titans' list of non-hostiles. She was to follow the pigtailed young man and keep him from doing any more damage. The ash-skinned girl have studied the different languages of the world when she was younger, so she had no difficulty in understanding Ranma's Japanese monologue. On his right was an unusually cheerful Lenneth Valkyrie. Her armor has been reduced into a normal chain mail, since its full mode would be too inconspicuous. She readily agreed into guarding Ranma until his departure from the dimension.

Too readily, as her other fellow Valkyries have concluded later on. The others have opted to return to Asgard for now, if only to report their findings regarding to what they had discovered on their stay on Earth.

The Valkyrie smiled slightly as she hummed the 'Ride of the Valkyries' theme under her breath, feeling the soothing Midgard air as she sped alongside the genetic rebirth of her mentor all those years ago. "I have always wanted to journey the mortals' realm..." she said loudly, enough for her voice to be carried over the noise of the air swishing around them, "You still should be monitored while on this dimension. It is imperative that I do it personally."

"Have to agree with her there... you might get into all sorts of trouble. This way the others don't have to worry about what you do." Raven commented while she flew on Ranma's other side. Her body was covered in black energy, a testament of her power's manifestation. She was a bit put back by her companions' nonchalance about her display of magic though, but nevertheless thankful about not having to explain that her powers were not evil, mostly anyway.

Ranma grumped as he crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at a couple of camels that had people on their humps down below. The desert was a vast area, a very good place when he wanted to practice controlling his power.

Lenneth finally gazed at the grumpy Ranma, all the while flying leisurely into the scarce cloud formations they had passed by, "It should not be that much of a bother, Ranma-sama. I would think that most males would want to be in a situation where females follow him around like puppies."

"Been there, done that." Ranma muttered.

Raven snorted, "I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart you know. It's a job."

"So you say..." The platinum blue haired woman interjected at Raven, "But it was noticeable how you immediately took the said job quite as easily as I did. I do not care if it showed how much I wanted to accompany him, but does it not say the same towards your own reaction? It would have been tactically sound in sending the Tamaran girl if the job was all there is. After all, she would kill just to find something to pin on Ranma-sama just to peg him as an evil being."

Ranma rolled his eyes, "I'm not a kid you know... and stop talking about me like I'm not even here."

"Forgive us then, Ranma-sama..." Lenneth said in amusement, ignoring Raven's cursory remarks about HER not being sorry about anything, "If I may also ask, where our destination would be? It is not appropriate for us to scrounge around without any target in particular."

The pigtailed hybrid grimaced slightly, remembering the abrupt rise of energy from the direction of the Asian region. It was a familiar burst of power, one of which he has encountered before back in his home world. It was also much more powerful than when he met it before. Instead of being nervous, his blood boiled in anticipation at an upcoming battle, even though he didn't really want to fight for the moment. He shrugged the intense cravings for fighting... feelings he knew that came from his Saiyajin blood.

"Hey, wake up. You might accidentally hit a plane or something if you keep on daydreaming like that while flying." Raven's voice cut through his thoughts.

Ranma shook his head abruptly, without diverting from the flight path. He continued gazing forwards as he said, "We're going to China. Don't ask why, I just felt that I need to go there." Looking over to Raven, he grimaced when he took upon what Raven was wearing, which was a dark blue cloak that covered most of her body. Before the girl could even comment on the look given to her, he had already turned to Lenneth.

"Can you spare me a cloak or something? Particularly black in color...?" Ranma requested thoughtfully to the Valkyrie. He slowed his flight cruise to a stop, and his two companions followed suit. By now, the trio was floating high above the Sahara Desert, just near the country of Egypt.

"Black...?" Lenneth noised.

The red-tailed hybrid nodded, "Yup. Got a liking of them as time passed by. Before, I usually get red, blue or green. Then I realized, what am I? A Christmas decor?"

"Ah..."

"Hey." They both turned to the one that called to them, the gothic girl, who was by now scowling at them. They wouldn't know though, since Raven's cloak covered most of her face anyway. "What's with your look before, monkey boy? What's wrong with my clothes?"

Ignoring her 'monkey boy' remark (because it was partly true anyhow), Ranma just shrugged and replied, "You have to admit, your clothes ain't gonna fit with me. Besides, are ya carrying an extra under those flaps anyhow?"

Slumping slightly, Raven knew when she was beat, not that she'd let Ranma know about his little victory anyway. "Whatever..." she muttered.

"Is this what you wanted?" Lenneth asked suddenly, presenting a dark trench coat in her arms. Ranma and Raven had to blink at that.

The pigtailed hybrid was about to reach for the coat when he suddenly remembered something, smacking his head instead with his hand. Before the two girls can comment on his weird behavior, Ranma reached into... somewhere... at his side, pulling out another black trench coat. But this one looked a lot heavier and thicker than the one Lenneth had pulled out.

"I forgot I have a lot of them in my subspace." Ranma shrugged towards the flabbergasted Lenneth as he shucked the trench coat around his frame. Raven raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the clothes, but she was a bit impressed nonetheless. Washuu created the clothes inside his subspace room as per his request, making them a LOT more durable than the normal fabric found on Earth. The trench coat was a sudden favorite of his, usually used by Ranma to hide his tight-fit body suit.

Lenneth regained her composure as she glared at Ranma slightly. "You have your own stable subspace pocket!" she whispered harshly. She practically had to work her ass off her own subspace privileges for eons before it was given to her as a job benefit!

"Eh?" Ranma was confused as to why Lenneth was pissed at him, "I should have one, since I have a lot of stuff to put in there."

"I had to acquire my own through hard labor and..."

"I don't care. Not gonna make a difference complaining to me about it."

"Your reborn persona is quite rude, Ranma-sama."

"I earned my rudeness. I have to live following some idiot fool's crusade of a retirement plan for ten years. That takes a lot out of a person..."

"I do not mind it at all. In fact, it is quite endearing."

"Really? Well tha-... wait. That doesn't sound too reassuring now."

Raven quickly cut into the casual banter between her two companions, "Let's just go wherever you want to go, Ranma."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." The young man mentioned noised as he started flying forwards, towards the direction of China. Of course, as what has been in the young man's life from before, he was being followed by two nubile female specimens.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The battle against the Phoenix king was going badly for the Nerima Wrecking Crew. With Ranma gone from their lives, Ryoga was hard pressed at trying to even hit the fiery king of the mountain.

It has been months ago, during the debacle with the Dragon Prince Herb. Ranma, Ryoga and Mousse were en route to go after Herb and his cohorts, who were also after the Unlocking Kettle. Ranma had been true to his words, girl form at that time, that Ryoga and Mousse could be unlocked first. After being too selfish the first time they took the ladle that locked them in their cursed forms in the first place, it made the both of them pretty guilty about going first. But for some reason, that thought was blown away in the wind when they thought of finally getting rid of Ranma for good.

The battle went pretty badly for Ranma, since he was still locked in his girl form while Herb was already unlocked and in his guy form. Ryoga and Mousse had successfully taken the kettle from Lime and Mint, and managed to unlock their curses. In a fit of momentary insanity, they both decided to smash the kettle into pieces.

The end result was thrilling at first for Ryoga and Mousse, as they watched the hard pressed female Ranma defend himself against the male Herb's attacks. That thrill slowly melted into guilt as they saw how badly Ranma fared afterwards. That guilt turned into horror as finally, Onna-Ranma succumbed to exhaustion, allowing Herb to smash Onna-Ranma's face with his fist. The loud female cry of pain from Onna-Ranma's mouth brought chills to Ryoga and Mousse. The two looked at one another and decided to help Ranma in the end, but it was too late.

Ryoga could still remember the look Ranma gave them as Herb delivered a final thrust of his ki-blade up Onna-Ranma's sternum. Even as the female body fell down the ground, Ranma's face still stared with glazed, lifeless eyes in betrayal towards Ryoga and Mousse's position.

Mousse and Ryoga decided against telling the truth, fabricating a story of how Ranma had lost the battle in the end.

Shampoo was in denial at first, crying her heart out as she lashed at Mousse. The myopic Amazon just grunted as Shampoo beat on him, while Ryoga watched helplessly. Cologne had possibly detected something amiss, but she kept quiet. Instead, she just ordered Shampoo and Mousse to pack in order to return to China. The Amazon's left the day after Ryoga and Mousse returned.

Ukyou was terribly devastated, and another thorn of guilt stabbed into Ryoga's heart. She never did leave Nerima, and renamed her restaurant 'Ranchan's', in honor of the pigtailed martial artist. She still haven't found a suitable man for herself.

Akane's reaction greatly shocked Ryoga. She wept bitterly, crying out how much she loves him. This was the largest thorn that stabbed Ryoga's heart, as he watched Akane fall into depression. He tried to get her to notice him, but in the end all he can take from her was friendship. He told her about P-Chan, and she got mad about it for weeks. Their friendship had been tense afterwards.

Well, everything has been very difficult for them, even with Ryuu Saotome helping them. He was formerly Ryuu Kumon, and came about a couple of months ago claiming to be Ranma. In the end, he was adopted for real in the clan in favor of Nodoka Saotome's cajoling. Genma took a hard beating, not only for Ranma's pain while he was alive, but also for the pain he brought upon Ryuu's destroyed clan.

About a few weeks ago, a small child came to them carrying a worn out map of Jusenkyo. It turned out to be Plum, the Jusenkyo guide's daughter, who came and was now asking for their protection.

That's when everything went to hell.

Right now Ryoga, Ryuu, Shampoo, Mousse and Genma were on top of Phoenix Mountain, fighting an enraged Saffron who was fully grown. Shampoo and Mousse decided to go with them for good times sake after Ryuu, Ryoga and Plum came into the village to tell them of what happened. Akane was kidnapped by the Phoenix people led by Kiima and was taken as hostage in exchange for the map.

It all dwindled down to a showdown with Saffron, who gained his former adult appearance when Ryoga and Ryuu failed to stop Saffron from his rebirth. Akane has been rescued and was being guarded by Mousse and Shampoo, while Genma was still under Shampoo's thrall.

Ryoga winced as he felt another one of those Imperial Fireball thingies Saffron has been hurling towards him and Ryuu. Ryoga lay on his back staring at the miniature sun known as Saffron. He slowly turned his head to the side and saw Ryuu a few meters away, also laying on his back. It has been horrible battling the Phoenix, and this would probably be his end.

((Well, at least I can apologize to Ranma in the afterlife...)) Ryoga thought to himself as he saw Saffron prepare another one of those massive fireballs.

Saffron sneered as he prepared to release his final attack. How dare these mortals try and defeat him! He decided to show them! But his musings were cut short when a large spike of power caused him to look about him. It was too powerful to be ignored and it was too near him. Did these mortals have another ally?

Everyone on the ground watched in relief as Saffron's fireball dwindled to nothing, but that relief slowly turned into confusion as Saffron started looking around frantically. They saw the Phoenix king's gaze zero in atop the Dragon Tap statue.

Saffron's senses had gone haywire as the presence was all around him. The aura slowly converged at one point, which was atop the Dragon Tap statue. There he saw a man in black cloak standing calmly, watching the scene impassively. Saffron's curiosity overrode his caution as he slowly floated down to the stranger's level. The cloak had a hood on, so Saffron couldn't make out the stranger's face.

"Who are you, stranger? And why are you here, trespassing in my domain!" Saffron declared haughtingly as he flapped his wings gently in the air.

The stranger's hood-covered head lifted a bit. "To answer your second question, I'm lost, and I wasn't supposed to be here. The first question, I have no obligation to answer to you, Saffron."

Everyone was amazed at the audacity of the newcomer. Well, everyone except Saffron, who was simmering in rage. His fiery aura burst forth from his frame. "How dare you speak to the Phoenix that way! Do you wish to lose your life!"

A soft snort was heard from the cloaked stranger, "I should ask you the same, bird-boy. I know you can feel my aura. You know I can beat you so easily. Do YOU wish to disappear and not resurrect?"

As Saffron sputtered in mid-air, the stranger continued, "You didn't have to do this much destruction you know. You should've just asked for the map you've been coveting for from these people." Turning to the bewildered group of Nerimian's below, the stranger addressed them, "As for you, you have no right to keep the map, since it's not really yours to begin with. The reason why you were attacked, is that the map was needed for Saffron to be reborn as an adult. He is needed by his people as a source of light and energy for their mountain. It's no wonder he'd go crazy."

The Phoenix's rage grew into a frenzy, causing his decisions to be clouded. Seeing his quarry's back to him, Saffron fired off a fireball towards the stranger. The cloaked man, if he knew of the attack he didn't show it, just took the brunt of the attack without any preamble, causing the fireball to explode around him.

"Oh no!" Akane gasped out as she saw the attack on the helpless stranger. Shampoo and Mousse were appalled by the action.

"That was a cheap shot, Saffron!" Ryuu growled out as he struggled to his feet. Sure, he didn't know the stranger, but being a martial artist he knew that attacking from behind was dishonorable.

Ryoga grunted as he stood on shaky legs. "When I get my hands on you... I'll..."

"No need for that." The man's voice came from the fading smoke. As the dust settled, they could all see that the destroyed cloak fell out of his shoulders. They gasped as they saw the man's face, and the raven-black hair that was tied in a tight pigtailed draped down his back.

"RANMA!" Akane shouted in shock. Ryoga, Shampoo and Mousse were motionless in their spots, while Ryuu looked on in confusion. He hadn't met this world's Ranma yet.

"Saffron..." Ranma faced the Phoenix, "I will forgive you for that. Just don't do it again."

Saffron was about to retort, but the sight of the trio of multi-colored gems glowing on the young man's forehead stopped him short. So instead he stuttered in surprise, "Y-You're... Chu-"

"No need to blab to anyone who I am, ne? Stupid demigod baka." Ranma snorted as he glared under the dark tinted glasses towards Saffron. The aforementioned Phoenix shivered involuntarily.

Saffron slowly backed away from the individual, eyeing the pigtailed man nervously. "B-But... you're not here to slay me as well?"

Ranma chuckled lightly, "Who, me? Heck no. Why would I do that when you're just defending your home? But in that end, killing helpless people because you're pissed at them won't do you any good as well. You'll just become bad, and you know it. Besides, I don't wanna be hassled by those two women when I meet them later. But don't be mistaken. If you go overboard like this and keep your pompous attitude in the future, I might go pounding on you a little."

Without waiting for a reply, Ranma leapt from his perch on the Dragon's head, and slowly floated down to the ground. Seeing the old gang was quite good, but not seeing his counterpart disturbed him a bit. Nevertheless, he knew instinctively that this wasn't his world, ever since he appeared here. The absence of his analogue proved that. He silently turned and started walking out of the cavern without saying anything.

He was about to reach the enlarged cave that led to the main chambers of the mountain when he heard pitter patters of feet following him from behind. He winced slightly with his back against them, thinking of how this would affect the timeline he got lost into. Eventually, they'll ask questions, but he didn't really want to say anything unnecessary to bring the Nerimians' hopes up. No matter how much they wanted it, he will not stay in here. It wasn't his home, and besides, he still has to find a way back to Ryoko and the rest of his companions left in his adopted home dimension.

"Ranma!" A chorus of voices erupted behind him.

Ranma grimaced, knowing that it was really useless to try and go faster. He could try teleporting away, but he thought that the Nerimians were still not ready to see all of his abilities. Instead of continuing on, he sighed loudly and turned, causing the following group to stop in their tracks a little ways from him as well.

A tense silence stretched for sometime, with Ryoga, Ryuu, Genma, Mousse, Shampoo and Akane staring at Ranma, who stood by the exit with a bored expression on his face.

"So... what do you want with me?" Ranma decided to break the silence first, seeing the group's difficulty in thinking of anything to say.

Akane was the first one who recovered, saying, "H-How? I mean... Ryoga-kun told me how you d-died. How did you come back to life?"

"I saw you get beaten by Herb!" Ryoga announced, looking at Mousse for confirmation.

"Beaten by Herb?" Ranma said quizzically, "I see... so that's how your Ranma died. Too bad..." he said sadly.

"Our Ranma?" Mousse asked.

Ranma shook his head and gazed at the group seriously. "Let's get one thing straight. I am Ranma, but not THE Ranma of this dimension. Before you ask, yes, there are other worlds out there with different Nerimas, and different Ranmas, and Akanes... etcetera, etcetera. I'm on a quest to find my home dimension. Something happened to me and it was revealed that I'm not Genma's son in my world, but don't misinterpret. It doesn't mean that your Ranma here isn't Genma's real son. Maybe he is, but I can't be so sure since I'm not from here. All I'm saying is that I'm a different Ranma, and that your Ranma here is dead, as you say. Although..."

Looking at Ryoga intently, he asked, "I wonder how your Ranma died. Didn't you get the Unlocking Kettle? You did, right? Since you did, you should've helped him beat Herb. Why didn't you?"

Everyone turned to the nervous Ryoga and Mousse, who fidgeted slightly as the attention bored into them.

"Anyway..." Their stares returned to Ranma, who turned briskly and started walking outwards once again, "If you already understand, I have to go. Some people will be mad if I'm out late. As it is, I'm on a... temporary parole or something. Feh."

"Why are you so eager to go?" Akane asked in a low voice as she and the others quickly followed Ranma.

The pigtailed young man shrugged as he continued walking, "I already told you, some people are gonna be mad if I'm late. I dunno about you but, I for one don't want to be late and have them angry at me. Women are scary."

Just then, the sky darkened as hordes of winged people floated just above them, their weapons poised and ready. Ranma stopped walking and glanced up, groaning as he spotted the irritated look on the lead Phoenix guard.

"Kiima." Ranma deadpanned.

The silver haired winged woman growled softly as she clenched her fist around the hilt of her sword. She lowered herself slightly and said, "Foolish landling. Did you think we'd let you get away after talking to our Lord that way?"

The Nerima Crew got into their battle stances as Ranma smacked his face with his hand in dismay. Looking back to the irate Phoenix, he said, "Would it help if I have wings too?"

Kiima scoffed. "You? Wings? You're a mere landling, you're nothing but barbarian filth!"

With a bright flare, a pair of silver wings erupted from Ranma's back. The slits strategically placed on Ranma's black leather coat accommodated the wings as if they were expected. The sight caused the Phoenix to whisper loudly amongst themselves, and had Kiima backing away slowly.

"Let me pass, as well as these people behind me." Ranma said softly, but the power behind his words were evident as everyone shivered at the tones used.

Kiima stared some more, but she finally shook her head and opened her mouth to retort. Before she could, however, another powerful presence made itself known.

"Leave them be, Kiima. That is enough." Saffron's adult voice echoed in the silence. The Nerimians tensed as the Phoenix King's form appeared with the rest of his people in all his majesty. Apparently all the damage he had received earlier had disappeared without a trace from his body.

Kiima reeled back as if hit, and she whirled to face her king. "But my lord...!" she began, but she was halted when Saffron threw her a look. The lead guard of the Phoenix settled down and watched helplessly as her liege turned back to the other winged man on the ground. Her lord seemed unsurprised at the transformation.

"I am sorry for how Kiima had treated you, but you must understand..." Saffron began, and waved a hand at his side to silence anyone who would protest at his words. It shouldn't be proper for someone in his stature to apologize, but this was hardly a normal case.

Ranma willed his wings to wrap around his body. The extra appendages seemed semi-transparent, and silver lightning coursed all over them as time passed by. "Don't worry about it. I could understand how she felt, and I know it's her duty to protect you." he nodded towards Kiima's direction, "But she should also know when to stop you from going overboard. The way you handled things here were too violent, and retaliation on both parties became evident. You know that, Saffron."

"How dare you!" Kiima was about to launch herself to the person, but Saffron glared at her into silence once again.

The Phoenix King just nodded humbly. "I know. A being of fire is susceptible to these kinds of mood swings, but my behavior wasn't justified as much as I wanted it to be."

Ranma tilted his head to one side, keeping his gaze up at the Phoenix King. His respect for Saffron grew a notch. "I know. Sometimes, too much power makes us forget how we must treat other beings. In the end, we become pompous jerks, totally ignoring the feelings of those around us. It's good to hear that you're not going the same path as the Saffron I met in my universe."

Saffron's face showed confusion. "You're not from this dimension, then?"

Ranma shook his head, totally ignoring everyone around them as he started to enjoy a decent conversation with a half-divine. "Naw, I got suckered into this dimension by some weirdo and his stupid summoning. I have a dimensional transporter, but it's randomized and at the moment it's not with me. I have half the mind to use a Nanban Mirror from one of the dimension we pop out of, but I decided against it. The Saffron I fought with was a bastard, pardon me for saying so, but he was really so caught up with his power. My heritage wasn't awakened at that time, so I had to fight your counterpart within human levels. Although, I may share the blame since I was too greedy to try and take the map for myself just to cure my curse. I defeated him and forced Saffron to regress into the egg state. Kiima promised to raise you as an honorable leader."

"Amazing... you truly deserve your title, Ranma." Saffron smiled slightly.

Ranma bowed little. "Thanks. Anyway, I have to go. It's nice to reminisce and all, but this is not my world. My... bodyguards might be looking for me already. Don't wanna hear them whine and brine at me later."

Saffron cocked his head to one side slightly. "Why not stay for a while? Surely your companions wouldn't worry all that much, knowing who you really are. They do know who you really are, right?"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "I don't think I'm capable of hiding anything about me from them. Women are scary."

Saffron suddenly had a weird thought in his head, with Ranma's chibi image being whipped by several women with no faces. He shuddered, "I cannot imagine what it's like for you."

"It's bittersweet for me." Ranma smiled wanly. His expression suddenly melted into a serious one as he said, "It's time for me to go. I can feel one of my guards getting angry."

Saffron frowned a bit, then his eyes widened as he too felt the all familiar dark aura that usually flared every now and then in the past. He grimaced at Ranma and said, "That 'girl' is your bodyguard?"

"Eh?" Ranma was a bit surprised, "You know of her?"

The Phoenix snorted a bit as he explained, "I had the pleasure of encountering the girl once or twice in the past. She is with that world-renowned hero group, isn't she?"

"I think it was Ten Tritons or something." Ranma muttered loudly as he readjusted his shades over his eyes.

"Teen Titans, you mean." Saffron smiled in amusement as the young man waved his comment away.

"YOU MET ONE OF THE TEEN TITANS!" The Nerimian group all but shouted, reminding Saffron and Ranma that they were other people present with them at their position. Ranma blinked confusedly behind his glasses as he stared dumbly at the group in front of him. He had forgotten that they were still following him.

"What's the big deal?" Ranma scratched the base of his pigtail as he asked innocently. Weird kids wearing equally ridiculous costumes... really!

"Who you meet?" Shampoo asked excitedly. "Strong woman Starfire? Magic woman Raven? Steel man Cyborg? Shape-change Beast Boy? Or it too too cute Robin?"

((The girl with an angst so heavy that may rival Ryoga's? The half-machine who wore no pants? The green guy who tells those lame jokes? And that weird masked dude who wore his underwear outside his spandex?)) Ranma thought to himself.

Mousse sighed, shaking his head in disgust. "Not again.." he muttered, but his face suddenly grew into a contemplative look as he said, "Although... Beast Boy's abilities would be very useful."

"You kidding?" Ryoga grunted, "Cyborg's strength is cooler than Beast Boy's!"

Akane shrugged, but although her eyes can be seen with the excitement from the knowledge of hearing someone who had met Earth's most prominent heroes, aside from the Justice League. "I think Raven's powers are cool." she commented.

"I think yer all nuts..." Ryuu commented. ((I think Wonder Woman is cooler than those little girls in the Teen Titans!)) he thought.

(AN - Oh... so that's it...)

Shampoo thumped her chest proudly, declaring, "Starfire very strong woman, like Amazon womens! And Robin too too cute!"

Genma just grunted in irritation. He has no idea what these idiot kids were talking about. He was still thinking of how to entrap this Ranma into marrying Akane, and he has to come up with a plan soon!

Ranma, Saffron, Kiima, and the rest of the Phoenix left around the area sweatdropped at the humans who were arguing as to who the better hero was.

"I don't even want to know." Ranma and Saffron looked at each other in surprise at first when they droned the same sentence, which melted in amusement as they ascertained how immature they thought the sight of these people bickering was.

"You're really pretty cool to talk with when you're not some psychopath, ya know." Ranma commented at Saffron, who in turn just smirked. Ranma added thoughtfully, "It must be that you're in a more mature body. The one I encountered in my original generation had his transformation disturbed."

Saffron winced in sympathy. "That must be it, then." he intoned wryly, "I for one know how incomplete it felt when the transformation gets halted one way or another. It is not a pleasant feeling."

"Anyway..." Ranma made a show of turning away, to the direction of a still-erect Jusenkyo from afar, "I need to get going. The pull of Japan is still strong on this body of mine."

Saffron nodded. "I understand. You will not return soon, then?"

The pigtailed boy shook his head sadly. "I don't think so. Or I could, within the six months I have to wait until my aunt arrives with her experimental dimensional transporter thingie. I could decide to visit before I go."

"Excellent. It would be a great honor for me if you do so, Saotome-sama." The Phoenix God inclined his head slightly to Ranma, who bowed in return.

Ranma faced Kiima, who still had her scowl on her face. He smiled gently at her, causing the winged woman to flinch back slightly in surprise. He said, "You know, you could be beautiful if you just smile some more, ya know?" The pigtailed boy mentally frowned as he remembered having uttered the same fateful words somewhere in his past. He just can't remember it much though.

It was quite funny, with him having one of the greatest aptitudes in capturing martial arts techniques within two times of seeing them done and having his own revisions, while losing the same ineptitude when it came to important things such as these. It was pretty unreal for him.

Although, it was also amusing for Ranma to watch the normally stoic and commandeering Kiima floundering in the air like that, as she tried to think of a great come back at his heartfelt words.

It was true; if only Kiima would smile, her face would brighten up be one of the prettiest faces he has ever encountered.

Shrugging slightly, Ranma started to walk towards Jusenkyo, but not before waving back idly at the mass of Phoenix soldiers that were itching to skewer him with their spears. Not that it would've mattered, since he would just teleport away from danger. The soldiers were held at bay by Saffron himself, so not even the still stunned Kiima could do anything.

The Nerimian group finally noticed the pigtailed young man walking off away from them without a word, so they quickly gathered their wits and scampered after him. Ranma heard the incoming steps behind him and groaned loudly. He really didn't want them with him as he traveled, especially when Raven and Lenneth would meet with him later on. Seeing that Akane and the rest of the people from Nerima had the attitudes of their counterparts in his home world, he knew that Akane was still easy to anger, as well as the presence of her mean jealousy streak.

After two hours of walking, Ranma and his unwilling followers passed by Jusenkyo. The pigtailed young man noted the horrified looks of those contracted by the curse, seeing that the springs were drained dry.

For some reason, Ranma felt jittery. Even his wings were a bit 'restless' a moment ago, and it was starting to worry him. The last time he felt this way was when he was in the last dimension, in the planet where he fought Deus. Now that he thought about it, he never did learn the name of that place, but he just shrugged it off. No sense in worrying about it.

What he was worried about now was the fact that his whole body's tingling something fierce, and it was the time when the moon was...

Ranma's face snapped up, his eyes widened in shock behind those dark tinted glasses of his. He quickly searched the sky for the Earth's natural satellite, and found it already rising from the horizon. He grimaced once he caught sight of it.

Full moon. Big, round, already slightly luminescent ball of lunatic wonder. His spine quivered as he thought about it.

Saiyajins, in all their glory, were simply put... Were-Monkeys. Highly evolved space aliens that have the ability to power up and evolve into a more gigantic forms when the moon is in its fullest. The legends of most lycanthropic creatures would probably apply to them, except that they have no qualms having silver in their armors. Their lunar induced forms were truly horrifying, since compared to most werebeasts known to mortals, their forms tower more than fifty stories in height. Their strength multiplied exponentially, and their minds became a more primal stature. Although Saiyajin royalty were known to be able to control their transformations, most of those in the lower classes lose their self-control, reverting back into their primal minds of chaotic destruction. This was one of the reasons why the Saiyajins became the greatest instrument of conquest for the Cold Family.

Ranma was, in fact, a Saiyajin. A weird one at that, and also only a third Saiyajin, but Saiyajin nonetheless. Most of his crass attitude came from this side of his blood, as well as his ego and arrogance. His love for battle and ability to get stronger each time he almost lost was from being a Saiyajin. With Tokimi's blood flowing into his veins as well, his Saiyajin attributes were balanced out, somehow. He was able to control his urge to transform when full moon came, but that ability of his was still there. Whenever he's exposed to the moon's fullness, his body still reacted in some ways to it, reminiscent of his Saiyajin heritage.

So now, his tail has been agitated in anticipation as Ranma felt his blood pumping. He won't transform unless he lost his cool, but he still felt the more primal urges in his head. He mentally grimaced as he surmised that he will be insufferable during the night.

"You okay over there?" Ryuu's coarse voice cut into Ranma's inner contemplation.

"None of your freaking business..." Ranma commented bluntly, snorting as he continued on the path. Ryoga and Mousse visibly flinched at the silent accusation in his words, though. "Why are you still following me?"

"Ranma! Stop being so rude, you jerk!" Akane growled out.

Ranma didn't even turn around when he retorted, "My manners and how I act is none of all your freaking businesses. I earned the right to be sardonic, so better get used to it. It's better that way, since it helps remind you I'm not your Ranma."

Ryoga sidled up beside the slightly chastened Akane, shouting, "Ranma...! How dare you speak Akane like that!"

"Ah, shut the f up, bacon boy." Ranma spat, still walking in a brisk manner that was being matched by his annoying entourage, "I don't care what you think of me, or anyone else! I am me, and I'm not gonna change just coz you can't accept it! If you can't deal with it, then why the hell are you following me anyway!"

Suddenly, Ranma stopped in the middle of the small dirt road that led to the Amazon Village, when two shadows appeared on the ground. The Nerimian group stopped as well, seeing that the target of their ire had paused in his walk.

Before asking him why he stood frozen like that, a female voice coming from above them cut through their musings, saying, "We finally found you, Ranma-sama!"

"Just in time too..." A monotone voice followed, "You must be causing some trouble again."

Ranma didn't even offer an excuse on that as he sighed and looked up, causing everyone behind him to do the same. The Nerimians gasped when they saw two females floating above them. One they recognized, while the other was only recognized by the purple-haired Amazon who came with them.

The first female wore a dark blue body armor that molded to her skin. Her normally floating shoulder guards were now attacked to her armor. Around her waist was a thick leather belt that was held together by a silver buckle. Her girdle was dark blue as well, her legs and feet were covered by long dark-blue boots that reached her knees. A long broadsword with an intricate design was slung around her waist, and a dark blue helmet that had a pair of white feathers at the sides was over her head.

The second female was significantly shorter than the first, and she wore a dark blue cape that had a cowl to cover her head with. Her leotard was hidden within the folds of her cape, and was currently held aloft by some dark power. Her skin was ashen in color, and deep purple eyes peered through the shadows of her cowl.

"Hey... that's..." Akane was stammering as she pointed a shaky finger towards the second female.

Ryoga was oddly silent, since he was busy staring up to Raven with his jaws wide open. Ryuu was a bit surprised at seeing a superhero present, since he rarely saw any one of them while he traveled. He did see Superman once, when he was helping the Japanese Defense Force about something the military can't handle.

The female being pointed at scowled under her cowl, saying, "What's wrong with them?"

"Raven... Rae-chan..." Ranma said cheerfully, earning him a scathing glare from Raven that was deftly ignored, "Didn't you know? You're not only famous in your city, ya know."

"Whatever..." Raven droned, floating downwards near Ranma. The first female floated down as well, and was smiling smugly towards Raven. The goth girl snorted as she said, "Make them stop then. It's bugging me... those stares..."

"You must learn to accept your fame in stride, Raven." The girl in the armor said to the cloaked girl.

"Chooser of Slain!" Shampoo shrieked as she stared at the armored woman intently, her eyes widened in panic.

Mousse stiffened on his stance as well. "The Chooser of the Slain... Valkyrie!"

"Well, gee. Would' ya look at that?" Ranma grinned as he looked at the hyperventilating purple-haired amazon, "You've got your own following, Lenneth-chan."

"She's absolutely terrified. How oddly appropriate..." Raven observed calmly.

Lenneth huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, causing the males save Ranma to drool slightly as her chest stuck out all the more. "She must know of me, for she is an Amazon. Although being seen as a horrifying creature..."

Ranma and Raven rolled their eyes. "Ya think?" they both chorused.

Lenneth ignored them, instead looking at the surroundings in curiosity. "Shall we depart to our real destination then, Ranma-sama?" She asked to the pigtailed boy.

"We don't need to..." The young man sighed as he rubbed his forehead furiously, "I've dealt with it already."

"Great..." Raven intoned, "Can we go back to Jump City now?"

The look Ranma gave her said 'No Way'.

"We're supposed to be going to Japan... but then I just had to stop by here and take care of something. Normally I would've left these people to their own devices but... they might get into trouble. I just can't leave them..." Ranma sighed as he glanced back to the weirdly silent group behind him. He saw that they were following their conversation, and somehow none of them wanted to interrupt. Akane, Ryoga and Ryuu were still enamored at seeing Raven in person. Shampoo and Mousse were still frantic at seeing Lenneth. Genma was just being his stupid self, staring at the scene in confusion.

"I see a village ahead." Good old Raven informed them as she pointed at a distance.

Lenneth gazed at the quaint little village, where a few people, mostly women, were strolling around its streets. "It seems familiar."

"Of course it is..." Ranma sighed loudly, "It's the Chinese Amazon Village."

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To Be Continued...

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NEXT CHAPTER:

Continuation of Ranma's short misadventure. The arrival of two high profile goddesses, where a parallel version of the mother and her lost-in-the-dimensions son will finally meet.

Ranma finally helps Raven train in her powers, but gets sucked into Nevermore accidentally. Ranma will meet Rage/Trigon inside the mirror, and a titanic battle will erupt inside it. Tragedy will befall the infamous mirror... but Raven would not care in the end.

The Justice League tries to make Ranma leave because the poor boy was causing too much havoc in their world, with the Teen Titans assisting the heroes... how will Raven react to this?

New gods descend from Heaven to challenge Ranma as well. Demons will try to take Ranma out too. Poor dimension... the strain would be too much...

Will Ranma ever return to the path he was on before Slade summoned him?

Ask Washuu... err... Washuu-chan.

And Raven... Raven procrastinates on her love life.

AUTHOR RANTS:

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Teen Titans the animated series - Justice League the animated series - Batman the animated series cameos - Valkyrie Profile

Yep. Updated. Cool ain't it?

Hohoho... I kinda lost track of the length when I wrote this.

Yes, most of the characters from various cartoons are OOC, but that's just the way how I want them to be. Remember, once we touch their stories, they're not gonna be 'canon' anymore. So OOC is allowed. But of course, we try to maintain their OC-ness, but hey, nobody's perfect.

Yes, Saffron is not as foolish as everyone thinks he is. Since the dimension's version of Ranma has been killed by Herb, Saffron achieved his adult form, thus, he's quite mature. His temper's the same though.

Hey, he's the Pheonix. Go figure.

Ranma's changed? Of course he is! Since the time he started to have his dreams about his former life as Chaos, he's been changing! How would you react, if eons and eons of memories and the creation of the Universe was shoved in your head?

You will be humbled. You will be enlightened. You will adapt.

Hence, they merged. But since Chaos is a really old and fleeting memory of the distant past, then of course Ranma will be dominant. But the influences will be very distinct.

I actually finished this before chapter 8a. Funny how that is.

So... anyone who's wondering WHY the Nerimians are kinda docile in the last parts, well, they're still in shock at the events compounding in their faces. Just wait for it... they're gonna be trying to get to Ranma again.

This is gonna be fun.

Someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migrain she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jedai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'realtime'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the seige of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land)

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	18. Chapter 8c

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... probably two to three chapters more, and Arc 1's done.

This chapter will focus on what happened to Ranma's side quest on Planet Zi, as well as introduce a possible companion for him in the future. This is also Ranma's first encounter with some of the Divine Army's soldiers (I just thought up a name for Heaven's foot soldiers... go figure).

This is a Ranma/Teen Titans crossover. Yep, them... those teenagers who owned their own Tower that for me is really architecturally unsound (a giant T atop a small islet in the middle of the water? Come on... one earthquake and down it goes... been wondering for how long Slade's gonna figure THAT one out).

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver andSilver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

C. Rose's email is still funky, by the way.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 8C - THERE NEVER WAS AN EASY WAY

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"I just knew this was a bad idea..." Raven muttered loudly as she gazed on the pointy spears pointed towards her. Actually, the dark-blue cloaked gothic girl was with Ranma and Lenneth, who were being held at bay by a large group of Amazons.

They were currently near the gates of the Joketsuzoku village, just inside of the village proper.

Well, Lenneth was in fact revered in these parts, especially after that purple haired girl with them explained to one of those prune-like women on sticks on who Lenneth was. Apparently she was a divine being of some sort, not that Raven disputed it, but still...

Ranma just groaned as he felt a sense of deja vu all over again. He remembered his first meeting with the Amazons, especially their reactions when he won in that contest of theirs in girl form. Speaking of girl form, he hasn't been splashed lately, which added stress to his already high-strung nerves. He was already nervous about the full moon tonight, but this... this is just so...

"Well well well, son-in-law... we meet again. I heard a story about you being killed by Lord Herb, but seeing you here dispelled that thought, ne?" An familiar silver-haired woman approached them. She was all withered and wrinkly, much to everyone's distress she was smiling too. Ranma tensed slightly, a fact which Raven had noticed.

Ranma shook his head empathically. "I'm not your son-in-law, Cologne..." he hissed angrily, "Your Ranma is dead. I'm another Ranma from another dimension. Ask my companions if you don't believe me."

The old woman cackled, causing everyone to cringe slightly. "Of course I know that, son-in-law. Your aura is vastly different from our Ranma. Yet, a Ranma is a Ranma, and the Amazons are lucky to capture such a powerful version too!"

"Wow... she probably is secretly in love with you or something..." Raven whispered to Ranma, who glared back at her.

"If you think you're going to just take me into your village just like that, then you're dead wrong." Ranma growled out dangerously as his eyes shone behind his glasses.

The Amazons raised their spears menacingly, which was ignored by Ranma totally. Cologne snorted as she said, "You have no choice. You're trapped here and..."

"Am I?" Ranma said grimly, "I know you wouldn't believe me, but I can take you on, and your Amazons, and all your elders, and Saffron, and everyone else altogether. As I said earlier, I'm not YOUR Ranma."

The tension between the two groups was rising, and the Nerimians had yet to comment about their presence. Before anything could break out, Lenneth finally stepped forward and said in a steady voice, "We should all stand down and discuss this diplomatically." Turning to the irritated pigtailed young man, she pleaded, "Please, Ranma-sama."

Ranma huffed, but he turned away abruptly in disgust, saying, "Whatever. Just make them stay out of my face for a while. I may accidentally fire off something that could wipe them out." Looking up to the moon, he said softly, "It's gonna be bad tonight. I'm stressed."

Lenneth just nodded. She understood what Ranma meant, since she read his files before she went down from Heaven. The information regarding Saiyajins were apparently famous to the gods, since it always amazed them to watch these mortals change into something far more powerful than their original form. Even the gods would have a hard fight against these creatures.

"A Valkyrie..." Cologne said in awe, obviously just noticing Lenneth now, "How may this humble woman serve you?"

"You may start by calling off your... entourage, Amazon..." The Valkyrie replied in a calm tone.

The Matriarch of the Amazons nodded, before turning to her fellow Amazons and addressed them in Chinese, saying, ""Lower your weapons, better yet put them away to avoid accidents. You recognize this woman, don't you? She is Valkyrie, the Chooser of the Slain. The group with them are our guests as well. As for the boy... leave him to me.""

""You might want to change that thought, Amazon..."" The Valkyrie glared at the cowed woman. Cologne cursed silently as she had forgotten that they were dealing with someone akin to a goddess here. Translating languages were an easy feat for them.

The Amazon Matriarch further paled when Ranma's gruff voice spat out in an accented Chinese, ""Damn crazy old prune thinks she can take me? I'm gonna wait for that... heh. This is gonna be some major stress relief. I've been waiting for a chance to beat on her for a long time now. I haven't forgotten all her tricks on me.""

"What's happening?" Akane asked to no one in particular, watching the whole scene play out helplessly. She was terribly confused at the predicament she was in, especially after seeing her supposedly deceased fiancé living. Ranma, this Ranma anyway, had stressed his individuality from their Ranma, but Akane was hoping there was still a bit of the baka she met quite a few months ago. But as the time went on, she felt that this Ranma was superiorly separate from her Ranma. Sure, this man was still crass, a world-class jerk, and has an ego the size of Mars... but his ego was backed up with his words and indifference. The fact that pompous Phoenix God Saffron respected this Ranma was a clincher. But her heart was still hoping this was her Ranma, no matter how much she tried to deny it.

The youngest Tendo girl had been very lonesome these past few months, especially with the loss of her beloved pet P-chan. The revelation of Ryoga's unwitting betrayal of her trust dwindled down on her ability of trusting males. Her growing ire against men in general did nothing to help her, and that compounded on Ranma's death. She was just about to declare herself a lesbian, or better yet join a Christian nunnery or something. But then again, she wasn't about to abandon her Shinto beliefs just yet, but she was real close to it.

There was these two girls that arrived for Ranma, too. Akane didn't know whether to scream bloody pervert on Ranma or just suck it up like she's supposed to do. But the still fresh memories of her deceased fiance still lingered in her subconscious, almost making her pull out a blunt weapon somewhere and smack the young man. But she stopped herself, after seeing Ranma smash Saotome-san into the ground with a light tap on the back of the older man's head.

Seeing this Ranma interact with those other girls that arrived for him really grated on her nerves though. Even though she looked up to the super heroine called Raven, seeing the darkish girl hang around Ranma like that brought back memories. The other girl was just as bad, and was much more sultry and sexier than the girls back in Nerima. Akane felt superbly inadequate compared to these girls.

It was a good thing her sobered attitude had curbed a lot of her anger. Or else she would've been screaming her head off, if Ranma were to appear months before. She had to remind herself that this was not their Ranma, no matter how much they wanted him to be. This Ranma was almost the same, but was also miles apart with his counterpart here on this dimension as he put it. Not only in the physical sense, with the wings and tails and all, but also how they look at things in general.

This Ranma had genuine high intelligence that has been developed for many years. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, as far as Akane was concerned.

Ryuu eyed Ranma with a respectful gaze. "This guy's good." Ryuu muttered audibly maintaining a bit of indifference about it, but he was quite worried how to act around this young man. He doesn't know Ranma at all personally, but the person called Ranma that he had met just a few hours ago was a very powerful and laid-back guy. He doesn't know how to classify him though, with Ranma's tail and the wings, but he figured as long as he's careful around Ranma and the girls 'guarding' him, Ryuu's in the green.

"Always causing trouble, you mean..." Ryoga grumbled to himself, but actually, deep inside his heart he felt quite impressed as to how this Ranma was standing up to the old woman. In his memories of their Ranma, he was pretty much the same, except that any further threats would make him crumble eventually.

But this Ranma was different, VERY different. He stood up to the Amazon 'til the end, and from what Ryoga could see, this Ranma actually believed he could beat the Amazons even if they ganged up on him. The lost boy wondered if the pigtailed boy was just blowing hot air, but a brief glance at that Valkyrie woman showed a brief flash of fear in her eyes. Ryoga wondered if it was for Ranma, or the Amazons. Seeing the imploring look the woman had when she asked Ranma to stand down, it must have been the latter. He STILL can't see beyond those damnable dark glasses that Ranma wore, so he can't read the pigtailed boy's emotions.

Oh yeah, Ranma also had a tail.

A furry, red tail.

Very different, indeed.

Ryoga still has no idea how to deal with this Ranma, since this version was vastly dissimilar from who he used to know. He was also quite leery of talking with Raven of the Teen Titans. His senses were telling him that there was something absolutely dark with the girl's aura, and it wasn't funny at all. The other girl, Lenneth, was obviously gaijin in looks, but her accent when she spoke Japanese was perfect. She spoke a more eloquent Japanese than Ranma!

Back to the pigtailed boy, Ryoga was actually tempted to renew his rivalry with him. But Genma got to Ranma first, when the fat fool mouthed off something about Ranma having to marry Akane now that he's resurrected from the dead. Before Akane could even comment about it, Ranma already smacked the spectacled man at the back of his head lightly. But weirdly enough, the force was enough to drive Genma's head a good few inches deep into the ground. It was clear how powerful this Ranma was, especially since Saffron willingly backed down from a fight with him. And Ryoga knew how much power Saffron has.

Mousse was no different, as he was trying to avoid conversing or even trying to make contact with this Ranma. His eyesight was really bad, but his ability to sense energy was a little above Ranma and Ryoga's level. This Ranma was a blaring sun compared to his own tiny spark. And Mousse knew Ranma was already trying his best to smother his aura, especially with those trinkets all over his body.

Not to mention those two other girls with him. The Teen Titan member, Raven, was like a black pool of energy in his eyes. He was sensing a lot of demonic energy in the girl's aura as well, and it scared him spitless. He could feel the girl's shadows writhing and trying to destroy everything it touched, only to be held at bay by what probably was the iron will of the girl. The other girl, the Chooser of the Slain, has an aura of opposite force from Raven's. If the dark-blue cloaked girl's aura was dark, the Chooser of the Slain's was light. Divine energy oozed from every pore of the girl's body, and power was leaking out from the scabbard of her sword. But they were following this Ranma, seemingly guarding him. But were they guarding him, or were they guarding everyone else from attacking him? Which was which, he still hasn't figured out.

Like Ryoga, Mousse was very tempted with the thought of bashing Ranma's head with a blunt object. But seeing as to how uncaring Ranma was of what they thought of him, he was severely off balanced.

He knew this wasn't the Ranma they knew, but it was hard to disassociate him with the home Ranma because they have the same face and the cocky attitude. But that was about it, since this Ranma has dark glasses that seemed to have a permanent placement on his face, as well as that red tail of his. Nobody has been courageous enough to ask about it, and Ranma wasn't about to tell them about it willingly just as well.

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It was still early in the night when the whole entourage comprised mostly of Japanese nationals found themselves around a big bonfire. They were in the middle of the Amazon village, where currently most of the Amazons sat around the fire as well. They had a special party for their guests, who were treated as honored visitors of their village.

As of now, Akane and her fellow Nerimians found themselves full to the brimming with food, their faces and stomachs stuffed with good meat as well as fine ale. The Amazons have been eternally grateful for the group's accomplishments as of late. Surviving the Phoenix King Saffron to tell the tale was a feat unto itself, and the Amazons respected them for it.

Not to mention the presence of the Chooser of the Slain herself, Lenneth Valkyrie. Although, the young woman would fry anyone's ass with a thundercry spell if ever she heard anyone speak of her being the One who guided warrior souls towards Valhalla. She also didn't fail to notice the Amazons' subtle 'sucking up' routine.

Raven was mostly undisturbed, but most of the Amazons eyed her weirdly. Most of the Amazons were trained to fight in physical battles, but some were trained for supernatural fights as well. Their spiritual senses were screaming 'Demon' at them as they looked at the young girl. But they left Raven unmolested, especially when Shampoo had explained to them of her status with the Teen Titans. World heroes were very much revered in the village, almost as much as Valkyries. It also helped that Raven was a female as well.

Ranma was mostly silent, since at the moment he was an unwanted male. The reputation of his analogue in this world was a bit of a blemish for the Amazons' glorious history. He had thought about it, and had surmised correctly that the lack of his analogue's defeat of Saffron robbed him of the respect he garnered in his own world. Speaking of that, he just allowed Ryoga, Mousse and Ryuu to get most of the credit in fighting and 'winning' against Saffron. He wasn't really that much interested in the fame anyway. And the three Nerimian males were sucking up the fame they hadn't earned without remorse, not that it was any of his concern.

With this setup, Ranma just wordlessly stood up from having finished his meal and strolled around the village, with his two 'bodyguards' at his side. Raven and Lenneth were quite adamant at pacing with him. The Amazons were quite alarmed at this, but Lenneth had explained that it was a necessity. The Valkyrie chose not to mention that it was for the world's protection that Ranma was to be guarded and not the other way around.

Eventually the night has deepened, and most of the people from the party went to sleep. Akane was offered a roof by Cologne, who was grateful for the services of hot water as well. Shampoo and Mousse already shared a home of their own, since they were already married anyhow. Ryoga and Ryuu were offered a different house, since they were mere males after all.

Lenneth and Raven declined the offer though, and stressed that they have to be at Ranma's side at all times. They also shot down the offer from the Amazons of taking turns in guarding the boy. Of course, the pigtailed boy was rather leery at accepting the Amazons' offer to use one of their straw homes, especially with those smiles on their faces. He knew enough of their ways to avoid resting near them, else he would find some unknown girl lying next to him.

Ranma ended up taking shelter high up on the branches of a very old tree just outside the village. The Valkyrie and the gothic girl took refuge at the roots of the tree. They have their respective blankets and some straw pillows, courtesy of the Amazons as well.

The Chooser of the Slain fell into a deep slumber rather easily, the events of the previous day seemed to have taken a huge toll on her godly nerves. Her sword, the Levantine, was firmly hugged into her chest as she slept, but her body was tense subconsciously to respond from any surprise attacks. Ranma could hear Lenneth snore quietly below him, making the pigtailed boy smile at the irony. Lenneth, the all powerful Valkyrie, sleeping like a baby just a few meters under his perch.

Shaking his head in amusement, he searched for his other bodyguard, but he didn't see her under the tree. He couldn't even feel her in the immediate vicinity, which made him a bit worried. Not that he was really feeling responsible about it... oh alright! So he was worried about the girl, and he could feel that he was partly responsible for her well-being. Seeing that this was a semi-hostile territory, he quickly tried to feel her presence within a wider scope, sending a slight burst of his ki that would act like a radar for him. Only those really sensitive in ki-probes could feel it, but this was a small emergency. He doesn't want that kid Robin getting on his case if his teammate got hurt.

His long distance ki probe finally pinged on something, just beyond the clump of trees between the path towards the Bayankala Mountains and his current position. It was a semi-dark void, and was quite tranquil for the moment. He shrugged as he shot to the air, glancing back at the sleeping form of Lenneth. He figured that no one would DARE to touch the woman, and he was just going to leave her for a short time.

Rising at an altitude much higher than the trees in the forest, he scanned the surroundings, and spied upon a calm lake just a few meters north of his position. That was where he also felt Raven, so without further adieu he sped forwards to the north, intent on finding the missing goth girl.

Speaking of the teen, Raven was sitting with her legs crossed under her as she floated a few inches off the ground, her eyes closed. She was a few inches off the coast of the lake, which reflected the face of a very full moon. On her lap clutched with both hands lay her mirror, the artifact that held her passport into her inner self. It was the portal which led to Nevermore.

The girl felt restless for some reason, and decided to break a way from her companions for a while to meditate upon her current situation. This was a ritual of hers daily, even back at the Teen Titans tower. Her emotions were starting to grow rampant once again, thus she needed this time to quell them back down, and bury them deep within her once again.

So deep was she into her meditations that she hasn't detected Ranma's form landing just beside her.

Ranma was actually a bit fascinated by the girl. He had seen her meditating as hard as she was doing right now, back in that Tower of theirs. He did not find any solace in meditating though, since he's more of an action-oriented person. Having to sit around and think of Nirvana would make him go crazy.

He had heard from that green-skinned boy, Beast Boy, that Raven has been meditating since he met her all those years ago. Why was she so adamant on keeping her feelings bottled up? Not only once did Ranma had ask himself this question in the short-term past. He was a closet mystery freak, something he might never accept in front of Nabiki. It was the same with the mysteries of Martial Arts moves. He can't stop deciphering them until he understood everything.

This girl was one of the mysteries he wanted to discover, since he couldn't bear seeing her suffer like this. Conditioning her body to ignore emotions was like evoking the Soul of Ice permanently.

Here he was, watching Raven's serene face as she concentrated on her meditation. Ranma spied upon the object clutched with her hands on her lap.

It was a mirror.

Curiosity got the better of Ranma's logic, as he floated closer to Raven's unmoving form. Hesitantly reaching out an arm, he deftly traced the mirror with his index finger, marveling at the other worldly beauty the object possessed. All of the sudden, a flux of power jolted Ranma out of his trance, causing him to float back a bit in shock. Too bad it was a little too late, as a black, clawed hand emerged from the mirror, grabbing Ranma's surprised form before it sucked itself in, and Ranma, into the mirror.

Immediately afterwards, Raven's eyes snapped open in shock, as she stared at the object in her hands.

"Oh no..." Raven whispered urgently, her anxiousness increasing as the mirror failed to follow any command given to it from her.

She was just deep in her trance when she met with her emotions inside Nevermore. She usually used her mirror as a conduit of transportation for her to that realm. Nevermore was a physical manifestation of her inner self. Each of her emotions have their own places inside the pocket dimension created by the mirror's magic.

Nevermore was her haven, her only refuge when her emotions get the better of her. Raven had to be sure that none of her emotions grow too much, for fear that something vile and evil might use the same emotions as a weak spot for her. Raven's father was the dreaded high demon Trigon the Terrible, known throughout the cosmos as a very powerful and versatile demon. He had survived countless of millennia, as well as thousands upon thousands of skilled demon hunters coming from every part of the Universe.

The sadistic bastard was quite proud of that, and also he physically forced Arella, Raven's mother, into procreating with him. And the result was Raven, the one prophesized to bring Doom to the Universe once Trigon managed to take control of her.

In other words, Raven was Trigon's emulator for his power, and his first conquest would be Earth if she faltered even for a bit. And she would be damned if she would give a quarter to her father's power!

Raven sought out her emotions earlier this evening once again, as she has always been doing since she was taught back in her home, Azarath.

She was actually conversing with her other persona inside the mirror of Nevermore when a sudden jolt of reality permeated the air of the dimension. It was vaguely familiar, something she had already felt back when... Cyborg... and Beast Boy...

((By Azar!)) Raven ignored the other facets of her personality as she stood shock still amidst the circle, staring at nothing in particular, ((Someone got into Nevermore again!))

Speaking of which, Ranma was already used to being sucked into ominous wormholes. Another one wouldn't make much of a difference, and the trip was also rather short. Kinda like the slight disorientation he felt when he teleports himself all over the place. Blinking owlishly to shake off the slight dizziness he felt, Ranma blearily looked around.

He found himself in the middle of... space. He stood on a narrow rocky path that seemed to defy gravity as it floated without any pillars holding it upright. Ranma peered over the edge, and saw the seemingly bottomless pit of space.

"Hmmm..." Ranma mused to himself, "Now where have I seen this before...?"

But the pigtailed wonder had no time to ponder on the scenery, as at least a dozen of black birds appeared above him. They hovered over his head, cawing at him madly. He briefly wondered about the black birds' quadruple glowing red eyes, but he just shrugged them off as a quirk of the reality he was in.

Not bothering to think too much about the strange things around him, Ranma skipped down the stone pavement he was standing on. The path was quite straightforward, since it just led straight somewhere into the black space. He did see something shining from beyond the path, though.

The pesky, noisy birds kept circling over his head.

Anyway, he reached a small clearing, only noticing now that the path has gone wider somewhere back. He shrugged as he walked on, trying to catch anything through his senses. So far, only the supernatural feeling emanating from the birds above his head were the only things that bothered him at the moment.

And the whole scene kept Ranma on his toes.

Which was why he was caught flat-footed by the sight that greeted him when he took five steps more.

Oh, nothing much has changed from the scenery. The sky still has nothing except the darkened skies and the rocky pathway he was on, but the area was now noticeably brighter in hue and some... pink glittered all over. Oh, and also a pink-cloaked person of Raven's height and build standing beyond the cragged rocks that jutted out of the path. The cloaked person was sitting atop one of the miniature spires, looking directly towards him.

Okay, now that in itself wasn't the weird part... it's just that the person, in which Ranma has established to be female (anatomy, people... the person was wearing a leotard under her cloak for crying out loud), was wearing white of all things, and has this silly looking grin on her face under her cloak's cowl. In the short time he was with Raven, Ranma didn't see that same smile on her face, ever. And now that he does, it made him feel both happy and extremely nervous at the same time. The aura was the same Raven, since the girl wore the same face, and the built was the same, so it must be Raven. But somehow, the smile looked a bit off on her somehow.

Shrugging off his concerns for now, Ranma floated towards the smiling Raven, who had jumped off the stone and was now floating towards him as well.

"Well, hello there cutie!" The extremely excited girl bobbed in the air as she giggled. Ranma's senses were going haywire at the amount of weirdness he felt right now.

"Right... hello to you too..." Ranma drolled, ignoring the way how the girl's tight leotard stuck like a second skin, and with her bouncing like that...

The pink-cloaked Raven's grin widened, "Hey, you're staring at my chest. You like me, don't you?"

Ranma groaned as he face-faulted. ((This is going to be a long day... or is it night?))

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Outside of the world Ranma was in, Raven was currently pacing around the lake's shoreline, busily staring at the mirror in her hands. However, her face was reflecting a frown, and was looking at the object in her hands like it was very offensive.

Raven still shuddered at the memory of the first incident when Cyborg and Beast Boy had accidentally entered Nevermore. The two had played havoc inside Nevermore, and in turn has affected her physically. She even laughed at random intervals out of the blue.

Shaking her head to forget about the memories for now, she gazed at her mirror. The event of the first incident paled in comparison with this one now. Her mirror was glowing softly, and Raven could feel jolts of power emanating from it. That in itself was not normal, and the fact that it was Ranma that had entered made Raven feel nauseous.

Oh, now Raven was feeling a twitch coming to the fore, zeroed in on her lips. She almost giggled, but managed to choke it down to a mere smile and a whimper. She thanked her birth stars that there was nobody out there with her right now, or she will just die of embarrassment. And Raven also surmised correctly that Ranma had met up with her most annoying emotion yet, Happy.

Hmmm, now why did that elicit a sudden chill from her then?

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"I like you, Ranma! You're so much fun to be with!" Pink Raven gleefully commented as they traveled along the path of Nevermore.

Ranma just sighed and smacked his head, trying to quell the urge to just run away. Apparently, Pink Raven wasn't the only resident here.

A few meters away from where 'Happy' and Ranma met, they encountered another Raven, but this time, she was wearing a yellow cloak. She was holding a thick paperback book of some sort, its title was written in a language not familiar to him.

Ranma ignored the incomprehensible text and muttered, "Another Raven. Great."

The yellow-clad Raven's brow lifted as she gazed at him quizzically, "That's odd. Before it was Beast Boy and Cyborg, and now... you. I think we really need to install an anti-trespasser device at the portal of this place."

"Oh, come on Wisdom! Don't worry about this... it will be fun!" Happy gleefully commented.

Wisdom rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd say that. You're Happy."

"Argh! Whatever!" Ranma waved his hands in the air irritably, "I just wanna get out of this place!"

Happy quickly glided to Ranma and grabbed his hand, saying, "Don't worry, I'll guide you!"

Wisdom sighed and said, "Wait, I'll come with you two. With Happy's... disposition, it will take forever for you to get out of here."

And on the trio went. Wisdom was what her name stated, she was Raven's much more analytic side of her personality given flesh here in Nevermore. Wisdom was, literally, the brains of the operation. This however made her a bit haughtier than normal, since she knew she was the smart one.

All of which was ignored by Ranma, who was blissfully humming a tune.

This was halted, though, when they came upon another change of scenery. The area seemed to have grown a bit brighter. And no, Ranma did NOT just cringe. It was a... shudder of anticipation. Yeah, that's it.

Oh, is that a green-clad Raven wearing that infuriating smirk on her face? Ugh... it looked very familiar, the same smirk Ranma usually saw whenever he looked in a mirror. Still, this Raven was leaning against the pillar of rock that jutted out of the ground. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and was looking at them rather smugly.

"Well, if it isn't monkey-boy himself. How do you like Nevermore, huh Ranma?" The green-cloaked Raven asked, her right brow raised inquisitively.

Ranma answered all the same, "Just peachy."

Wisdom nodded towards the new-found Raven, saying, "Why hello, Brave. I hadn't realized we would arrive at your... place... rather early."

The green-cloaked Raven, Brave, muttered loudly, "Shut up, Wizzy. I got bored fighting those statues, so I went here to see Ranma for myself. I mean, Rude was watching me fight earlier, but she just disappeared just when I decided to meet you guys."

Happy immediately went to Brave's face, causing the green-clothed version of Raven to lean back a bit, "You saw Rude? Where is she? We should travel together!"

"Pipe down, pinky..." Brave deadpanned, pushing Happy's... happy face away from her, "You know how she is. Besides, she'll just make your little trip a whole lot worse than it is."

"I hate it when people talk behind my back..." A new voice interrupted them, causing Happy, Brave and Wisdom to turn towards the source. Ranma sighed and turned albeit a whole lot slower, not really appreciating the turn of events.

There was another Raven on the road onwards, her face etched a slight frown. Her eyes were half-closed and was bored, and her cloak was orange in hue. Her arms were crossed across her chest as well, and was looking at them in irritation.

"Ah, speak of the devil... hello Rude..." Brave snorted loudly.

"Can it, you overgrown bullheaded freak..." The orange-clad Raven named Rude spat back, her eyes glowing slightly towards Brave. She breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes to control herself, before opening them and snapping her gaze to Ranma, saying, "What the hell is HE doing here? Do you know what he's doing to us!"

Wisdom smirked slightly. "Oh, so you felt it too, huh?"

"He's killing us!" Rude whispered harshly, intensifying her glare towards the clueless Ranma, who just scratched his head nervously.

Happy scratched her own head thoughtfully, which for a moment seemed to be reciprocating Ranma's own confused expression, "That's funny... I don't feel bad. A little twitchy here and there since we met Ranma-cutey, but other than that, nothing really unpleasant."

"That's because you're an air head..." Rude ignored Happy's sudden hurt expression and turned to Ranma, "This... person is doing something to us, with or without his knowledge, and it seemed to be affecting our core personality directly."

"Why don't we go straight to the point, Rude..." Wisdom interjected, "Why don't you just say that, Ranma's presence made Raven feel---"

"That's irrelevant!" The orange clad girl growled out, cutting Wisdom's statement off.

Ranma sighed and floated a few inches above the ground, before falling unto his crossed legs and sat in a yoga position, still a few inches on the air. "I still have no idea what they're taking about..." he mumbled to himself.

"Neither do I..." Brave commented beside him, staring at the shouting match that has escalated from a simple banter a few moments ago, "But then again, thinking is never my strong point."

"I just don't understand anything... I just wanted to get outta here... where ever I am..." Ranma whined softly as he looked around him, his gaze snapping on some... prominent things that he neglected to notice since he entered the place.

The black birds were now perched on a tree just beyond them, their four eyes glaring at him hatefully. Beyond the horizon a dark mass was slowly approaching them in a rather slow and deliberate matter.

"Uhm, hey guys... what's with that dark thingie over there..." The pigtailed hybrid turned, only to come face to face with ANOTHER Raven, but this time, she wore a gray cloak. Her face almost had that fearful expression on her face as she tried to hide it inside her cowl. She stood in front of him shakily.

Ranma almost scratched his head once again, but he resisted as he asked, "Well, hello... I don't believe we've met before."

But the gray-cloaked Raven remained silent as she slowly stepped back away from him.

"Look everybody, it's Timid..." Wisdom's voice cut into Brave and Rude's quarrel. All of the other emotions stopped talking at once and faced the poor gray-clothed girl, who was trying to keep herself small in her place as much as she can.

Brave raised an eyebrow. "Well... would ya look at that? You turn for a minute and already another will try to take Ranma for herself!"

"Timid!" Happy's shrill voice reflected shock as she stared wide-eyed at the cringing gray-cloaked Timid, saying, "Shame on you... you have to share him with us too!"

Rude snorted indignantly, "Hey! Leave me out of your discussion!" But she could feel her face growing hot for some reason.

Wisdom eyed Rude slyly, "Right... as if you're serious about that."

Rude just ignored the jab.

Timid's hands flew to her cheeks as she looked down to the ground with embarrassment, "I-I-It's... not l-l-like t-t-that..." she stuttered softly.

"Oh, I SOOOO don't need this right now..." Ranma muttered as he stormed past the bickering personified emotions, only to be stopped by a popping noise and a puff of smoke that covered his range of vision in front of him.

The other personas even stopped as they heard the pop, and quickly prepared themselves if ever it was... IT. When the smoke cleared though, they were treated to a surprise as it was revealed that the one that appeared from the phenomenon was a small child.

Oh yeah, it was a small chibi-Raven wearing a dark purple cloak, one as to which Ranma groaned quite loudly as he smacked his head with his hand. The newly-appeared child Raven initially looked around in a dazed fashion, as if she was lost. But when the child saw Ranma, her expression turned into delight as she squealed and flew into the young man's arms, which were instinctively brought up to catch the miniature purple blur that went towards him.

The others quickly rounded upon the struggling Ranma, who still had the small ball of purple crawling all over him.

"Oh dear... this... this is..." Wisdom gasped as she finally resolved who the newcomer was.

Brave smirked and shook her head, "Hah... never thought she had it in her. It's been a long time since I've seen her... and she hasn't grown at all since then."

Timid just stared at the little Raven in shock.

Rude was a bit peeved. "You think this is good? Now that she's here... then HE'S going to have an angle of control against us!"

"Uhmm... hello? Can someone please help me?" Ranma noised weakly, as he ceased struggling when it was apparent that the girl wasn't to be budge that easily, even with his strength. Besides, he didn't want to hurt the girl, no matter how much he felt uncomfortable currently. It would seem that the girl was now concentrating on using his tail as a cuddle-toy, at the same time clutching around his neck as well.

Happy shouted, "Oh my! That's... that's... I've missed you so much... LOVE!" and leapt into the fray, ignoring Ranma's whimper of protest.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Outside of Nevermore, Raven suddenly felt flush, as a slight noise that seemed to have supposed to be a giggle turned into a choking sound. She did NOT just do that! She can now feel a slight warm sensation just above her stomach, and it was making her a bit queasy.

Her emotions were in a huge disarray right now, and she can't even blame that stupid super powered not-really-a-kid Ranma! Wait... she can! It was him that's causing this... and she was left wondering what the heck he was doing in Nevermore anyway!

Not thinking about it any further, Raven took the mirror in her hands and growled at it softly. The glow earlier has receded to a soft shimmer now, but the power level emanating from the mirror remained the same. Any more power and it will tax out Nevermore. Not only that, her beloved mirror of emotions will most probably break down. She doesn't know what would actually happen if her mirror broke, but she doesn't want to find out!

Raven quickly muttered, "Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos..." and braced herself, as her mirror sucked her inside. The mirror, having its master inside itself, would activate its protocols of sucking its own essence inside the portal, thus the mirror materialized itself with her inside Nevermore.

Once she felt her own body stabilize, she opened her eyes and took a quick look around. She gasped, seeing the big cloud of darkness over the horizon, and the gigantic form of a red-skinned demon fighting some individuals at a distance. She clamped down the feeling of being impressed at the individuals, for some reason they had held out a whole lot longer than she would've thought they would. She froze, thinking as to why there were so many fighting the Demon in the first place. Wasn't it only Ranma that got inside her mirror? She quickly levitated and shot towards the battle scene, intent on finding the answers all by herself.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Contrary to what Raven had witnessed earlier, there was only one individual fighting against the red-skinned demon. All the other Ravens, all clad in different colors and one being different not only by her clothes' color but also by being a child version, the other personified emotions were dodging stray energy blasts and kept away from the fight.

The demon, who was at least five stories high in height, had a vicious sneer etched upon his ugly face. He has four eyes, all of them glowing bright red as a reflection of what it was currently feeling towards the pests irritating him. He was dressed only in a modest brown loincloth, but that wasn't really the matter right now, as he tried to bash the irritating pigtailed boy that kept peppering him with those weird energy balls.

Earlier on, after the newest 'member' of their rag-tag group of fellow travelers has been introduced as Love, they continued on with their journey. Love was happily perched on Ranma's shoulders as they went, and it would seem that she was REALLY fond of the pigtailed hybrid. It was the main purpose of the group that Ranma was to be guided to Nevermore's exit actually, but they had warned him about encountering this one.

Anger was actually a strong emotion, and this large demon was wearing Raven's biological father's face. He was Raven's representation of her rage, her dark side. It was actually a tragic tale, since Raven's family was a tremendously dysfunctional one.

Her father, a higher demon named Trigon, had forced her mother into procreating, in attempts to create an heir for his conquests. A helper, so to speak, in destroying worlds, and making the universe bow to his feet. It was bad luck that it was Raven's mother that was chosen, but it was also good that there were still some people from her planet that despised Trigon. Most of the people in her planet were spiritualists, and eventually they managed to imprison Trigon, but to the cost of so many lives in return, particularly her mother, Arella. Raven was to be kept safe and well-away from Trigon's clutches, so Raven was sent far away from Azarath, her home planet, to avoid certain catastrophes.

The effects of being Trigon's daughter, was that she has a mental link with her father. That link could be the catalyst for a gate, where her father could be freed to wreak havoc. In other words, Raven was both vessel for Trigon, as well as the doorway for his conquest.

Not if Raven can help it, though. She has resolved herself into closing the door for her father, which was triggered mostly by her emotional state. Raven would easily be taken over then if she was weak in spirit. She focused herself everyday, since then, to become cold and unemotional, though a few giggles and tears here and there doesn't hurt.

Now, Anger took the form of her father, Trigon, and it was now wreaking havoc in Nevermore. Its real target for now was Ranma, since the demon felt great unrest in himself when Ranma flared his aura. While fighting, Trigon was probing Ranma intently, trying to find weak spot to exploit.

To the other emotions, they felt absolutely terrified of the gigantic monster, even though they represented none of that emotion. When Cyborg and Beast Boy confronted Trigon, they were actually not present in the fight as they were now. And watching Ranma fighting seemingly daunted odds proved to be taxing on their selves. Especially the newly discovered emotion, Love, who flinched every time Trigon managed to blast something towards Ranma. Her sparkling purple eyes though, were riveted on Ranma's form, her face shining in adoration and... love.

It's not really all that surprising for the other personified emotions, since it was blatantly obvious why Love appeared all of the sudden in the first place. The poor Chibi-Raven has been locked tight inside the depths of Raven's soul ever since that time when she first showed emotions for someone, which caused a whole lot of damage to the surroundings. There were feeling bittersweet at little Love's freedom, which spelled both good and bad things for all of them. And for some reason, Trigon was more powerful than he should have been, and it was quite relieving for them to see Ranma keeping up with the demon in battle.

The young man in question though, was actually enjoying the battle. He and Trigon started duking it out almost the minute they set eyes on each other. For some reason, he felt intense irritation at seeing the hulking form of the red-skinned demon, and he surmised that the demon felt the same. Ranma had to give it to the demon, since his size hid his actual speed. It was really gratifying fighting someone that could probably hit him, and Ranma could feel the immense energy emanating from the demon. He had been hit twice already, but he managed to shrug them off as the demon fired off a lot of fireballs towards his location.

Actually, Ranma had baited the demon away from the girls, after they had warned him of its recklessness in battle. Also, it seemed that the other Ravens were severely mortified at seeing this creature. To lessen their fears, he lured it away.

The pigtailed hybrid was seriously considering on making the battle a lengthy one, but he'd felt the space around them warp and distort for some reason. Also, Ranma saw that the girls' images were flickering, meaning, the demon must be gathering energy from everywhere that originated within this world, especially the girls.

But Ranma can never stop his mouth from running off. Even when he felt another presence appear out of nothing inside the null space he was in, or Nevermore, as Wisdom told him earlier.

"Eh... this is getting boring. You haven't hit me yet." Ranma commented warily as he idly dodged another ball of fire, which exploded on the ground he floated on earlier. He then slid to one side as the demon's massive hand crashed on his earlier position once again, creating a small cloud of dust.

The demon, Trigon as the Raven clones called him, snarled as he pulled his hand off the small crater his blow created on the ground, "IMPUDENT LITTLE WORM! I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Ranma rolled his eyes, saying, "Yeah yeah, that's what they all say... guess what? I don't care. Just give it your best shot and I might show a little more enthusiasm than just dodging here and there."

"HELLFIRE!" The red being screamed, his hands glowing hotly. He released the ball and aimed it towards Ranma, but it was dodged just as easily as the other ones.

The pigtailed boy snapped his fingers, saying excitedly, "That's right! You kinda remind me of Saffron, I mean, well... the powers I guess. But the looks? Nah.. far from it... I mean, you're real ugly. Offense intended. Eh? What's with the look? You're angry? Cool."

Indeed, the great demon Trigon was PISSED. He was literally foaming lava on the mouth, and it was dripping down his red chin. With a loud bellow he attacked, almost catching Ranma off guard as Trigon's speed quadrupled because of his anger. But even so, Ranma managed to jump over the attack, sailing above the irate demon.

Ranma was smiling widely, as he watched the demon throwing a hissy fit bellow him. He was floating upside down, and was fingering the burnt part of his cloak that had been caught by some of the fiery heat from Trigon's hands. He knew he shouldn't be goading the beast, but he couldn't help it. Ranma knew by now that he had a manic look on his face, of someone who hungered for a good fight. With the short respite of the attacks, he dared to remove his sights from his opponent and glanced at the direction of the power surge he felt a bit earlier. He saw a speck of black blob that was moving at high speeds from the horizon, and it seemed to be keyed in to their position. Before he could formulate a hypothesis as to what it was, he was swatted from the air by Trigon's meaty hand, causing him to be drilled into the ground.

Trigon didn't let up his attack, as he followed up with a double fist smash unto Ranma's prone position. A loud sonic boom cracked into Nevermore, followed by a rhythmic beating that could only come from Trigon's fists pounding on Ranma. Rude, Wisdom, Brave, Happy and Timid flinched at each time the red beast's hands connected to the pigtailed boy's prone body. Love was openly crying, clutching at the edges of her cloak tightly.

The red beast snorted, saying, "I HAD THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT THAT YOU ARE A MATCH FOR ME. YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE REST!"

Just as the demon was about to pound Ranma once again, his fists were stopped by a pair of dainty hands, dainty compared to his own.

"That's enough..." were Ranma's words, as those same dainty hands shoved the larger, seemingly more powerful ones off. He allowed Trigon's fists to pass by him as he stood up, and kneed the off-balanced demon on its abdomen, causing Trigon to bellow in pain as he was flung back.

"HOW..." Trigon snarled as he stood up, clutching at his ruined abdomen, "HOW IN THE NINE PITS OF HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO STAND UP AFTER MY ASSAULT! BY ALL RIGHTS, YOU SHOULD BE DUST BY NOW!"

"Well..." Ranma winced, as he popped his shoulder back into its socket, "I just do, really. I can't die... not just yet... not ever."

For some reason, Ranma felt he should say that, and it saddened him a bit somehow. His urge to return back to where he was from, where ever it was, became stronger. He didn't even know which he wanted to return to right now, whether it was to Vanilla and the others, or to Ryoko. But then again... he knew he could have both, just that it would take some time doing so. He mentally shrugged; time was something he has, and he would make full use of it. Right now, he has to discover a way to end this fight, without damaging Raven.

Yes, Ranma finally realized that he was in Raven's territory, especially with the other Ravens present. Everything in this world was connected to Raven, since the gloomy surroundings reminded him of Raven's personality.

Now, he was faced with a dilemma.

Trigon used the time Ranma used in reminiscing to rest a bit, and also to observe his enemy. The boy was phenomenal, but everything and everyone has a weakness. Even his own powerful daughter has a weakness, and he would be damned if he can't beat this runt. Trigon knew of the marks on the boy's forehead, those trio of multicolored gems that seemed to seep power as the boy moved.

The mark of the ancients have been a sign of power all throughout the universe, and defeating one as young as this would be a feat no other could've done. It was by pure luck Trigon has encountered an ancient who knew nothing of its powers. Suddenly, Trigon noticed the golden bands around the boy's arms, as energy gathered into them. He also noticed another circlet around Ranma's neck, and it was also gathering power inside it.

((Ah! The bands... they are his source of power!)) Trigon concluded, as his bloodied lip curled into a nasty smirk. His grin grew as he felt the presence of his own daughter, the original Raven, finally approaching their position in haste.

Ranma on the other hand was snapped out of his stupor when he heard a very familiar voice call out to him.

"You buffoon! What in Azar's name do you think you're doing! Do you realize what you've done!" A dark blue-cloaked Raven bellowed to him as she approached in mid air. Her eyes glowed red in anger as she approached.

Ranma didn't take his eyes off his opponent, but he did acknowledged Raven's arrival by a short nod. "Are you another one of those other Ravens?"

Raven flinched slightly as she cast a shadowy glance towards her personified emotions, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the child-like version of herself. Shaking her head to concentrate on the matters at hand, she replied, "I'm the original Raven, you idiot. I came from outside the mirror, the one you entered without permission!"

"Hey!" The boy said indignantly, "I was dragged into this place! A lot of... you's... met with me here and there. I've been looking for a place to exit on when big, red and ugly over there suddenly appeared and tried to make me into a pancake!"

"You shouldn't be here!" Raven hissed dangerously.

"As if I don't know that!" Ranma shot back.

"HEH... WIDE OPEN." A loud voice said as Ranma was grabbed from behind by his wrists. He glanced behind him and saw that the one he's fighting has been able to sneak past him.

"Really now..." Ranma deadpanned as he pulled his arms forwards, snapping the grip around his wrists off easily. He turned and smirked at the demon, but it was short-lived when Ranma realized Trigon was actually looking at him in amusement.

Before Ranma could ask about it, Trigon had lifted his hands, and showed the pigtailed boy the remnants of his wrist bands, the limiters that were created by Washuu. Ranma choked as he quickly looked at his wrists, and sure enough, the bracers were gone. He just stared at his naked wrists and gaped.

"I DISCOVERED THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWERS..." Trigon explained conversationally, casually reaching out and grasping the catatonic Ranma around his neck. Another crack was heard, and Trigon pulled out remnants of the black choker around Ranma's neck earlier. "YOU HAVE NO MORE POWER SOURCE. YOU ARE AN ORDINARY HUMAN NOW. HMMM, HOW TO KILL YOU? I HAVE A LOT OF METHODS TO EMPLOY HERE..."

"No, Ranma!" Raven shouted, as she powered up her own powers, "Get away! I'll handle this... the demon is my problem!"

Trigon glared at Raven angrily, saying, "SILENCE, WENCH!" and threw a massive fireball towards her, one as to which she hastily dodged and floated a few feet away from. "YOU WILL BE NEXT!" Trigon continued.

But before the situation escalated, Ranma's soft voice was heard saying, "No... you... you destroyed... them..."

"GRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The red beast guffawed, arrogantly eyeing the shell shocked Ranma, "DO YOU FEEL FEAR NOW? WITHOUT THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWERS, YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A PATHETIC MORTAL!"

"Power... source?" Ranma asked softly, slowly raising his head up to look at Raven in the eye. The girl was transfixed, as the gems on Ranma's forehead blazed in their appropriate colors, and his eyes glowed menacingly.

"R-Ranma?" Raven asked hesitantly, slowly drifting downwards, but she was stopped when Ranma said something that made her blood run cold.

"Run." Ranma simply said, still maintaining eye contact with the half-demoness, "Take the other girls and run... please!"

Raven was taken aback. "But... why? I can help you! Let me help you!"

"NO!" Ranma shouted, his jaws set as he gnashed them together, "You... you have to get them outta here. The bracers... my choker... they are not power sources. They are... ARRRGGGHHHHHH!"

Everyone watched as Ranma fell to his knees, his aura suddenly blossoming out of his body. His screams filled the entireness of Nevermore, and everyone who can hear it felt their life spans shorten a few thousand years because of it. The space near Ranma became bent and tormented as he screamed louder, clutching at his own body in anguish.

By now, Trigon's smirk of triumph was replaced by an expression that wasn't familiar to anyone who knew him: Fear. His face was paled a bit as he was buffeted by the strong winds generated by Ranma's power release. It was a miracle that he wasn't blown off the ground.

Raven wasted no time as she flew towards her immobile emotions, not sparing another glance at the new child-like personification in dark purple cloak as she grabbed them all and teleported them somewhere far away from the site. Little did she know that it's all moot point anyway.

Ranma, on the other hand, was in another world entirely. But it was a world filled with pain and confusing thoughts. In his mind, his primal instincts coming from several different angles of his DNA were fighting for dominance, but the Saiyajin trait was slowly gaining its advantage. And it wanted some blood, and a whole lot of destruction, death and to conquer.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Ranma screamed loudly, driving his head into the ground violently. He did it a few more times just to be certain, that the apocalyptic thoughts swirling inside his head were momentarily forgotten. His aura flared even brighter, as arcs of lightning lanced out from his body and destroyed anything it touches, causing Trigon to back away quickly from the hyperventilating teen. Ranma's tail waved wildly in the air, lashing out angrily and pummeling the ground. It created a small trench on the area it hit.

But Ranma's torment just began, as his back arched wildly when the re-forged Light Hawk Wings erupted from his back, showing everything around him with ki-feathers. The translucent wings flapped once, before settling around Ranma's thrashing form. His hair, which was raven-black initially, blazed into a fiery red color. The now bright red hair of his ruffled itself out of his pigtail, and exploded into a mass of spiky locks. It lengthened drastically, achieving a growth rate worth of two years as it reached down to his waist. As he snapped his head upwards, anyone could see that the gems on his forehead were now flashing frantically. His eyes were alternating on displaying his golden pupils or the flat blue-gray color of its entirety.

By now, Trigon was absolutely clueless as to what was happening, and he was quite aware of the helpless position Ranma was in right now. But for some reason, the demon can't bring himself to attack, as the waves of power kept on buffeting him with their intensity. His knees almost gave out as the energy waves almost overwhelmed him. And Ranma hasn't even touched him yet!

While Trigon stood frozen on a far side of the rocky path, Ranma continued with his slow and agonizing transformation, which was slowly coming to a close. Ranma's mouth opened up in a silent scream as a final burst of energy exploded, causing the spot he was on to crater and almost collapse into itself. His body shuddered once as his wings wrapped around him, and it was only then that he finally sagged in exhaustion. The silver aura around his body hasn't diminished though, as it continued to burn as bright as it was from before.

There was a heavy silence that took over the atmosphere of the place, and only the sound of heavy breathing from Ranma, as well as the rasps coming from Trigon, can be heard in the area.

Ranma took his time as he slowly straightened up from his slouch. His face, which was screwed in a grimace earlier during the transformation, was now expressionless. His eyes burned dark blue-gray as the marks on his face glowed bright green a bit. His wings quivered as arcs of lightning raced up and down his form while his aura blazed.

"Destruction..." Ranma muttered, but it was loud enough since Nevermore was so silent that time, "Conquer... urggh..." he shook his head as his pupils shone gold. "Ugh... resist... urges to... destroy..."

Ranma suddenly lurched forwards, catching himself just before he lost his balance. He gripped at his arms mercilessly, trying to stave off the pain of his transformation, as well as the primal forces threatening to erupt within him. Suddenly, a thought came unbidden into his mind; a technique used to generate cold aura, to emulate a force of nature. The Soul of Ice... the state of no emotions. But Ranma felt that the technique will not work as well as it did before when applied to his current situation right now, so he had to revise it...

"Soul of Ice... revision... the Soul of Absolute Zero." The name of the new technique came out of his mouth automatically, as he suddenly slammed all his emotions out of himself. His inner aura changed slightly, flickering from silver to bright blue. A sheet of ice exploded from his position, covering everything it touched within a 5 mile radius. Trigon was quick to react, as he forced himself to jump into the air, and opted to stay there.

Seeing the war of emotions on Ranma's face, Trigon successfully mustered enough strength to pursue his goal, which was to get rid of his obstacle. The red demon carefully gathered energy in his cupped hands without removing his eyes off Ranma.

However, Trigon only had to blink when all of the sudden, Ranma already stood in front of him. His golden pupils bore into Trigon as Ranma's wings erupted open, showering the area once again with ki-feathers. Without another word, Ranma lifted his right hand and grabbed at the gathering red energy in Trigon's hands. With a small smile on his otherwise expressionless face, Ranma closed his fist, causing the energy ball to pop like a balloon.

"A mask..." Ranma said softly, his gaze never leaving Trigon's fearful gaze. "You are... a mask. A pitiful representation of something that thinks he's powerful." Ranma's brow narrowed ever so slightly, "A link... you... leech power from Raven. You are nothing but a weakling."

"We-Weakling!" Trigon screeched, wrenching his hands away from Ranma, as he hauled his massive body a bit further away from the still-emotionless boy. Frankly, Trigon's quite worried about the situation, especially how he can't get himself to take control of the situation. This was his world! He was supposed to have absolute control over it!

"Uhn..." The pigtailed boy only nodded, his waist-long, spiky red hair rustling against an imaginary wind. His tail lashed left and right behind his back, as his wings shuddered every now and then. "Destroying you would be easy... but that would probably take something precious off of Raven. So..."

Trigon's worry turned into panic as Ranma lifted a hand in the air, as an ominous sound of thunder echoed all over Nevermore. Did it become darker just now?

The beast's gaze turned to Ranma, as the pigtailed boy's hand glowed dark purple for a moment. And then...

And then... the demon screamed.

It was then that Raven decided to appear, along with her other personified emotions. Brave, Happy, Wisdom, Rude, Timid, and the new one called Love, appeared altogether with Raven at a distance from the battle site. They were quite shocked at how much damage the fight had produced.

Their gazes were attracted though, by the unfamiliar site from where the fight took place. There stood a different Ranma, with blazing unbound red hair fluttering against the wind, with twin semi-transparent wings jutting out of his back. His red tail was reflecting his mood clearly, since it was agitatedly swinging from side to side behind him. His face was a calm emotionless mask, a feat that Raven can actually respect. She, as well as her other emotions, were actually quite happy that Ranma was still alive. But her elation slowly turned into shock, as the site finally registered in her mind.

It was one of her greatest dreams, to see Trigon bent down on his knees as Raven was going to deliver the final blow. The demon, her father, had brought her unending torment and pain, causing her to splinter her own emotions and lock them in the mirror to be controlled manually by her, just to avoid having Trigon take leverage of her body. This dream has been turned into a reality, true that she wasn't the one holding Trigon on his knees and had him petrified of that glowing dark ball of energy in front of his face, but still...

The dark ball of energy that Ranma has procured was reacting to Nevermore. Everything inside Nevermore was an embodiment of Raven's inner self. To have something like this affecting her so much... it must NOT be good for her, or it would probably have results that she might not like. Besides, it would seem that Ranma was a whole lot different from before, since his demeanor had changed drastically. The floor around him was frozen solid in ice, and his aura was blazing bright silver. The mist of Nevermore were slowly gathering around Ranma, and that dark ball he was holding was starting to make her feel weird.

Not only that, but Wisdom has pointed out that it seemed the dark ball was absorbing something in the surroundings. Raven finally noticed that the ball formed a vacuum within itself, even the wisps of mist surrounding the area formed a miniature twister that lead into the ball.

It was starting to scare them, the original Raven in particular. It was like a black hole inside you, and it might eat up everything inside out, literally. Looking back to her counterparts, Raven nodded with them as they sought out to stop the progress of the ball. As they made their way to the battle site, they were dismayed when they figured they were too late. Violent winds came at them as they were pulled towards the area where Ranma and Trigon were, or at least, towards that same dark ball.

Ranma ignored everything else, other than the huge demon in front of him. Not that he actually cared for it or anything because of his newly revised technique to clamp down on his emotions, he still managed to think about what this might do to the owner of this world. Besides, if Raven really wanted this thing to be destroyed, she should've done so a long time ago, so it meant that this demon was what he thought of earlier. A mask, a representation of... something traumatic that was part of Raven herself. The more logical side of Ranma, which actually came from Chaos, dissected the information quicker than normal and he managed to reach a conclusion.

This demon was also part of Raven. And he also noticed that one of the more prominent emotions hasn't appeared yet. Yes, Ranma reached the conclusion that every girl he met... those Raven clones, were all parts of a whole. Raven's emotions were splintered badly, and Ranma was quite appalled by it.

Ranma didn't really know the reason why Raven locked her emotions up, but he knew the feeling. He had been deep into the Soul of Ice once or twice, but now that he developed the revised version, he knew he should feel a bit disgusted at feeling nothing. That's just the thing; he felt nothing, even now as he stared down this massive demon with a ball of pure vacuum poised in his hand. He just hoped this was a very toned down one, since it might have an adverse effect on Raven herself.

Ranma tried to smile grimly, but he only felt his mouth twitch as he released the ball, letting it hang in midair. He said softly, "Heh... Yami no Ha revised: Cleansing the Spirit."

Violent winds erupted above Ranma as the ball wreaked havoc, absorbing the dark environment of the area. He could see Trigon's face pale in horror as he screamed in panic. It was weird, Ranma finally surmised, as he watched the vacuum systematically split Trigon's skin apart, piece by piece, muscle by muscle. First, his red skin, then his muscles... finally, he was split open, exposing something that made Ranma's brow rise.

As the screaming Trigon was slowly stripped away, there was another form inside him. It was like licking towards the middle of those special lollipops that Nabiki loved, and it has something in the middle, only in fast forward motion. It was a person, who has a dark red cloak covering its body. Ranma had a sinking suspicion who this was, and he wasn't going to comment about it.

Ranma stared dispassionately at the quivering red-cloaked Raven on the floor, who was coughing weakly as she curled into a fetal position. Her four glowing red eyes slowly reverted into two, as the glow abated. Her normal dark-purple orbs remained, who were now transfixed at his face with a slight confusion in them. His gazed snapped to the east, where he could see several floating forms currently flying towards him. He knew that it was the other Ravens, and he hoped they could help with this predicament. He was at a loss at what to do.

His brows quirked once again as he saw the mass of floating Ravens falter, and one by one they dropped like flies. Good thing they were floating at a low altitude, or their forced descent would have been... painful. Nevertheless, he sighed and levitated into the air, but not before grabbing the writhing red-cloaked Raven by the back of her cape, and flew towards where the rest of them were. He felt something pull within his mind, but dismissed it for now.

The black hole Ranma had created remained, however, which continued to swamp the place with vacuum, absorbing everything in sight.

Raven, on the other hand, felt like hell. She could also see her other emotions squirming on the ground beside her, all of them agonized by something. She could see her own private world, her Nevermore, slowly dissolving into nothing. The rocks, the birds, the darkness... everything was going to be absorbed into that damnable trick created by that man, Ranma. Her own life bled in front of her as she watched her suffering emotions quiver. She knew her end was to be abrupt and could come at any moment, but she never thought it was supposed to be this easy.

Suddenly, a flash of memory erupted in her mind's eye. It was foreign, since it was an image of a very beautiful red-haired woman, who carried a long sword of some sort in her arms. She smiled at her, as she continued to sip her tea. Before Raven could contemplate on it, another image overlapped it. This time, it was a flower bed, with a woman sitting in the middle of the field. She was happily weaving something, and she turned to her and smiled. Another flash, and it was overlapped by a spiky cyan-haired girl, who had cat-like eyes and smiled at her in a sultry manner. Another flash, and a red-eyed cyan-haired girl looked at her evenly, before breaking a soft smile. A flash, and light green-haired woman with dark skin held her hand just above her heart as she smiled at her softly. A flash, and a woman with long light-cyan hair with some sort of golden halo over her head grinned at her. She held a staff and has red tattoos across her forehead and her chest, just above her breasts. Then, the images vanished, leaving Raven disoriented and confused.

As the images vanished in her mind, Raven blinked as a sudden gust of cold filled the area. She had to squint as a shadow covered her form, making her look up in askance. She knew she was almost choking on her own drool when she barely recognized a red-cloaked version of herself dangling from someone else's arm. Anger, Raven surmised, got her butt kicked. Out of all her emotions, Anger has been easily taken over by Trigon's influence. Seeing her beaten so thoroughly brought a slight smile on Raven's face. This brought her to look upon her savior, who in her eyes was an angel. He had wings made out of silver energy, as he floated just above her inert body. Raven tried to call out to him, but her throat was sore from her screams earlier. She had fallen on her back, though, when she recognized her angel. The pigtailed hair that hung down his back can only be found on one person she met earlier.

Ranma... yes... that was his name.

"A mask..." Raven heard her angel mutter, as he lowered Anger down on the ground. She hadn't heard his wings flutter, perhaps he doesn't need to flap them then?

"A mess..." Ranma had the sudden urge to admonish the mass of Ravens in front of him, who wore different color coded cloaks for identification. He especially took notice of the smallest one of all, the one in dark purple. His gaze then focused on what he thought to be the original Raven, the one in dark blue cloak.

"I see you've entered this realm you created..." Ranma commented as he squatted in front of Raven's prone form, "I would've hoped we've met at better circumstances but... well, that's life."

Not giving the gasping Raven time to answer, he continued, "You've done a terrible thing to yourself, Raven-san. Not only did you create an mockery of meditation, but you also made a great mockery of controlling your emotions. Simply put, to control your emotions, you transformed them into physical beings. That was a bad mistake."

Ranma shook his head. "Not that I know much about it, but I do know that this..." he gestured around them, "Is not the way at all. That's why you lost all your emotions in one swoop, and you blame it on that pitiful excuse of a demon that had a link on you. Which, by the way, is currently being severed."

He stood up as he looked around. "What a desolate place this is. Was this the world you want to live in? It should've been a reflection of your future desires, and yet here we were on a dry and barren land. It's... disturbing... to find you subconsciously wishing for this life of isolation."

Ranma started to walk around them, and Raven noticed that her other emotions had stopped trembling to listen to him. In the background, the black hole still raged on strongly.

"I need to fix this, just like how my problems with a failed training method has been solved. Believe it or not, I was deathly terrified of anything feline..." He nodded at Raven's incredulous stare, "Yeah... weird. But it's the truth, and it has haunted me for years, if not for a goddess fixing me up. It was a... painful realization, but that cat was a part of me. I had to accept it, and the rest went on as you see. And it would seem that the Neko-ken created a mind shield on its own in my mind, which I am eternally grateful for."

Ranma snorted slightly, "Never mind that though. The weird demon thing that kept pestering you in your dreams has been eliminated. The link with that thing has been dissolved as well. The only thing we need to do is to combine you with your emotions. Be warned, though... this will be painful for you. Being without your emotions for so long, you will have to bear them once again like a newborn taking its first steps."

"Now..." he said grimly, summoning a silver ball of energy, "There is no ifs or buts in this. We have to make you whole again, or this will keep on happening. Did you know, that you made yourself very vulnerable when you sliced your emotions up? It was like you made a buffet line for the demon to pick an emotion to control you. Slowly but surely, your meditation will become moot point, since the demon was just biding his time before he encompasses your will. We have to solve this, NOW."

"T-Trigon... will be g-gone?" Raven asked weakly, still struggling for air.

The red-tailed saiyajin nodded, "The demon? Actually, he was never here. He had a link with you though. You believed that Trigon was in you for so long that the link manifested into an emotion most prone to being uncontrollable even to you, which was Anger. The only enemy you've been fighting within you was Anger, and the link. Other than that, they're all in your head, so to speak. Now, are we gonna do this or what?"

The usually brooding member of the Teen Titans looked about her as best as she could, considering she's half-laid on the ground. She saw that Nevermore was slowly beginning to tear up because of the force unleashed by Ranma's earlier attack. Patches of light replaced the darkness that once encompassed the dimensional world of her inner self. She never knew this day would come, since she was so engrossed at caging her emotions up. She didn't know that she was being overly paranoid, and that her years of trying to stop something that would've made her more normal would have an adverse effect on her person. Now, whether she likes it or not, she has to live with the consequences.

Looking up to Ranma's cold golden pupils, Raven took a full minute of consideration and nodded. Seeing the girl agree to his proposal, Ranma just allowed his aura to blossom forth, bathing the whole area in silvery light. His wings erupted in bright lights, adding more energy into the silver ball held within Ranma's hands. The darkness of the revised Dark Ball launched by Ranma earlier slowly mingled with the light he has now summoned. Now, if Ranma could only balance each of the energies up...

Well, all things in the universe considering, no one was really perfect. Even with Ranma's intense concentration, he still managed to screw up, albeit a little.

Raven felt an intense pain before she lost her consciousness, her last vision was of an angelic Ranma, whose long unbound red hair fanned in the air. The blood red color contrasted with the surroundings, which accented his existence in her own private universe.

In that same instant, her empathic abilities worked overtime, granting her a limited glimpse of Ranma's own mind. The pigtailed hybrid was so focused on his work that his shields were working at full trying to fend off the darkness threatening to encompass his being. Raven was almost overwhelmed by the deluge of information coming from his mind.

A thousand thoughts... no... more than that. It was a mind full of complexity, at the same ironic time, it was so simple. All he wanted was to live as much as he could. and keep everyone around him happy. From what little Raven was able to see on Ranma's memories, he was a happy-go-lucky person who had the knack of making and breaking relationships. Girls followed him like a pack of wolves chasing a piece of meat, guys hated him for what he is, and Ranma was surprisingly gentle even to his worst enemies. He was a forgiving idiot, but it was also what endeared him to many.

Friendships... his family... his life... his battles... the betrayals... he was so full of it that Raven was aghast. His ascension from a normal 'human' into this being she has now experienced. The dark patch in his mind... the darkness in his person was evident as well, but it was controlled by his own willpower.

How was Ranma able to handle such stress and still be able to joke around about it?

An explosion... a shower of bright colorful lights... a whole reformed mass... splitting into two...

Finally... the beginning of a new world for her... the Big Bang... her Rebirth...

And then... and then... all she saw was Darkness...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the world outside the crumbling Nevermore...

Morning has come with the sun already peeking over the horizon. The Chooser of the Slain, Lenneth Valkyrie, was currently awake looking for her erstwhile companions. She had awakened a bit earlier and was disturbed to find no trace of Ranma on top of the tree she slept under, and also Raven. Lenneth knew they haven't left yet, since she could still feel Ranma's ambient ki nearby. So she set off to find them, only to come upon a tranquil lake.

Lenneth was also disturbed to find some Amazons lurking nearby, who were apparently looking for something, or someone. She was also feeling quite weird, since there was something... wrong in the air, quite like a twisting mass of reality was being ripped apart. She had no time to ponder on it though, when the feeling of wrongness increased tenfold, until she could see a slight tear in the air. It was like a jagged cut in mid air, but it was glowing brightly. The cut suddenly upgraded into cracks, until it exploded right above the lake.

The Amazons who were earnestly searching the area were attracted by the explosion and arrived to investigate. They steered clear of the Valkyrie's path, but they hung around at the edge of the lake.

The crack in the dimension was slowly mending itself, but not before spitting something out of it. Lenneth had almost pulled her sword off its scabbard, but she regressed as she recognized the forms that emerged from the explosion.

"Ranma-sama?" Lenneth asked inquisitively as she lifted off in the air, leaving the mass of Amazons on the ground. Indeed, the figure who exited the rift was Ranma, but his look was vastly different.

The Valkyrie knew ever since she saw Ranma, that he had transformed into a Saiyajin's higher evolution state. But from what records they had of a Super Saiyajin, Ranma's form was completely different. Bloody red hair cascaded down his back, unbound without the restraints of the pigtail Ranma usually wore. His eyes, which were covered by dark-tinted glasses constantly, were now exposed for all the world to see. Blue-grey replaced a normal human's white, and his pupils shone golden against its dark back color. White translucent wings jutted out of his back, and his red furred tail was lashing agitatedly from side to side. His black body suit was now encompassed by dark-blue armor, but it was missing his golden bracers, as well as the black choker normally around his neck.

It was Ranma... only he could stand in the middle of chaos and be undaunted about it. The air around him still cackled with dark lightning, probably from the remnants of the world he was in before. His wings, those glorious legendary Light Hawk Wings he inherited from his mother, was wrapped around him like white silk. It was a magnificent sight to behold, even for someone who was used to divine beings like Lenneth.

He also carried someone in his arms, who was somehow covered in a white material. Lenneth also saw what may seem like small feathery wings from the bundle, not appropriate for flying, but wings nonetheless.

Speaking of wings, Ranma opened his slowly, revealing more of the person in his arms. His aura never wavered in its blaze.

Lenneth shivered involuntarily, as she could feel the coldness of Ranma's gaze. Not only that, the silver aura he emitted was laced with numbing ice cold force. The Amazons who watched from below became alert, grasping at their weapons firmly in preparation for whatever may come.

"Lenneth..." Ranma's soft voice came to her, but its effect was tremendous. Even though it seemed weak, the voice carried all over the area. The waters of the lake rippled widely at the baritone voice.

"Raven... Raven is fine..." Ranma assured Lenneth, glancing down at the girl he carried. Raven was unconscious, but her face was slack and relaxed. Gone was her pained expression, her cold demeanor melted because of what he did. But he knew it was never that easy, since he never got to finish the merge before Nevermore was demolished.

Ranma looked to where Lenneth was, only to find her at his face, glancing down at Raven as well.

Lenneth gaped at the girl in Ranma's arms, saying, "Oh my... is that her? What has happened? I thought dark colors were more of her choosing in clothing?"

Ranma deadpanned, "I made a mistake somewhere."

Their dialogue was halted, however, when a slight moan interrupted them. Both looked on the girl as her eyes fluttered open, her purple pupils looking at them blankly. As they gained focus, Raven's eyes widened when she saw Ranma's face, and immediately leapt out of his arms. For some reason, she floated in mid air, even with her small feather wings on her back virtually useless for flying.

Ranma and Lenneth took in Raven's appearance. Anyone who knew the girl would be surprised, and would probably have a hard time believing it was her. Raven's cloak was now white in color, her hood dangled down the back of her head instead of covering her. The back of her cloak was virtually destroyed, revealing the small wings that jutted out of her back. Her hair was still dark purple in color, but now its length was longer, reaching her lower back. The chakra gem located on her forehead, which was dark red in color before, was now dark blue. Her leotard was as white as her tattered cloak.

Ranma, whose emotions were still trapped inside him using the Soul of Absolute Zero, looked at the girl impassively. Lenneth on the other hand was quite surprised, especially when Raven spoke.

"M-Master R-Ranma... Miss Lenneth..." Raven said in a meek tone, ducking her head shamefully. Lenneth took upon her a look of confusion, while Ranma remained emotionless as he stared at the proceedings.

The white-clothed girl's wings fluttered quickly, probably some involuntary action from Raven since she didn't notice herself doing it. Nevertheless, the girl looked up hesitantly to Ranma, only to find herself gazing into his eyes. She stuttered, "I... I-I'm so sorry... Ranma-sama... I..."

"Why are you apologizing?" Lenneth had to ask, since it would seem Ranma wasn't really paying attention.

"The p-pain... the b-betrayals..." Raven's voice faltered when she saw Ranma's form twitch a bit, "I-I... a-accidentally saw s-some of h-his m-memories... I s-saw them w-without you p-permission..."

"Did you see?" Ranma's serious voice halted Raven's monologue as Lenneth turned to him inquisitively. He continued, "Did you see... Everything?"

"No!" Raven slapped her hands to her mouth and continued in a softer tone, "N-No... I... I saw your life... being tortured and trained... by your father..."

"Ah..." Ranma dismissed those memories casually, "That is good. I thought you saw the... Eternal Abyss."

Raven shivered violently, her tiny wings wrapping around her awkwardly, "I... I wouldn't dare. It was... ominous... just gazing at it. It was..."

"If you did, you would've lost your mind, Raven..." Ranma said blandly.

Lenneth raised an eyebrow, saying, "Ranma-sama? You don't mean... the memories of the Past?"

Ranma nodded slightly. "Yes... she wouldn't have handled the Knowledge, and would've probably destroyed her psyche."

The trio had a lot to talk about, indeed, but it was more or less interrupted permanently when a loud and urgent female voice called out, "What is the meaning of this!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Cologne has been busy fixing the affairs on accepting the guests in their village for the time being when the huge wave of energy from Nevermore's demise reached her. She had accidentally crushed the feather quill she used to write on the parchment she was working on, and ink splattered at her ruined work. But that wasn't her main concern right now.

She quickly huddled out of her hut and started to the direction of the surge, followed by the Akane, Ryoga, Ryuu, Genma, Shampoo and Mousse. They had probably felt it as well.

The small group reached the lake where Raven had been meditating the night before, and found the place crawling with other Amazons. Cologne quickly took charge and went ahead of the group, only to stumble a bit when she spied upon the floating forms above the lake's surface.

Akane and the other Nerimians saw Cologne stop in her steps and stared at something, in which they followed with their own gazes. Their eyes widened in surprise when they recognized the figures.

Ranma, the Ranma that had claimed to be not their resident Ranma, sported long, unbound, spiky blood-red hair that fluttered against the wind. His clothes, rather his armor, were clearly not of this world. His red tail, the appendage they tried to ignore earlier, remained agitated as it wiggled down his backside. His face was a bit far away to be seen clearly, but they could surmise that the three gems on his forehead were glowing. He was also floating above the lake's surface, although these weren't really the facts that caught their attention.

There was a pair of translucent wings jutted out of his back, which really didn't flap to help him stay aloft in the air. They were presently spread carelessly in the air. His silver aura was blazing around his body as well. It seemed like Ranma was an angel descended from Heaven in their eyes.

Lenneth Valkyrie, the companion of this Ranma, was floating near him. She has no wings whatsoever, but according to her introduction and the Amazon's reactions to her presence, she didn't need one.

There was another person floating near the two, a girl in fact, and this one was quite vaguely familiar to them. Her long purple hair wove with the wind in mid-air. Her white cloak was nearing its end, as it was tattered almost to non-existence around her. Her short cloak failed to cover a pair of wings, not flapping as is with Ranma's, though hers was a lot smaller than the pigtailed boy's and was drooped downwards on her back. It was as if she was ashamed of something.

The three floating figures were speaking to one another, ignoring the mass of Amazons and their presence. The air around the area was biting cold, and the Nerimians could feel their teeth chatter because of it.

Cologne finally felt she had enough, though she was inwardly quaking in fear of the intensity of Ranma's energy, she called out, "What is the meaning of this!"

The old Amazon almost faltered when she felt Ranma's unearthly eyes turn on her, steadily challenging her tone that she used on them earlier.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma almost lost his cool, literally, as his Soul of Absolute Zero wavered a bit. His aura blasted outward for a moment, before shrinking into its original size from before. He turned a dispassionate gaze towards the unmoving elder of the Amazons, whom he hadn't noticed up until she spoke. He idly noted the various members of the Matriarchal community he had grown to loathe from his past life, and also the presence of the familiar Nerimians whom he had defended time and time again. He set his stare unto Cologne, who finally broke in slight sweat as he did so.

Finally Ranma spoke, his tone echoing all over the area, "This, as you've mentioned, does not concern you, Woman."

The Amazons bristled at the chauvinistic response from the floating boy, but a sudden flash of his aura quieted them down.

Lenneth quickly jumped into the conversation, eager to diffuse the growing ire of Ranma and the Amazons. She said, "I suggest you calm your warriors, Elder, before an accident might be considered a direct attack on Ranma-sama. Believe me, he will wipe you out if you do so..."

Cologne almost retorted at that. Almost... but she heeded one of her society's patrons. She breathed in deep, before turning to her over eager Amazons and ordered, "Stand down your weapons. We do not wish to provoke a fight right now." ((Especially with son-in-law agitated like that...)) she thought to herself.

"Amazing..." Ryuu Kumon commented, staring at Ranma in awe, "The amount of power he's giving out right now..."

Ryoga nodded beside him, "I know what you mean..."

Back in the slight confrontation above the lake, Raven in her angelic form was basically ignored. She glanced back and forth between Ranma in front of her and the old woman down below, and she could feel the intensity of her master's gaze. She almost choked at the thought. Her master? Where did that thought come from? Nevertheless, the thought was there, and she felt it was right. She can't even muster enough power to deny the idea, because she suddenly felt herself getting heavier. Funny, why was the world spinning anyway?

Raven found herself slowly tipping forward, her eyes closing without her consent.

Only to find herself lifted bride-style in mid-air, by none other than her Master Ranma...

The pigtailed boy blinked as he watched the new form of Raven sag in his arms. If he were in his usual persona, he would've panicked... a LOT. But since he has tiny to no emotions whatsoever at the moment, he just held Raven silently.

Lenneth shook her head, wondering how clueless Ranma was. The look Raven threw at him a while ago was a smoldering one, something only a woman in deep love would throw. In any case, she thought of whisking these two away from the area, especially as with the situation escalating to a bad conflict. But Ranma had beaten her on the punch, as he silently turned away from everyone and started floating away. Lenneth opted to just follow the guy, since he's technically the leader of the trio anyway.

As usual, there were those who just wouldn't let go, as angry voices called out for the three of them to stop from leaving quietly.

One voice in particular was one that Ranma was especially irritated of as of late, which caused him to halt in his advance and have him turn to glare at the offending individual.

"Where do you think you're going with those girls, you pervert!" The voice said.

Akane paused in her angry tirade of her normal name-calling for Ranma, as the person turned to her with a glare. Now that she's concentrated on him, she could see those eyes of his boring into her. Not only that, but the golden glow of his pupils seem to flicker every now and then, to be encompassed by the blue glow of his eyes, which remained synchronized with the bursts of his aura. It continued this way until it stabilized itself into making Ranma's golden pupils visible once again, but they were still glaring at her.

"You do NOT want me angry at you, Tendo-san..." Ranma's voice was as cold as ice, causing everyone who heard it shiver involuntarily, "And I suggest you turn and go back where you came from, because unlike my counterpart here, I will not hesitate to snap your neck if ever I lose my control."

Let it be known that Ranma's newly developed technique, the one he just discovered a few hours prior to that statement, was still in its experimental stage. It was more of a desperation move for Ranma when he felt himself losing control over his energy when his limiters were removed by Trigon. He had heard the stories from Katsuhito about his first berserk mode, and how he managed to wreak a bit of havoc before he was finally subdued. It was only until Katsuhito managed to stab Ranma in the neck with the copy of the Tenchi-ken that he was finally taken into control.

Katsuhito wasn't present with him right now, so his mind immediately sought out a new technique to try and dampen his emotions, to prevent them from empowering his already out of control battle lust he was experiencing right now. A rendition of the Soul of Ice, the same technique he employed to control his aura and turn it from hot into cold, was some kind of a limiter for his emotions. But he knew he had to pull out all the stops and venture deeper into the technique, until his emotions have been totally pacified and were near non-existent. It was so his power wouldn't have anything left to feed on for fuel. The Soul of Absolute Zero was devised to prevent himself from feeling any emotions, apart from a few bits and pieces for brief moments here and there. So far, the technique has been partly successful, but not without any side effects.

The Soul of Ice drains hot aura and reversed it into cold, while the Soul of Absolute Zero ups the notch of the absorption. Not only did it manage to snuff out emotions and his hot aura up, but it also expunges Absolute Zero aura, more than twenty times the effect of the Soul of Ice had. If Ranma used this on Saffron, it would've been a Mother of All Storms he formed with it. He would've leveled most of the Asian Region with the typhoon he might've generated. These are only the outward obvious effects...

The most dramatic effects would be mental and emotional, since the Soul of Ice blocks extreme emotions from seeping out of him that could potentially generate hot aura. The Soul of Absolute Zero negates emotions, making Ranma an almost blank emotional state. His only possible emotional outbursts would be from ones that could enhance the cold aura he gives out, which would particularly mean that cold fury and indifference would be most appropriate. If ever anger was supposed to be felt, the emotion will be enhanced into a cold fury, while the rest were thrown into indifference.

Which is why in the state of Soul of Absolute Zero, Ranma is either numb, indifferent, or in the state of cold fury.

Speaking of which, the departing form of Ranma suddenly leaned to one side, allowing an errant arrow fly past his head. Everyone in the area ceased moving, as the lake below Ranma and his companions suddenly turned into ice. The frozen surface of the water cracked and popped when Ranma's powerful aura blossomed forth, before it was suddenly demolished into crushed ice.

Cologne, one of the highest ranked elders in her village, watched in morbid fascination and dismay as the situation turned sour on them. She had missed one of her overzealous Amazons firing the arrow without permission, and as she had expected, such an action would be considered as an attack by Ranma himself.

Said pigtailed boy now turned towards them, with aura ablaze unlike what Cologne had witnessed in the battle with Saffron. The Phoenix's aura paled in comparison with this one.

Ranma silently handed the unconscious form of Raven to Lenneth's arms, who in turn took it as a sign to back away. The Chooser of the Slain had seen his eyes, and she was aghast when his golden pupils were slowly fading. A pair of flat out blue-grey colored pupiless eyes greeted her, which made her suddenly feel so humbled that she followed his unvoiced commands without question. The yellow orbs battled to gain its existence in those eyes again, but Lenneth knew it was a losing battle. She backed away once Raven's smaller form was safely tucked in her arms, waiting to see what Ranma has in stored. She's also inclined to interfere if he did go overboard.

When assured that his precious cargo was in safe hands, Ranma turned his full attention to the Amazons, who were visibly quite unsure what to do. As of his mindset at the moment, Ranma doesn't care who fired the shot, it's all about principle. One of them shot an arrow at him, aiming to kill him and hurting Raven in the process. The Saiyajin blood flowing in his veins was screaming for the blood of everything moving below him, since they almost hurt the one he cared the most. His more rational side, his Choushin Kami side he had inherited from his real mother, soothed the fiery Saiyajin blood and made it a bit more... calculating.

Ranma's wings suddenly snapped outwards, showering the whole area in translucent feathers. It was then that his aura intensified a lot more.

Ryoga's eyes widened when he saw the massive power up from Ranma. Catching Ryuu's gaze, he nodded and grabbed Akane by the arm. The girl didn't protest, since she was paralyzed by the sight of the seemingly angelic Ranma. Ryuu had garnered Shampoo and Mousse to flee as well, but Genma was a bit of a hard sell. The world's Saotome Patriarch was actually entranced by the sheer power the analog of his son expelled from his body. But upon seeing that most of the familiar faces he knew were nowhere to be seen, he ran as well, but not before flashing Ranma with a greedy look.

The women on the other hand snapped into action, readying their weapons as they prepared for anything. Even Cologne hesitantly took her own battle stance. Foolish or not, the attacking Amazons were still the old woman's brethren. They were her warrior-sisters; even if their own laws caused them to become rather old-fashioned and stubborn, they should be helped by her since she's an Amazon through and through. She just hoped she'd live through this though, even if it was just to apologize to the boy somehow.

Their serious expressions gave way to confusion though, when Ranma remained floating above the cracked surface of the frozen lake, with his wings spread wide in the air. The momentary confusion turned to curiosity though, when they noticed that the feathers that came from Ranma's wings never fell to the ground. The ki-feathers remained in mid-air, hovering above them for some reason.

With a voice devoid of anything other than the voice itself, Ranma said in Chinese, ""Bring it on, worms.""

With that declaration, a handful of the more violent Amazons fired their bows. The arrows whistled against the air resistance, their aim true towards Ranma's beating heart.

Too bad they didn't reach their target, as Ranma calmly swiped them all away with one hand. Another round of arrows, same result.

The pigtailed boy quickly grew tired of the useless attacks, as it has been established that he wasn't going to get any challenge at all. Finally, the fading golden pupils of his eyes faded totally, leaving only the blue-gray surface of his eyes. And with his more rational side completely encompassed by his battle lust, Ranma grinned ferally.

Still hovering safely above the battle site, Lenneth was surprised when Raven shivered violently. The dark purple haired girl's eyes snapped wide open, her purple pupils dilated in fear. Lenneth heard the poor girl mutter, "No... Ranma-sama... chaos... annihilation..." before Raven suddenly arched her back painfully. A bright light encompassed Raven's form, and Lenneth could feel a sudden shift in the girl's aura. When the light died down, Lenneth found herself flabbergasted when she saw Raven, whose form has been drastically changed once again.

Raven's formerly white tattered cloak was now black in color, as well as the tight-fitting leotard she usually wore. Her face was still ash-gray, and her hair was still the same long dark-purple one from before, but the small white wings that sported her back earlier has become black and leathery. In short, they became small, bat-like in appearance.

If Raven's earlier form was that of an angel, now the girl looked more like a demon.

With the transformation done, Raven relaxed into Lenneth's arms once again, who almost dropped the now-demonic girl in her arms. Lenneth sighed as she glanced up into the sky, muttering something about Chaos striking once again...

But all of the things happening above were ignored by those down below, since the people there had other things to worry about. The Amazons almost panicked when Ranma's form blurred and disappeared, causing them to look frantically around them. Loud screams of their sisters drew them to the right, though, just witnessing a loud explosion of dirt and dust as countless Amazon elite warriors were flung easily away from the site. As the dust settled, women lay bleeding in a wide scattered circle around the small crater that was formed when Ranma crashed into it. The red-tailed hybrid was on one knee in the middle of the crater, with his right fist punched lightly into the ruined ground under him. His silver aura still burned brightly around him, as his wings fluttered at his back.

The pigtailed warrior slowly stood upright, his maniacal grin never wavering from his face.

""No challenge..."" Ranma growled out, taking one step towards the edge of the crater. The Amazons backed away, clutching their weapons in their hands tightly.

Ranma blurred once again, not giving any of the women the chance to retaliate. Another explosion, another place, another crater... another mess of Amazons flying in the air, their bodies contorted into odd shapes as they fell to the ground. In the middle of the second crater, Ranma knelt on one knee once again, his long fiery red hair overshadowing his face. But somehow, the Amazons knew, that his face still had that devil's grin.

A devil with angel wings... that's how the Amazons saw Ranma that day.

Old Cologne wondered just how far this Ranma has come in terms of power. She knew that her own technique, the Splitting Cat Hair, was incomparable to this being's raw speed. She ruefully contemplated on surrendering, but in the presence of this many elite Amazons, she wouldn't dare raise the topic.

But the nagging doubt on her abilities was there, implanted in her very being, as she watched this... monster... systematically tear their village's finest apart like they were nothing. And the power... by all the kami presently watching them right now, Cologne was being overwhelmed tremendously. She was actually frozen in fear, unable to move her own feeble body, as she witnessed a third of those in the area lay wasted everywhere, while the monster remained fresh as a newly-blossomed daisy. And she knew, from the bottom of her heart, that Ranma was just starting.

The Nerimian group, unfortunately for them, haven't gotten far when Ranma struck. They have been stuck in the clearing since the attack began, and they wouldn't want to attempt attracting Ranma's attention. Ryoga and Ryuu stood in front of Akane to shield the girl, which caused her to fume a bit at the hidden meaning behind it.

"I'm a martial artist too, you know!" Akane whispered harshly, not taking her eyes away from the Ranma of another dimension. She didn't bother hiding her fear, as her knees were trembling right now uncontrollably.

Ryoga grunted as he replied, "Not in this situation you aren't, Akane-san."

Ryuu nodded wryly, "This isn't martial arts anymore... not really anyway. This is just plain massacre. This Ranma guy is VERY strong. He knows it, and he's not giving an ounce to the Amazons even if he knew the difference of power level..." The boy stressed on the word 'very', eyeing Akane at the corner of his eyes.

"Stop trying to decide my battles for me! I don't need your protection!" Akane shot back, but she DID held herself in check.

"Amazon sisters... they get hurt bad..." Shampoo said in dismay. She had wanted to join in defending the others, but Cologne forbade her with a sharp gaze from afar. Not only that, but her husband Mousse has been holding her back ever since.

Mousse sighed as he held his wife tightly, not giving any allowances that may allow Shampoo to rush into battle without thought. "Ranma has wings of an angel, but has the look of a demon with that smirk on his face. How ironic."

Akane hissed, "Why is he doing this! I can't believe he's overreacting..."

"No..." Mousse shook his head, grimacing as he watched Ranma backhanding three advancing Amazons without batting an eyelash, "An Amazon attacked him dishonorably, while he had his back turned AND carrying an innocent person in his arms... it was inevitable."

"I just hope he won't turn against us..." Ryuu commented.

Mousse shook his head once again. "I doubt we'll have a choice on the matter. Anything moving in the area is considered an enemy. I think he's berserk."

"Hehe... amazing." Akane, Ryoga, Ryuu, Mousse and Shampoo all turned behind them, finally realizing that Genma was with them. The balding martial artist's beady eyes were riveted on the massacre, his face expressing a vapid greedy look that almost made the others curl in disgust.

Akane found her voice first, saying, "How can you say that! He's... he's literally crippling all those women for life! How can you be so callous about it!"

Genma finally lost his awe, as he turned to the youngest Tendo with a stony stare, "You wouldn't understand. Can't you see that he's become even more powerful? He's the epitome of martial arts! He's invincible! And it's all thanks to me!"

"You may have forgotten, Saotome-san..." Mousse sneered at the man, "That this Ranma isn't the native of this world."

"Details, details..." Genma waved their comments off, before adopting an eager look, "I just have to take him back! All the money he can give me on the pit fights... he's undefeatable!" And before anyone could stop him, Genma Saotome unleashed the supposed to be forbidden style he developed, the Umi-sen-ken, and disappeared with a flourish.

"He's going to be killed!" Mousse said urgently, "I don't think anyone can touch a berserk Ranma!"

They froze, though, when Ranma laughed out loud. Only then did they notice, that he was looking at them intently.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The young man with the red tail felt great, quite frankly. His anger towards the ones who tried to hurt him and his passenger a while ago is being placated at the moment. At first he tried to resist that change, but he figured that it was useless. The darkness was part of him, as well as his more jovial side.

Nevertheless, he was going to punish these women, for trying to kill him. He knew, from his past experiences, that these women were nuisances to him. Their Elder, as well as one of their own warriors, tried to track him down and kill him. Now that he has the chance to even the score, he took it.

The screams of the women were like background noise to him. All he can actually hear was his blood flowing through his veins, as well as his breathing, not that he needed much of it. His aura now crackled all around him, and he could feel the fear from everyone in the area.

The old woman, Cologne, has been spotted. She was rooted unto her position since he had attacked. He hoped that she made her move soon, because these weaklings were too boring for him. Hmmm... those idiots who he met from his home dimension... they have stopped running away from him. They had the stench of fear in them, and... well, one of them was missing.

Oh goody. It was that fat idiot, the parallel of his idiotic foster father back in his home world.

Hmmm... a slight ki distortion was approaching him, but visually he can't see anything out of the ordinary. Ah! There it is again! And this time, a ripple can be seen from some spot nearing his position.

The Umi-sen-ken! Hah! So the fool thought that he didn't know about them. Of course, since the Genma of this world lost his biological son early, he hadn't taught those techniques to anyone, probably other than that Ryuu guy.

The pigtailed boy vaguely heard the long black haired man in white robes holding that purple haired nuisance of his saying, "He's going to be killed! I don't think anyone can touch a berserk Ranma!"

And with this statement, Ranma couldn't help but laugh loudly.

For the first time since he went primal on them, the pigtailed boy finally spoke, his deep voice seemingly echoing ominously, "Berserk? Is that what you think THIS is?"

"What?" Cologne breathed loudly, gaping at the coherent 'berserker'. She never knew any berserker capable of coherent speech before, so this new development just sucked for them. She finally gathered her resolve as she addressed the young man, "You're not berserk?"

Ranma snorted loudly, saying, "You must've misunderstood something. By way of 'berserk', what do you mean by that?" Seeing the blank looks of everyone still conscious around him, he continued, "I don't think anyone knows why people go berserk anyway. You see, there's a slight confusion here. My situation right now is called, 'downright pissed'. But I digress... a berserk is someone who lost his or her capacity to do logical things, and just lash out randomly. The question here is not if I'm berserk, but why."

The red-tailed hybrid shrugged as he continued, "After years of manipulating your native Ranma, have you ever paused to consider why you can't have a firm lock on him, Cologne? Potions... pills... magic... he managed to thwart them all quite nicely, if not cleanly. It's because he has mental discipline. Why do people go berserk anyway? It's really simple, but so many people get it wrong! Berserkers happen when people didn't want to accept their own inner demons. Like anger and pain, for an excellent example. They become conflicted within themselves, losing their coherent thoughts as they try to banish their primal instincts."

Glancing at Cologne, he asked, "You think that just because I've been attacking you indiscriminately, I'm berserk? You must be losing your edge, old woman."

Cologne swallowed silently as she responded, "We were under the impression you were, son-in-law. And besides, you don't usually do things like that..."

"And that's where the problem begins, right?" Ranma asked rhetorically, not bothering to wait any answers from his audience, "You just wish oh-so-much that I'm the same Ranma you have here. The same easily subdued, meek and honor-bound Ranma who just keeps on accepting the lumps from mistakes he didn't even commit." He glared lightly at the blue-haired girl behind Ryoga, who flinched slightly at the accusing tone.

"I'm not your Ranma, Cologne. I just want you to get that through your thick head..." Ranma told Cologne conversationally, but his aura flashed angrily when he said so, "And right now, I'm pissed. After living for so long with my emotions buried deep inside me, I'm rather feeling liberated as I beat up on one of the main irritations in my life. You see, you might've not known about it, but I, rather, Ranma, would've probably done the same thing I did. I buried all my resentment and anger deep in my soul and just hoped for the best in life. Can you imagine how much stress that garnered through the years? I mean... I'm even far worse than Raven when it came to concealing and burying emotions."

Ranma raised his hand in the air, his aura gathering into his arms as an outline of a long-bladed katana appeared in the air, "Now, I feel free to express what I think of your stupid laws, old woman. Since you didn't listen to me before, I'll bet you'll listen to violence. Oh, and it's pretty much too late to try and apologize. The deed's been done, trying to shoot me down while my back's turned, I mean. Now, it's just payback."

The outline became more solid, as the long bladed katana finally materialized in mid-air. The katana fell into Ranma's outstretched hand.

"This is the Masamune. This sword has been forged since the beginning of Everything. Not that it matters..." Ranma said seriously, gripping the Masamune tightly, "Berserk? I don't think so. Just... severely pissed. I have so much power right now, that it wouldn't be right not to release it. Too bad you're all there, ne?"

He lowered the blade slightly, gazing at everyone around him, "Been talking too much. Have to release all that pent up tension accumulated within years of being a pansy to most people, so you'll have to forgive my drabble. Now, we shall resume this battle... if you may call it one."

In a flash, Ranma had already waved his katana, as a black wave arched towards a small group of Amazons on his right. The women quickly jumped out of the way when the wave gouged a huge trench with its passing, showering them with dangerous shrapnel that cut all over their bodies. Most of them were left laying bleeding on the ground.

All of the sudden, Ranma just... stopped. Actually, he relaxed, standing upright with his hands at his sides. His sword's tip was lodged lightly into the ground in front of him, as he stared at the blue sky. His grin grew as he saw the discarded ki-feathers still hovering in mid-air, as if they were waiting for something.

Ranma mentally nudged one feather. It brought a chuckle to him when the feather darted to the left and stopped.

"Hmmm... new technique..." Ranma mumbled to himself. A name came unbidden in his head, amongst the mass confusion of thoughts swirling inside his skull.

Chaos... a musical number...

The pigtailed boy nodded to himself, saying aloud, "Ah... Chaotic Rhapsody..." before mentally commanding the ki-feathers to dart towards the unsuspecting Amazons like guided missiles. His efforts were rewarded by girls screaming Chinese curses as they dodged and twisted to avoid the feathery onslaught.

To Ranma's ears, however, their screams were like a musical number to him. Hence, the name of the technique.

Luckily, the Nerimians were a bit farther away from the target zone of the technique, since Ranma was still trying to get used to it. They were rather horrified seeing thousands of smaller but still extremely dangerous explosions rocking the area. Blood and torn clothing flew into the air as those Amazons left were torn anew by the newly developed technique.

Ryoga stiffened when he remembered something. A vague memory of how to slow Ranma down. He turned to Akane, who scowled at him. Ignoring her expression, he said excitedly, "Cats..."

If it was possible, Akane's frown deepened some more, "So what about them?"

"Don't you remember?" Ryoga asked exasperatedly, "Ranma's deathly afraid of cats. We can probably slow this one down using a cat."

They all turned to Shampoo, who hung her head in silent protest.

"Shampoo have no choice on matter, yes?" The purple-haired girl asked sadly, "To save peoples... Shampoo must become cat to scare bad Ranma away."

"It will not do any good."

The Nerimians jumped at the solemn voice coming from above them. As one they looked up, spying upon the form of the Valkyrie, who still had the newly transformed Raven in her arms. Some of them stared at the gothic Teen Titan a bit longer than the others, but they generally shrugged off the weirdness. After all, Nerima is one the centers of weirdness in the world.

"Chooser of the Slain..." Mousse said carefully, only to be interrupted by a slightly irritated Valkyrie.

"I have a name. Lenneth Valkyrie. Or Lenneth..." The Nordic woman said spitefully, causing the married Amazon couple to shiver in slight fear, "I would appreciate it if you used it."

"L-Lenneth-san..." Akane asked bashfully, "What... why did you say what you said?"

"Oh, about the cats, you mean?" Lenneth shrugged as she floated still in midair, "It is just is. Ranma-sama... this version, has been visited and blessed by the Goddess of Cats herself. The Lady Bastet has taken into herself to cure Ranma-sama of his... fear... of felines. He is cured now, and rather likes cats very much. His beloved partner has a feline appearance, after all..."

They all paused when all of the sudden, the limp form in Lenneth's arms bolted out of its confines. Raven quickly floated away from the calm Valkyrie, while surveying her surroundings for any potential threat.

Because of this, Lenneth and the others managed to make sure of the changes garnered on the Teen Titan member. The gem on her forehead, which was dark blue a while ago, was now dark purple. Her dark leotard was a contrast to the white one that decorated the half-demon a while ago, and the small bat wings cropping out of her back was very obvious. Her long dark purple hair was wild and unbound, and slightly elongated canines can be seen in her open mouth.

"Ugh... damn the headache. I had the strangest dream..." Raven began, but stopped when she realized her voice came out as a velvety purr, something that she thought she can never do because of her... condition.

"Daughter of Trigon..." Lenneth began, which earned her a slight glare from the dark girl, "Do you remember what has happened earlier?"

Raven scrunched her face a bit, saying absently, "Uhm... something happened in Nevermore... I saw... Trigon being beaten by Ranma... then it turned into one of my emotions, Anger... and then..." her eyes widened in shock, "By Azar... did he do it? I can't... I can't feel it anymore..."

"Feel what?" Ryoga asked curiously.

"The animosity... the dread... the sickening evil of... Him..." Raven spat out, "It's like... a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders." Gazing her dark purple eyes to Lenneth, she continued, "But now... I feel something weird. Something... primal... and quite pissed too, I must say."

"Perhaps..." Lenneth began, "It is Ranma-sama whom you feel."

"Ranma? Now why would I be able to... oh... shit!" Raven cursed as she smacked her head. She quickly pulled back and looked at her hands. Her fingers were long and a bit sharp. Looking at Lenneth imploringly, she asked, "What happened to me? I can feel Ranma-sama... damnit! Ranma! Why do I call him that? Why do I feel like... roasting... Amazons?"

Lenneth nodded wearily. "Now I understand... since a telepathic link such as yours have been maintained for years, it is impossible to destroy it without leaving you with so much mental damage. Ranma-sama has opted the next best thing..."

"Ranma-sa... Ranma... bonded me to himself..." Raven finished blandly, "Not only that, he also destroyed Nevermore..."

"Which probably has saved you the stress of trying to combine all your emotions. But that remains to be seen, however..." Lenneth hummed slightly as she thought of a way to explain a certain... problem to the now agitated Raven.

"But?" Raven prodded, idly noticing Ranma mowing down the women who were scattered below. Funny, though, he wasn't dealing them with killing blows.

"Hey, wasn't she wearing white a while ago?" Ryuu pointed out, "I mean... when she's in that guy's arms... she's wearing all white and her wings are feathery, ne?"

"Wings!" Raven squeaked, quickly groping her back and stiffened when she was assured that a pair of leathery wings greeted her. Nevermind the fact that it was opposite of what the young man has pointed out... she has wings!

Meanwhile, back in the battle...

Ranma was monitoring how the ki-feathers darted here and there when all of the sudden, a slight ripple of foreign ki from his own forced him to bend back in evasion. His gaze darted to the Nerimian group, and his suspicions were affirmed when Genma hasn't reappeared yet.

((So... the fool did try...)) The pigtailed warrior thought to himself, as the ki-feathers disappeared one after another, his concentration switching from the crippled Amazons to the new threat that tried to take his head off. His brow twitched as the same feeling returned, but this time it remained somewhere to his right. He effortlessly sped himself up and saw the vacuum blade coming straight at him. He sidestepped the attack and fed more ki into his body, causing his speed to triple more than normal. Everything went into slow motion in his point of view, and saw Genma's form getting out of the Shooting Star Cloth technique. Ranma smirked at the growing confusion that blossomed on the balding man's face, and zipped towards the unsuspecting Genma.

The Saotome Patriarch's eyes bulged when a dark voice echoed around him, saying, "You are getting old, Genma Saotome." He quickly turned behind him, but found no one to match the voice with.

"Looking for me?"

Genma turned to his right, and still found nothing.

"You've been a thorn in my side. Something I'd love to get rid off."

The old man started to get scared as he realized he couldn't even feel the ki of his opponent, even with his advanced senses.

"But my counterpart would've been angry at me for taking the privilege of gutting you."

Still nothing, Genma noted to himself.

"Even though he's been dead for a while, it still doesn't feel honorable to take it from him."

Genma snarled. ((I can't see him... how can I hit something I can't see!)) His face suddenly lightened when he thought of something. ((Why didn't I think of that?))

Ranma, on the other hand, was floating right on top of Genma. Well, not exactly on top of the man's head, but he's just lazing around. Ranma almost chuckled to himself, almost giving himself away, at his analogue's father not thinking of looking above him. His face suddenly grew serious when Genma's frantic face melted into that manic grin of his. Ranma knew, from personal experience, that the fat man has something in mind that usually ended up some people hurt or angry. When Ranma saw the stance Genma took, his mind froze.

Was Genma crazy enough to use the Demon Gods Big Mad Dance!

Biting back a curse, Ranma dropped from the sky, the Masamune poised for a decapitating blow as it was held with two hands just above his head. It wasn't an involuntary response, since at the state of mind he was in right now, he really has this sudden urge to slice Genma into pieces.

The old Saotome Patriarch stretched his left arm behind him, and his right arm bent around his chest. He concentrated his ki into his arms and shouted, "Behold the Forbidden Techniques I will unseal just for this occasion, Demon Gods Big Ma---" but it was cut off by a strong gust of wind that passed by him. A momentary flash of steel reflected on his glasses.

"Not if I can help it, moron." The pigtailed boy's cold voice hissed in Genma's ear as he stood frozen in mid spin. Without another word, Ranma straightened himself up and rested the long blade of the Masamune on his right shoulder, and backed away from the paralyzed Genma.

All of the sudden, Genma's arms sprayed blood just below the elbows, before falling off to the ground. The beady-eyed man stared beyond his blood-covered glasses as he stared at his decapitated arms, and screamed in anguish. When he tried to move, he stumbled forward, only learning that his left leg was now dismembered up to the lower knee as well, causing him to topple out of balance. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, spraying the ground with his red life-liquid. He was still screaming.

"S-Saotome-jiisan!" Akane shouted in horror, after gaining her ability to speak. She almost vomited at the sight of Genma squirming on the ground, without both arms and his left leg. The area he was on was already stained red so much that it made her sick.

Ryoga couldn't help himself anymore. Not that he respected the Ranma's father at all, he just couldn't stand watching this alternate Ranma mutilate Genma. His body glowed dark-green, as his depression reached its peak. With a loud growl he bellowed, "RANMAAAAA! For preying on the weak, PREPARE TO DIEEEE!" and jumped at the analogue of his nemesis.

"... you have got to be kidding me..." Ranma said wryly as he dodged Ryoga's punch. It only incensed the Lost Boy's anger, making his already bright green aura even brighter. Not that it would make any difference.

A slight angle to the left, a waist-deep duck, and a hop over from Ryoga's leg sweep kept Ranma's amusement occupied at least. Ranma surmised that Ryoga has become irritatingly slow for him, which he really can't do anything about. He absently slapped Ryoga's punches as if they were nothing, taking note that despite the current one-sided fight, Ryoga did improve a lot. Ranma concluded that the lost boy wasn't idle, and that he grew a bit stronger than the one in his former home world.

Nevertheless, Ranma IS stronger now. That fact still remained, and forever it will be written. Ryoga seemed not to care about that fact, for he still tried his best to hit the pigtailed warrior.

"Damn you! Stand still so I can hit you!" Ryoga bellowed, his fist glowed bright green far more than his aura did.

To everyone except Lenneth and Raven's surprise, Ranma complied with his 'request'. Ryoga's glowing fist smacked Ranma's face directly, a loud sonic boom kicked up the dirt and grime all over the place. Akane and the rest of the Nerimians and Amazons still standing covered their ears with their hands as a loud thundering sound rumbled.

After the thunderous sound passed, silence permeated the area. Only the heavy breathing of those present were heard, as they waited in baited breath as to what happened with Ranma. All of them knew that Ryoga was probably the strongest among the fighters there, at least on par or even stronger than Herb's bodyguard, Lime. It would be a miracle if Ranma even managed to stand up against the full-scale punch from him. Ryoga has given his all on that shot.

The dust finally thinned enough for them to see the outcome, and they saw Ryoga still poised with his strike. His punch was still connected to Ranma's face, who surprisingly stood against the brunt of the blow. Soon, their expecting stares turned into surprise when Ryoga started cursing up a storm, but he didn't move from his position. What they didn't know was that, Ryoga was already at the peak of his strength, his full power has been used on that one strike. And to his dread, Ranma managed to catch that same fully empowered chi strike in the face without moving from his position. He now stood paralyzed, unable to think of anything since his only hit on Ranma has fallen into failure.

The crowd's dismay grew when Ranma's shoulders shook in amusement, his soft chuckles replacing the ominous silence before.

"You're still pretty strong, Hibiki-san..." Ranma said genuinely, his voice a bit muffled because the lost boy's fist was still planted against his cheek, "If I were a normal man, my head would've been crushed like a watermelon being hit by a wrecking ball." Ranma removed his face from Ryoga's fist, and buried the long katana he was holding into the ground. He then focused his attention to the still form of the lost boy.

Ryoga had said nothing, since he's in no position to do otherwise when Ranma grabbed his face with his left hand. Lifting the weakly struggling bandanna-clad boy, Ranma commented, "I did as you asked. Was that what you wanted? Did it satisfy you? No, don't bother to answer. You've followed me for so long in my own home world to know how stubborn and stupid you are. I mean, you even followed me to Jusenkyo! Now that's plain dumb!"

Ranma felt Ryoga struggle in his grasp, if the lost boy slamming his fist against his arm was any indication. He ignored Ryoga's attempts to get free as he continued, "Now before you go harping me of honor, lemme remind you that I haven't betrayed your trust. I mean, you had me promise not to tell anyone about your curse, but we never mentioned anything about hinting it, ne?" Glancing at the slowly smoldering look Akane threw Ryoga, he chuckled, "Oh dear. Did Akane find out about it here? I guess that's one good point in this world. Oh well. Now where were we? Oh yes... my retaliation."

As Ryoga continued his struggles anew, Ranma smirked nastily as he cocked his right fist back. His face melted into a serious glare as he said, "How dare you presume that you have the kami-given right to TRY and kill me. Who died and made you kami, eh? You think you're so noble and honest? Get real, pig-boy. Now, don't sue me for this, but I'm gonna have to borrow a phrase you so LOVE to say every time we meet."

Bringing Ryoga's face closer to his, Ranma growled loudly, "Ryoga, prepare to die."

The beating that followed made everyone cringe when Ryoga's screams grew in intensity. To everyone watching, it seemed that Ranma's fist just disappeared, a testament of the unbound speed Ranma developed through the years. Cologne couldn't believe it, since Ranma has long discarded the use of the Amazon technique she taught him, in favor of his raw speed. The staccato beat that signified flesh meeting flesh produced shockwave after shockwave that shook the area violently. Ranma has already let go of Ryoga after the first hit, since his left arm was now lowered to his side. Only Ranma's speedy punches held Ryoga up in the air, as the lost boy's body contorted horribly in the air caused by thunderous hits.

Ranma finally grew tired of his private game. He turned his body to the flying form of Ryoga and waved his left hand. The Lost Boy's body stopped in mid air, before being flung backwards. Ryoga flew straight backwards and smashed against the trees in the outcrop of the lake area. He didn't even slow down as he continuously smashed against the foliage, until he disappeared in the horizon.

"Well, there he goes." Ryuu can't help but deadpan as he stared at the path where Ryoga went through.

Akane was livid with rage, but wouldn't dare attack Ranma while he was in this state. "You monster!"

Cocking his head towards the Nerimians, Ranma commented, "He'll live. He's been hurt worse than that..." and relaxed. He pulled the discarded katana from the ground and banished the Masamune back into his body. He stretched boredly, idly wondering why he felt more at ease than he was ever before, but he chalked it up as the effect of releasing his pent up emotions.

Ranma noted that Genma was able to crawl away from him, seeing that the trail of blood has led towards where the Nerimians were. Sure enough, he spied upon the balding man being tended by Cologne behind the group. He could here Genma's yelps of pain as Cologne tried to staunch the blood flow from his wounds.

Maybe he went too far... NOT.

Apparently, the others didn't think so.

Cologne finally managed to stop Genma from bleeding to death, as she pressed various shiatsu points all over his body. She carefully bandaged the stumps... or whatever was left of his arms and his leg.

"Now..." Cologne said carefully, not taking her eyes off the floating Ranma, "Would you please explain your actions, son-in-law?"

The old woman almost regretted ever speaking when Ranma's attentions was drawn into her. She tried not to look away from those eyes of his, and was partially successful.

Ranma snorted loudly, saying, "You can ask all you want, but as of right now I don't feel like saying anything. But just to remind you, I DID remember saying I'm not YOUR Ranma. But did anyone listen? Of course not. As always, Ranma Saotome is supposed to be ignored." He looked at Cologne lazily, "I know how your mind works, old woman, and guess what? I won't take any more crap from you or anyone in ANY world. Get it? I know you wanted strong blood in your already dying tribe. I know you're THAT desperate to get it. But you ain't gonna get it. I'm not some kind of THING to be fought over, or even taken. So, you can take your laws and your great history and shove it up your craphole. Dig?"

Ignoring Cologne and the Amazons' angry protests, Ranma turned to the other two floating females. One was dressed in a dark blue body armor that molded through her skin. Her hair was framed in her matching dark blue headgear, which has a pair of wings at the sides. Her sword, Levantine, was held around her waist.

Lenneth Valkyrie.

The other was... a surprise for Ranma. He remembered seeing her dressed in white a while ago, and now she was dressed in black. The small feathery wings jutting out of her back a while ago were now replaced by a pair of small dark bat wings. The gem on her forehead was dark blue before, but now it was dark purple.

Raven of Azarath.

"What the heck happened to you...?" Ranma blurted out, staring at Raven's drastically changed form. Oh, and she also had this very scary glare etched on her face.

If possible, Raven glowered deeper, stifling the urge to strangle this adorable pigtailed young man in front of her. And those muscles... not bulging, rather sculpted... those unearthly wings... that wonderful red tail of his... GAH!

The transformed girl mentally shook her head, focusing her ire on the confused young man. "That's what I'd like to know, you jerk!" she said blithely, smothering the tiny guilty feeling of being snappy at him.

But Ranma just shrugged off Raven's glare, as he replied coolly, "Hmm... I may have made a mistake earlier, although... it's better than nothing."

"Great..." groused the Raven, who was trying to melt Ranma with her sharp glare (still unsuccessful, not a scratch!), "You turned me into a true demon. Nice work, geniu-- augh..."

Ranma was about to retort on that, but his words were lost when Raven lurched forwards a bit, her eyes wide in confusion. A bright glow flashed from her body, momentarily blinding everyone who looked at her. Raven involuntarily twirled in her place as the changes set themselves into her body. When the light faded, Raven's other form emerged... wearing white leotard instead of black. The chakra gem on her forehead turned dark blue, and her black leathery wings turned into white feathery ones. Her eyes before were sharp and angry-looking, but now those purple pupils of hers were big and doleful.

Lenneth giggled slightly. "Oh my... this is such a huge mess of things."

The 'mortals' down below were more than skeptical right now. Their faces reflected shock, especially those who followed the superhero showbiz. Raven NEVER had this ability, nor displayed it before... EVER.

Sure enough, another change coursed through Raven's being. The goth girl could feel her emotions being muddled, and something meek and humble emerged into her frontal consciousness. She felt her posture change drastically, her head bowing down slightly, her face relaxing into a shy smile. She knew it was wrong, but she cannot control her body. It was like someone was speaking through her, but at the same time she felt it was her will that did this anyway. The thought left her confused.

Nevertheless, confusion was discarded for the moment to favor shyness, as Raven felt her master staring at her. It was only now that Raven felt something tugging in her mind, and at the end of it was a stronger pull that placated her soul. Even if it were just flutters of feelings she felt from her link with her telepathic mate, they were enough to keep her calm and collected, at least most of the time. At the moment, Ranma was too busy with the new sensations his powers gave him to notice Raven's mind probes on him, but his instinctive mental defenses were working perfectly.

"You don't see something like that everyday... an angel and a demon sharing one body..." Ranma mumbled loudly, his brow rising at the sudden change of demeanor in THIS Raven's posture.

The now-angelic girl suddenly blurted out, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, master! I'm... I've been a potty mouth and a naughty girl. It's really not your fault that I'm like this. In fact, I'm actually quite grateful, now I'm free from my own personal demons!"

"Amazing..." Lenneth surmised with a smile, looking at Raven speculatively, "I have never seen a rather acute version Split Personality. In all sense the Angelic and Demonic Raven are one and the same, but with different perspectives and point of views."

Raven blushed, causing several demons hiding in the vicinity to stammer and grow nervous. Looking at her now, she was glowing faintly, her radiant blush filling the entire field with joy.

"Is that... Raven-sama?" Akane asked hesitantly, eyeing Angelic Raven's form and compared it with the old one. Frankly speaking, they're totally different from each other.

Ryuu nodded, his arms crossed across his chest. "You see? I'm right... she changed into that demon thingie and back again to the angel thingie. Dunno why though..."

All the banters on the ground were lost to those who were floating in the air, as Ranma took in Raven's new situation. He felt a bit guilty at seeing the adoring look thrown to him by the bi-shifter, but he really couldn't help it if he made a slight miscalculation as to how the 'merging' of all her emotions would affect her. It was kinda low priority during the occurrence, since he was quite busy trying to balance his attention between the collapsing world of Nevermore, and trying to fix Raven's emotions up real good.

Paying no attention to everyone around them, Ranma addressed Raven, saying, "We need a private place to sort this out."

"Ah!" Raven blushed as her wings quickly wrapped halfway around her, the angel's body quivering in excitement, "R-Ranma-sama... l-like a-a DATE!"

"Date?" Ranma cocked his head to one side, but because of his current mind's situation, his normal reaction was out of character, "Whatever. Anyway... I hear Mount Fuji's great this time of year."

"HEY! Quit ignoring us!" Akane bellowed from below, but it was moot point since the trio floating above them were lost in their own conversation. All she can do right now is fume, unless she can fly up to them... but she can't. Heh.

"A date with Ranma-sama..." Raven murmured happily, almost doing cartwheels in midair. But before she can continue her thoughts, her vision doubled momentarily as she felt her body shiver once again. She looked at Ranma with slight horror as she said, "Ranma-sama... I... I love---" but was cut off when she lurched forward, a bright flash of light encompassed her body. As the light faded, the demonic form of Raven was in the angel's place once again.

The demonic Raven grumbled as she continued, "---love to kick that angel's ass for making me say all those things! Ugh!" But her mouth contrasted what she was truly feeling, if the deep blush on her face wasn't proof enough of this. Vertigo attacked her senses though, since Raven wasn't used to the momentary abrupt transformations. Her eyes slowly shut as she fell from the air like a rag doll, but Ranma had already swooped down and caught her body in his arms. Lenneth had swooped down beside Ranma, looking worriedly at the unconscious Raven.

"She is exhausted..." Lenneth commented as she took in the other girl's form. The Teen Titan has been transforming back and forth since she appeared earlier, and the distinct character changes were rather seemingly independent from each other. But even though the angelic and demonic Ravens acted different from one another, they were still one person. They're just different perspectives of her personality.

The Chooser of the Slain has noticed that the angelic Raven was more open to show her emotions wantonly, as the angel's unending exuberance has shown earlier. Angelic Raven's smile was quite infectious, and her devotion to Ranma was clearly shown in her words and actions. Demonic Raven on the other hand was more into hiding her true thoughts and emotions. Rather than being 'girly' like her angelic counterpart, demonic Raven was more on aloofness and much more prone to being irritated quickly. But the same devotion to Ranma was evident, although Raven tried to wave it off casually.

The pigtailed saiyajin ruffled his wings as he blew back his red colored bangs with his breath, muttering something about bad omens. Why? Because the sky suddenly rumbled, and there were no clouds in sight.

Rather than think about it, he surmised that he should get going... or, THEY should get going. Turning to Lenneth, he said, "Well, we should get to Japan then, huh? I'm having a little bit of difficulty controlling my powers now, as you can see, and I need to sort this thing out with Raven." He gestured to the sleeping girl in his arms, but gently so as not to wake the sleeping half-demon.

Lenneth looked at Ranma thoughtfully, asking, "But why Japan though? Why not another much more private place?"

Ranma shrugged, replying, "Japan has been home to me for most of my current life. As I've said earlier, I'd love to scale the top of Mount Fuji. It's a nice place to relax and not think about controlling my powers too much there. My emotions are running the show earlier, with grim results as you have seen. Also, it's near my surrogate mother's counterpart's place."

"Ah..." Lenneth nodded empathically, "You have such a strong bond to your home land. I understand... somehow. I agree with you though, that we should get going, for I feel something ominous coming."

Ranma scowled mightily, growling, "You felt it too, huh?"

Both of them looked up to one direction in the endless sky, amidst the battle torn ground of East Joketsuzoku... where at least more than twenty Amazon warriors lay injured.

The sky replied not, as the ominous feeling of dread continued...

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More or less a good several hundred thousands of meters above the Earth's surface...

A large orbital space station revolved around the planet. It was called the Watch Tower, home to this world's mightiest group of super heroes, the Justice League. If the Teen Titans had the T-Tower, the Justice League had the Watch Tower.

Monitoring the Earth's surface for any disturbance, the super heroes inside this massive satellite protected the world from any kind of evil. Upholding justice and all that jazz, the Justice League were the good guys.

As of the moment, the Justice League members scurried about, preparing to descend upon the Earth's surface once again. Earlier they had encountered some weird divine beings, and one particularly weird boy turned man. The Valkyries, Asgardian female warriors who ferry heroes' souls to Valhalla, claimed to have been sent by The God to take the other newcomer, one Ranma Saotome, into their custody. Dead or Alive.

Ranma Saotome disapproved of such notion, and fought all five of the highest commanders of the Valkyries punch per punch. And won.

The Justice League has surmised that this Ranma Saotome was much more of a threat than they anticipated. Right now, they were preparing for the worst, like when they have to fight him.

They weren't particularly thrilled in fighting Ranma, all except Superman. The Kryptonian was rather incensed in wanting to battle with the boy, especially after he had witnessed Ranma's power. But he claimed that he wanted to fight Ranma because he might become a future problem.

Yeah right.

The Watch Tower was currently under high alert, as the sensors indicated a massive power build up in China. When they viewed the area with the tower's long range cameras, they witnessed a fight in the vicinity. More like a massacre, as the image of Ranma Saotome fighting a large group of women was focused.

With that, they had concluded that Ranma Saotome finally shown his true colors, and were now preparing to face him.

Oh boy...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Heavenly Realm, location unknown...

Certain members of the Greek pantheon of gods were viewing the scrying pool just outside the boundary limits of Mount Olympus. A lot of godlings came here to bet on some spare timelines, which allowed their experimentations on different scenarios to come forth. Right now, the Bets have been postponed, at least until the current situation regarding a certain dimension hopping pigtailed alien hybrid has been resolved.

Deimos and Phobos were only a few of those watching the scenarios of the scrying pool, as the elite group of Valkyries from their neighboring Asgardian pantheon counterparts were defeated by this Ranma character. Not only that, but the Valkyries' faiths were slowly deteriorating.

The situation was getting rather dangerous for them.

Being associated directly to Ares, their battle lusts were now running high. Seeing Ranma fighting made them want to fight him as well.

"We need to do something about this, Deimos..."

"Indeed we do, Phobos..."

"Heh... father will be so proud..."

Hmm...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A few hundred light years away from the planet Earth...

A rather large battleship, which was shaped like a gigantic Earth mushroom, was in full tilt while traveling across subspace. Current bearing was straight for Earth, as one of its two passengers was getting impatient.

"How long, Washuu?" A tall woman with short light brown hair asked her companion. Her eyes were pupiless and flat blue in color, as she stared forlornly outside a small porthole window that showed the stars streaking as they traveled.

At the main console that controlled the ship, a red-haired woman with green eyes sighed dramatically. She swiveled her rotating chair to the direction of her traveling companion and replied, "Not for a few months, Tokimi. You have to learn to be patient..."

The taller woman, Tokimi, broke her staring contest with the ship's outside scenery and faced the redhead, saying, "This is my son we're talking about, Washuu!"

Washuu chuckled slightly, "Don't forget, Tokimi, that this young man is an analogue. He doesn't belong to this dimension, but in his point of origin, he IS your analogue's son."

Tokimi bowed her head in slight morose. "I know... but... the call of blood is strong. Even though he's not really my actual son, he still carried my blood in his veins. A Choushin Kami, a male one at that... the first of his kind... and he's from my blood..."

The red-haired scientist said, "Yes, that's true. It's rather enlightening to see you act like this. I have forgotten how doting you can be, Tokimi."

The Goddess of Chaos faced the window once more, saying softly, "I just want to hold him, that's all..."

"Don't worry..." Washuu waved her hand, turning back to her console, "We'll arrive there soon."

"I understand. Thank you, Washuu." Tokimi replied warmly.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In a rather far away dimension...

A cyan colored, spiky haired young woman sighed as she continued her trek across the lands of the Rising Sun. She had thought her lost loved one was to appear in the most likely places, and his home land was it. But as five months of searching was for naught, her hope was slowly waning. But she found new strength, as she was constantly reminded of her loved one's bond to her.

The woman patted her stomach lovingly, which was slightly bigger than normal. Evidence that she was very much pregnant.

Hakubi Ryoko, former space pirate extraordinaire, currently retired for years after being trapped in a cave for two hundred years more or less. She was freed a few years ago by a wonderful but skittish young man, a very powerful alien hybrid.

It took her at least several months for her to get him used to her lecherous antics, but it was worth it. Five months earlier, she finally got him into making love to her, and boy was she sore afterwards. The young man had been enthusiastic in the act, after breaking through his shyness, of course.

But then a tragedy happened, as he was sucked into some sort of accident concerning her mother's own invention.

Lost in another dimension... sigh... how discomforting for her. She was half-tempted to follow her lover, but she was stopped by her guilty mother. Traveling dimensions with a child in her womb wasn't a bright idea, and as much as she wanted to argue, she can't really fault the logic.

The woman was comforted by the fact, though, that her lover has a very long life span, and she would think that he'd gladly return to her. So why the search? She's just getting a head start. Her child will definitely meet her father. Yes, a daughter... a scan was made courtesy of her mother.

Yes, she will continue finding him, even if it takes her forever.

Saotome Ranma is the only man for Hakubi Ryoko, after all.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In another dimension much further away from the former...

A certain sorceress was currently being hunted down by the elite soldiers of the magic guild. Since the trio of golden gems appeared on her forehead, her powers increased a hundred fold. This caused the sorceress to lose her hard earned control over the magic power she had trained on since she was young. She has been lecturing her sister about control, but now it seemed that the lectures were being thrown back at her, as a simple flare of anger caused the gems on her forehead to shine brightly, and her powers just explode out of proportion. She had tried casting a simple fire ball spell, but it turned into a mini Dragon Slave in the end.

She was currently staying at a friend's home, a certain golden dragon turned human girl.

The sorceress was Luna Inverse, the world famous and rumored to be the most powerful of all magic users. She was currently staying with her friend, the transformed golden dragon named Filia. It was a good thing too, since Filia was currently in the Dragon Spire, home to the various dragon races left in their world. And the libraries these creatures kept were like no other...

Lately, Luna has been reading a lot of ancient texts regarding the earlier gods of their world. Cepheid was a glorified god, of course, but lately her faith was not in top form. Her powers were continuously growing, and Luna was actually starting to fear what would happen to her. Luna's sister, Lina, would probably be thrilled by the power-up, but then again, her red-haired little sibling was quite power hungry. Not only that, but Lina wasn't known to think of the consequences of her actions.

Luna wasn't like her younger sister. Sure, she can be sadistic to her enemies once in a while, but she's always conscious of what her actions will entail. And this was such a time when she should think of what's happening to her.

She had come across some texts regarding some REALLY old myths, regarding the history of the Universe that were considered to be, 'Tall Tales'. They all pertain to some extent of the newer theories on how the universe was created the people of their world were taught. Everything has started from the Sea of Chaos, but in the texts, this was only described as The Abyss, or the Darkness. There was a lot of mention regarding the Lord of Nightmares, but none of Cepheid. If the texts were proven true, then the Lord of Nightmares, in fact, existed earlier than Cepheid did. And it wasn't only the Lord of Nightmares, but also the Lord of Order, as well as the Lord of Chaos. So, there wasn't only one being that preceded Cepheid and those other gods or demons mentioned in their world's newer historical records, but three earlier and much powerful gods existed, and the Lord of Nightmares was one of them!

Luna was coming close to the truth. She knew it, and she could feel the anticipation in her blood as she continued her research. The Mazoku and the Magic Guild Elite have been after her blood since the gems on her forehead appeared, and the hunt intensified as she manifested her enhanced powers. Xellos Metallium was particularly distressed, and he was hard bound on catching her. She wasn't afraid of him or anything, rather, it was the other way around.

Xellos has been rather jumpy when Luna's name was uttered, terrified beyond belief. What could possibly make one of the most powerful of the Monster Tribe afraid of someone like her? Why are the gems on her forehead affected the world so much lately?

Ah... now she found the texts regarding the pattern of how the gems were arranged. The Trinity... the Ancient Gods... the Old War... the battle for the Universe's Fate... such things are connected to her newfound power?

Luna felt herself shudder a bit, as revelation upon revelation slowly opened her eyes to the Truth. She can't do anything about it; she is evolving into something far more powerful than anyone in this world has anticipated upon, and it made the balance of power shift out of order.

Now, if only she could find out WHY she felt like she was waiting for someone...

And if Luna's intuition was correct, she would be in danger in the Dragon territories as well, especially when they learn about her current situation. She would be viewed as a rival in terms of power, and most dragons got jealous pretty easily. It's a good thing Filia was a good friend of hers.

She tugged at the bandanna wrapped around her forehead in askance, to further hide the golden orbs embedded within her skull.

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It all started with one little thing, and it bled into all directions of the multiverse.

His birth has been a phenomenon itself, his fate was never anchored at one place.

Slowly, he forged his own path, which opened a million more possibilities. Not only in his timeline, but unto the next dimensions as well.

Now, Chaos is fully realized, as he will surge on ahead to pave the way...

He will redefine the meaning of Free Will.

The change in fates started to wreak havoc in the multiverses, and there is no one that can stop it.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

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PREVIEW ON THE NEXT CHAPTER:

"Oh my god... what did he do to you, Raven?"

"Friend Raven, do not worry! We will save you from the Sai-Yahn monstrosity!"

"Fire it now, Cyborg! We'll have to incapacitate Raven to help her!"

"Now Raven, this will hurt us more than it will hurt you."

"Master Ranma... is not evil. Oh Master Ranma... forgive me for being so weak and useless..."

"Planetary Destroyer Technique: CRASH AND BURN!"

"Touch one hair on this girl's head, and I will kill you all."

"M-Mother? My... mother?"

"My son! My baby boy!"

"Eww... reunion scene... sugary..."

"Chaos-sama... Ranma-sama... I have found you at last, darling."

"I declare Nifelheim's hunt for Ranma, officially... canceled."

"How dare you! After all these eons of protecting you, how dare you betray me!"

"Chaos will always be my love. I will never be with another. You should have known that, Deus. Now... I will be with him, whether you like it, or not."

"The war for universal supremacy... has begun."

Ranma, Raven and Lenneth against... everyone else! Gods, demons, super heroes, super villains... they all want Ranma!

The pigtailed hybrid will not take this lying down... especially when misunderstandings spark a huge battle. Superman wants a fight with Ranma. The Teen Titans tries to take Raven back by force. Lenneth has her hands busy keeping certain divine beings at bay.

All this witness by Ranma, who grew angrier by the minute.

A wonderful reunion brought the world a whole lot of luck. But Heaven and Hell are going to have a massive revamp. Someone strays off the intended path, choosing heart over destiny.

The reunion between Ranma and his analogue genetic mother is emminent. This will strengthen Ranma's resolve to find a way back to his home world.

A cataclysmic betrayal destroys the balance between Order and Darkness. A new war for supremacy looms over the horizon. Add to that, enemies from the ancient past have successfully weakened the barrier of their prison, compounding the problems at hand.

You think the all the chaos of the past has been too much? Don't hold your breath, because the party is just getting started.

AUTHOR RANTS:

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Teen Titans the animated series - Justice League the animated series - Tenchi Muyo: Rin-Ohki!  
- Slayers Try!  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Valkyrie Profile

Right... okay. The story's shaping up pretty good. The main players in my little game called Ranma's life are now appearing.

Yes, Ryoko's pregnant. Yes, it's Ranma's, definitely. And yes, she was still a virgin when she and Ranma did 'it'. Don't ask me why, but she was all steam when she bragged about her sexual knowledge to everyone. She's just a virgin on it as Ranma was.

What happened to Raven? Ranma succeeded in merging most of her personalities, but he apparently ran out of time while he was doing so. And yes, Raven has a link with Ranma now. Why? Ranma cannot simply just 'destroy' a mind link, so he transferred it. But he has no idea he did just that. Come on, he's an amateur, so he did things without any plan whatsoever.

Trigon in Raven's psyche is actually her Anger. It is through this emotion that Trigon managed to control his daughter. Ranma 'almost' killed Anger, but he didn't. Which is good.

Why do the super heroes want to take Ranma down? Come on... they're just as trigger happy as anyone else. And also, Misunderstandings are strong catalysts to wars. And they apply ESPECIALLY to Ranma.

Yes, I was too brutal with Genma. So? Just allow me to indulge with this one. I didn't kill him, did I? I just gave Genma the ultimate punishment to avid fans of the martial arts world. And that is: Take the Art away from him.

Again, someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migraine she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'real time'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the siege of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land) are few of the worlds Ranma encountered in this dimension. And certainly not the last.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

But as time went on, it was revealed that another one who bore the gems of power was Luna Inverse.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	19. Chapter 8d

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... probably two to three chapters more, and Arc 1's done.

This chapter will focus on what happened to Ranma's side quest on Planet Zi, as well as introduce a possible companion for him in the future. This is also Ranma's first encounter with some of the Divine Army's soldiers (I just thought up a name for Heaven's foot soldiers... go figure).

This is a Ranma/Teen Titans/Justice League/Valkyrie Profile crossover. Yep, them... those teenagers who owned their own Tower that for me is really architecturally unsound (a giant T atop a small islet in the middle of the water? Come on... one earthquake and down it goes... been wondering for how long Slade's gonna figure THAT one out).

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

C. Rose's email works now!

To my significant other, Lady Ayame... this is for us!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 8D - HIGHTAILING TO THE HARD LIFE

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Silence allowed anyone to contemplate upon one's life.

That was how Ranma was found, on top of Mount Fuji. He sat cross legged on the thick ice located at the mountain top, his brows furrowed in deep thought. The biting cold never bothered him, since his martial arts training brought his body's performance at peak condition. He was able to tolerate extreme temperatures rather easily.

It has been a few hours earlier, that he found himself in China. The Amazons have been... irritating, to say the least. He took care of them, and he didn't even kill any of them. He just... hurt most of them to the point of incapacitation, but never followed through. It has been a stressful day, not to mention what he had done to Raven.

Speaking of his companions, they were currently with him. He had teleported them out of the Chinese territory, and visualized Mount Fuji as a valid destination point. He was accompanied by Raven and Lenneth.

His yellow pupils darting to one side, Ranma spied upon Raven's huddled body. She was currently in her demonic form, obvious since she wore those black apparel in contrast of her other form's white one. She also had those black bat wings that jutted out of her back. It seemed that she wasn't bothered by the cold as well, since she hasn't shivered even once.

On the other side, their other companion was Lenneth, who was standing as she looked at the scenery beyond with curiosity in her eyes. Ranma wondered why she was still here, since he had already stressed that he will never go back with her to Asgard, or Heaven, or whatever she called their office. No question should be asked if she could tolerate the cold. She has been a divine being since time began, and normal rules never applied to someone like her.

Back to Ranma's dilemma, his current problem sat right beside him. Whatever he did to Raven, it has changed her in such a drastic manner. As he looked at her now, he saw the vulnerability of Raven's visage, even though she was in her demonic form for the moment.

Ranma tried to explain what transpired when he was combining Raven's personalities. It was total chaos, and he opted on combining the emotions before time ran out. He had fired off a miniature black hole in that world, Nevermore, and it slowly ate the entirety of that world.

Raven, on the other hand, was contemplating on her own problems. Her sudden transformation has caused everything she believed in to become so muddled up. She was also quite unsure of herself, since she can now get angry and laugh without expecting something to explode. For more than a decade of her life, she has been used to controlling her emotions at a level where she has to make a world to contain them individually. And because of this one man, one moment... everything in her life has changed drastically.

She still has to ascertain whether her change was for the better or worse. Raven was a bit overwhelmed at her new predicament, since her change was more of a physical transformation melded with her emotional state at the moment. At least, she surmised, that she could only change into two states; one demonic and one angelic.

Currently, she was in her demonic form. She felt a bit more impulsive and brave, as well as a bit cold and pissed off all at once. Her emotions were more of a violent storm right now, and it was reflected by her physical attributes. Her skin was still ashen, but her clothes had changed into black. Her dark purple hair was now longer than before, and a pair of small bat wings were sticking out from her lower back.

But somehow, no matter how much she wanted to blame her... benefactor for this current blunder, she couldn't bring herself to do so. First of all, Ranma managed to destroy Nevermore, true, but it also saved her the trouble of having an excuse to trap her emotions mercilessly. She must now face her problems head-on, and not cower inside Nevermore and wait until the storm of her problems passed by.

For some reason, however, Raven felt that her personality's anchor was more set upon being in her demonic form, where most of her sarcasm and bravery came from. It must've been because the personalities brunched up into her demon form were all of those concerned with more of the darker aspects of Raven. And with that, most of the control was in this form. Although she does transform into her angelic form whenever she was too stressed, or when her guard was down. Where as most of her darker emotions confederated into her demon guise, her angel form housed most of her more... lighter and jolly attitude.

Raven found that the random and sudden changes between demon and angel were a bit of a hassle, but as she thought more about it, in the long run, most of her problems regarding expressing her emotions were solved. Now, she only had to trouble herself with the transformations, but she doesn't have to think about the damage she might do whenever she expressed extreme emotion. Also she has found out, to her utmost delight, that her dreaded link to her demon father Trigon has been severed. It was replaced by a more chaotic form of bond, which she later found to be connected to Ranma himself. She could feel small bouts of compulsion in calling Ranma as her master, but Ranma never asked that of her. She found it to be a bit irritating at times, but it was better than how she was from before.

Her mind right now was a myriad of memories not her own, possibly from her 'savior'. She already knew that Ranma linked her former telepathic connection with her father to himself. Not that it was bad in itself, but for some reason Raven found that Ranma's mind was more complicated than Trigon's. She wouldn't trade it for the universe, but she still has problems grasping the memories she managed to usurp from her benefactor.

She still has no idea what lay beyond the darkness of Ranma's mind, but as much as she was allowed to see, it was already so chaotic.

"Don't think about it too much..." Raven's musings were interrupted when Ranma's voice was heard over the winds of the mountain top. For some reason, the wind seemed to silence itself when Ranma spoke, allowing her to hear him better. His physical changes have been quite tremendous as well, his former black hair now blood red in color. It was also freakishly long, now it reached his lower posterior when he stood. His muscles were now much more defined and taut than before, but it wasn't overly so. His normal carefree expression was replaced by a serious and grim one.

Ranma finally turned to Raven, who was blinking owlishly at him. "You're worrying too much. It will get a lot confusing if you continue thinking about it."

"You have to admit..." Raven began, staring deeply into those yellow orbs Ranma had as pupils, "This is quite a predicament. Not only do I have a strange condition of suddenly suffering a physical change by extreme emotions or stress, but I have a link to someone whose mind is probably the most complicated one in the universe."

The red tailed hybrid nodded morosely, before turning and resuming his watch over the horizon, "I wasn't so sure what happened, but I guess I had no choice in the matter. Our mental link left me no choice, since I can't really destroy a telepathic connection of such age. Maybe there is a way to a remove it, maybe not, but I know I don't have enough experience on it to experiment. So I did the next best thing. The physical transformation was purely by accident. I was about to fully combine your persona when Nevermore totally collapsed on us. I think I wasn't able to fully merge you, but I did succeed in most parts."

Raven grumbled a bit for a moment, before sagging in defeat and started drawing something on the snowy ground. "I'm not really asking for much, but I would have figured that being normal means being a normal emotional girl, and not like this."

"You should be so lucky... you don't change genders. I've acquired a... curse. A water-based curse, where a mere change in water temperature would mean a whole new gender for me." Ranma smiled sadly, earning him a confused gaze from Raven. Ranma pointed towards his seat silently. "You probably didn't notice, because my aura's been blinding hot lately. Probably because of anger, or something... so it's simultaneously melting the snow around me and heating the water up."

Raven blinked when she stared at Ranma's position. He was right, since she really looked at it now, that Ranma's seat on the snow has been melted off, exposing the damp soil underneath. A slight mist emanated from it as well.

"Oh, the curse has its uses..." The boy commented wryly, "I used it to take a few free extra scoops of ice cream, as well as it's a very good disguise. I would've been happy to show you, but as you can see, my aura's still going strong. I can't control it, yet, so I need the limiters to dampen it. Don't worry, once my aunt arrives, I'll give you a show on curses."

Before Raven could comment, Lenneth suddenly spoke, "Ranma-sama... they are coming."

Ranma snapped his head to the horizon, his brow furrowing slightly, "Damn... they're not gonna give me some piece of mind, ne?"

"They...?" Raven asked curiously.

Ranma replied without turning away from his gaze on the horizon, saying, "Those super weirdos I met a while ago, as well as your friends. Judging from their auras, they're not gonna give me any time to explain the situation."

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Just beyond the horizon, a group of extraordinary beings sped across the ocean in haste, eager to face their recent adversary.

Never mind that he's very powerful.

Superman, who's currently taking point, led the group of superheroes towards Japan, where the Watch Tower's computer has detected their target's presence should be. He was a bit eager to face this boy, Ranma, and test his strength against him. Not only does Superman felt a bit of anger seeing a few of his team mates hesitant in this battle, but he felt his pride was being slighted. This Ranma punk ignored him basically most of the time, and he felt he should correct that. Besides, the reports coming in from China firmed his resolve to end this conflict by nipping it at the bud, and Ranma is the bud.

The Martian Manhunter, otherwise known as J'onn J'onzz, flew beside his fellow team member. In truth, he was actually quite reluctant in facing the boy again. But he had to help his team somehow, even if only to save them when they fall. His telepathic mind could ascern a bit of what his team mates felt. Only one felt the same as him.

Wonder Woman, also known as Diana, flew near the Martian Manhunter. She definitely did not want to be there, but she had to at least be there to witness this battle. Her historical heritage firmly believed in respecting the gods, and facing one in such a stature as the Chooser of the Slain, albeit of another pantheon, her feelings about this fight were that of hesitance. She firmly resolved that she would not participate in this pointless drabble, but she would help save the fallen Heroes if they needed it.

The Dark Knight of Gotham, Batman, was the group's benefactor in providing them with funds AND the Watch Tower itself. He's currently in his Bat Plane or something, which was basically a sleek black plane small enough for two passengers. Not surprisingly, it was shaped like a bat, much like most of Batman's weapons. He was a bit infuriated at their quarry, since it was the first time he was baffled over someone. Batman prided himself on being able to read people, as well as providing enough information to choke the living daylights out of anyone. But this Ranma character was an enigma. He found some evidences that he existed in their world, but this one was confirmed dead a few months past.

The Green Lantern, whose real name was Jon Stewart, was currently flying under his own power, rather, his ring's power, much like Superman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter. He didn't really have anything against this target of theirs, but he's a member of the team. Besides, he was rather curious as to how powerful this boy really was. If Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter's reactions were any indication, it would be something else. Besides, he also knew a bit about the powerful Saiyajins. They were quite an unsociable bunch, but were very skilled fighters. Despite their monkey-like appearances, the Saiyajins were highly evolved.

So far, they were the Justice League members who went to meet the source of the world's disturbance. But it wasn't only the Justice League that approached Ranma...

A bit behind the older superheroes, a younger generation of Heroes followed them. The Teen Titans, as they have named themselves, were currently on a slightly different mission. While they were after this Ranma individual as well, their main target was actually their team mate, Raven.

The gothic half-demon girl has adopted the job of guarding Ranma, but she disappeared along with her ward in China. It was then that the Justice League contacted them, and told them of their friend's whereabouts.

Raven was with Ranma, and has suffered a drastic change. At least, according to the visual confirmation from their older counterparts.

Robin, the appointed leader of the Teen Titans, wore a stoic face that would've made his former mentor, Batman, proud. He was currently riding on a giant green Pterodactyl. His mind was currently filled with questions, like why Raven disappeared with Ranma, and also why she hasn't contacted them once when she was with her ward. Robin has surmised that their resident dark girl was brainwashed by Ranma.

The green Pterodactyl was also known as Beast Boy. He had transformed himself into such to accommodate his friends who didn't have the luxury of flight. He, like Robin, was currently worried for Raven's well-being. And also, his frustration was centered mainly on Ranma, since for some reason the red-tailed boy was at the center of everyone's attention right now.

Riding along with Robin on the green flying dinosaur was Cyborg. Just like the others, he was quite worried about the welfare of the dark girl. When they formed the Teen Titans, he has been acting quite like an older brother to the rest of the team when needed. This was especially true for Raven, since most of the time she kept to herself. She needed some sort of support from anyone, particularly from the group. While the others did contribute to her continued patronage of their group, he has been trying to coax the girl to open up more, but usually ended up talking a one-sided conversation most of the time. Nevertheless, he could see in Raven's eyes that somehow, she was grateful for his effort.

Flying alongside this giant green creature was the Tamaranian princess Koriand'r, her more popular name was Starfire. The normally cheerful redhead was currently sporting a frown on her face. She knew of the distasteful reputation the Sai-Yahn left across several star systems, particularly theirs. It has been years back before she was born, when three small spherical pods crashed into their planet. They turned out to be toddlers with monkey tails, and bad attitudes that would've made her guardian Galford cringe. It was only when nighttime came that the carnage began. With their moon having its full face exposed, the Sai-Yahns changed from those small toddlers, into gigantic monkeys. The trio started their rampage, ravaging their lands mercilessly and attacking anyone that tried to stand in their way. Many of her people were killed that time, and it was only after having more than a half of their total population murdered that they were able to subdue and finally kill the beasts.

Starfire absolutely despised the foul creatures, but she had to curb her own lust for its destruction when her friend Raven took the Sai-Yahn under her wing. She tried to warn them before, and now friend Raven was taken by this vile creature as his hostage, just as she had predicted.

Now, the Justice League and the Teen Titans were approaching the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. The last known location for Ranma was in the vicinity of Mount Fuji, one of the most prominent sights of Japan.

Sure enough, Superman signaled to his companions, as he sighted three unknowns lurking atop the said mountain. Using his enhanced vision, he spied upon the Valkyrie, the Teen Titan member Raven, and finally, the young man called Ranma. He also saw that the three already knew they were coming, and that they were probably awaiting their arrival.

His jaw set, Superman surged on, followed by his fellow Heroes. Together, they will battle their most 'evil' enemy to date.

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The 'great villain' was currently trying not to sulk as he watched the big group of people arriving at his and his companions' position.

Ranma could still feel his blood boiling, screaming for something to fight. He had to stave off the urges, since he felt a bit mortified at what happened with the Amazons. He was also quite disturbed as to how easily he dealt with Genma, and how much he wanted it to happen. He wasn't able to distinguish the difference anymore, between his battle lust and his own feelings.

Everything in his life was so damn complicated.

He shook himself out of those thoughts as he concentrated on what's in front of him. He glanced to his side, and Ranma saw that Lenneth was calm as always. Raven, on the other hand, tensed a lot when he mentioned the incoming 'guests'. Sure enough, the silhouettes from the horizon grew in size, as the group of Heroes approached their position in great speeds.

He did feel the aura of Raven's friends, and he was thinking to himself that she was probably feeling worried about her friends.

Ranma can't have that now, can he?

"I can feel your friends coming..." Ranma commented lightly, solidifying his conclusion earlier as Raven tensed some more, "Don't worry. I won't hurt them..." he finished resolutely. He was thinking that Raven was worried that he might get out of hand with his fights as he did with the Amazons.

Raven shook her head, her now long purple hair swishing against the air, "That's not really what I'm worried about. I'm actually thinking how they'll react to this... to what happened to us. I've known them for quite some time, and I'm sure they're probably thinking that you've brainwashed me or something."

"I would not take it out of consideration if I were you, Ranma-sama..." Lenneth interjected, "As we have seen how the 'Heroes' in this world reacted when I and my fellow Valkyries arrived, it would not be beyond for them to think as much."

Ranma's face hardened, and both his female companions were a bit worried that he might fly into potent rage, but he took a deep breath and relaxed. "If that's the case..." Ranma began, his hand clenched into a fist, "Then friend or no, if they harm any one of you, I will get them back ten fold. I promise."

"Well, I hope it won't come to that..." Raven said dryly, her brow rising at the conviction in Ranma's words. She could feel the bouts of emotions from him very well. As far as she can tell, he's pretty much serious when he said those words.

Oh sure, that's why her agitation grew as the combined forces of the Justice League members and her own team mates, the Teen Titans, rallied just yards away from their position. And with Superman at point, too.

It would seem that the Media has been alerted regarding the Justice League members' sudden mobilization, and followed the entourage via small helicopters that were hovering meters away from the scene. Their cameras were trained on the scene.

Raven eyed the group warily. Ranma had his head bowed, his eyes searching the snow curiously for some reason. Lenneth was on her guard, her hand latched upon her weapon Levantine, ready to attack at the slightest hint of aggression from the group.

The currently demonic girl was looking at her team mates questioningly, her eyes searching theirs for answers. They gave back their own curious looks on her new appearance, causing Raven to wrap her bat wings around her waist in a vain attempt to shrink upon herself.

Robin, as far as Raven saw, was visibly controlling his temper. His brow was raised rather high on his forehead, and Raven knew it was a sure sign that he was rather angered by what he saw. Behind him, Cyborg was alternately glaring at her and Ranma with his one human eye, his right hand pressing something on his left arm. She just knew Cyborg was recalibrating the settings of his arm cannon. Beast Boy was a... large prehistoric bird at the moment, but she could see ins the green skinned bird's eyes that he was angry as well. Starfire was... livid, to put it simply. Her hands clenched into fists, her arms straight at her sides shaking slightly, her eyes burning holes into Ranma's head and were glowing bright green... yep. All the signs of a severely agitated Tamaranian.

It was inevitable, Raven surmised, that a big and pointless battle will be fought here.

""Ranma Saotome!"" Superman's voice boomed across the area in English, shaking some of the snow off the slopes that overlooked Mount Fuji, ""We are here to take you into custody, for that... incident... in China!""

Ranma remained as he was, looking down intently at the snow, and ignored Superman's words. This lack of action was taken badly by the Justice League.

""W-Wait!"" Raven called out, who stood up quickly when she saw the Heroes gathering their powers to attack, ""He didn't do anything wrong! Those people... they attacked him! He was defending himself!""

""Be silent, friend Raven!"" Starfire shouted at her, causing the dark girl to flinch slightly, ""What has been done to you? You are under this demon's thrall! We will free you!""

Raven shook her head in denial, looking at the Teen Titan's leader pleadingly, ""N-No... he didn't do anything... he... he helped...""

""Starfire's right, Raven."" Robin intoned grimly, reaching into his belt as he pulled a batarang out of one of its pockets. He continued, ""A lot of people have been hurt. We saw it when Batman sent us the footage. He massacred those people... and he changed you. Look at yourself! He influenced you so bad that he physically changed you!""

""P-Please... just listen to..."" Raven began, but she was cut off once again.

Cyborg spoke this time, and his tone was by no means angrier than the rest. He growled as his arm transformed into the cannon he has been so proud off, aiming it directly towards Ranma. He said, ""Girl, this is for your own good! Now step back and let us do the work this time, or else...""

The green Pterodactyl screeched loudly as it nodded with its team mates, ready to attack anytime.

Raven was about to plead again, but she was silenced when a metallic hiss brought her to look towards Lenneth. The Valkyrie has pulled out her sword, the expression on her face was serious as her bluish armor materialized all over her body.

The Valkyrie spoke without taking her eyes off the newcomers, saying, ""It will not do any good, Raven. They are bent upon attacking, long before they came here. They will not back down.""

Raven was distressed when she heard those words, squelching the surprised feeling of being able to feel such emotions as of late. Right now, her concerns lay more on the misunderstanding rather than her own troubles. She knew Lenneth was right; she has been a member of the Teen Titans since it began, and she knew how her team mates will react on her current situation. She was hoping that she could convince them to listen and stand down, but things have gone down the drain already. It seemed that they were set on taking Ranma on.

It wasn't really that she was worried about Ranma's welfare... okay, she does. Slightly. But... she was a lot more worried about what Ranma will do to THEM. Raven was able to have a little peek in his chaotic mind, and Ranma was beyond all of them. Well, they could've taken him if his powers weren't reawakened, or probably able to tire him off if his limiters were intact, but now both were moot points anyway. And right now, she could feel Ranma's irritation growing, and she sensed that he might fight back without any remorse once again.

Just like what happened to those Amazons...

Raven had no time to concentrate on her ruminations as a familiar 'click' caused her to swivel her head towards where the Teen Titans were. Quite frankly, she was quite shocked as she heard what her leader, Robin, had said so clearly.

""Titans, GO!"" Robin shouted as he ducked low, allowing Cyborg a free shot on the red-tailed being with semi-transparent wings that ignored them blatantly.

The dark girl felt her heart wrenched, since she knew the scene was SO wrong. She wanted to blast her team mates badly, to defend Ranma from the attack. But somehow, the emanations from Ranma clearly indicated that she should curb her anger and do nothing.

((To HELL with it!)) Her heart screamed, ignoring what her 'bonded' tried to mentally tell her. Cyborg's cannon was already lit with blue energy, ready to be released towards Ranma. And release he did.

Cyborg prided upon his work. His cybernetic body has been well tuned to perfection, at least in his standards. His prized possession was his main weapon, his joy, his ultimate tool of personal justice to anyone who messed with him, his team, and the world. Right now, he was proud it was going to serve its purpose. This... being in front of them took Raven and brainwashed her. This being also changed her into his own needs, and now he was mentally controlling Raven to garner sympathy from them. The man's outer appearance was that of an angel, but he was more evil than the demons of Hell themselves.

Oh yes... he was really going to enjoy blasting this man and freeing Raven from his clutches! He felt satisfied as his weapon screamed its vengeance, its blue beam traveling a straight path towards the target.

Which was why Cyborg was sufficiently surprised, even shocked to immobility, when he found Raven's body appearing all of the sudden in his beam's path. His heart almost stopped when his beam was directed into Raven's path.

There was no way she could dodge in time.

It wasn't anything really special. But it was enough for Ranma to snap out of his trance.

A loud metallic clang echoed all over the mountain's face, as Lenneth Valkyrie valiantly blocked the half-robot's blast directly with her sword. She saw the reckless actions of her fellow, and opted to do the same as well. She immediately flew in front of the demonic girl and blocked, without thinking about it whatsoever. The Valkyrie commander was very grateful that her sword's special properties made it highly impervious to breakage, and thus she was successful in deflecting the blast.

Ranma was about to take action, but a loud hiss from Raven froze him on the spot.

""Don't fight, Master Ranma..."" Raven implored her bonded, unmindful that she had just called him her 'master' once again. She hated being tied down like that to ANYone, not even her father, but she felt that way towards the man with currently long spiky red hair. She was quite thankful when Ranma finally settled back down on his spot, watching the proceedings with a wary eye.

Back to the group of Heroes, Superman's gaze narrowed as he watched the scene. With Raven and the other woman's reactions, this will not be an easy mission. Still, he doesn't want to hurt the Teen Titan member, but if things went on as they were, he will have no choice but to bring the girl down. Turning to his side, Superman eyed Wonder Woman, his eyes asking for help on this turn of events.

The Amazon Princess looked the Son of Krypton straight in the eye and shook her head. There will be no help coming from her, nor will there be ANY action towards their quarry from her. Darting her eyes to the side, she has seen that even the Martian Manhunter floated stoically as he watched the proceedings. His muscles were relaxed, so there was nothing planned on his mind as well.

Actually, the pupiless eyes of the Martian Manhunter gazed at Raven, trying to dive into her surface thoughts. He did manage to detect something that existed between the demonic looking girl and the man with the red tail, but it was mutual and unforced. Before he can delve deeper into it, he winced when something dark and ominous kicked him out of the fold. Not that the two noticed his subtle attempts to mind-read them, so it seemed that there was an automated mind shield strong enough to repel his probes.

""I will not attack. They have not done any wrong doing..."" Diana, AKA Wonder Woman finally responded vocally, ""And also, fighting in front of a Divine being is somewhat... disrespectful.""

Green Lantern sighed. He was all on capturing this future threat, so that they will not be troubled by it anymore in the long run. ""We need to do this, Diana. Can't you see what he did to that poor girl? She's in his thrall now.""

""I do not detect any 'enslaving' involved..."" J'onn, the Martian Manhunter spoke this time, ""In fact, it's a mutual bond.""

""I don't find it in myself to care about it..."" Batman's cold voice emanated from the external speakers of his Bat Plane, ""No matter how benign you think it is, this Ranma person is still an unknown. And with whatever happened between him and Raven, I'm sorry to say this Robin, but your sorceress has been compromised.""

At the transformed Beast Boy's back, Robin nodded albeit hesitantly, saying, ""I understand.""

Cyborg was quite reluctant, but his organic eye shone in determination, ironically. Starfire was agreeing completely to Batman's assessment, while Beast Boy was... a giant prehistoric flying dinosaur.

Seeing that the Justice League and the Teen Titans were busy discussing something that seemed so important to them, Ranma snorted silently as he watched the members bicker amongst themselves. He wordlessly stood up, ignoring the patronizing looks Raven and Lenneth gave him, and touched them by their shoulders with each hand.

"I won't let you have your fun by letting me sit this fight out, while you enjoy yourselves..." Ranma deadpanned softly in Japanese. Without allowing his companions to reply, he concentrated on one place he knew to be safe from most danger, and focused his being into being transported there.

Before any of the Heroes noticed, Ranma, Raven and Lenneth quickly phased out Mount Fuji's mountain top in bright motes of light.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Really, Ranma... you should warn us before you go and teleporting us like that all over the place..." Raven grumbled as she reasserted her firm hold on the center of her body's gravity. The bat wings jutting out of her back still got her balance off, but she was slowly learning.

Lenneth shrugged delicately as she sheathed her sword. She was used to any means of teleportation, one of her advantages as a divine being. Instead of speaking, she took notice of her surroundings, and saw that they had appeared inside someone's house.

Ranma sighed as he shifted his long red hair to one side, allowing the spiky locks to cascade down his back once again. "I didn't have the time to warn you 'bout it. If you haven't noticed, we were in the middle of a tight situation there."

The three stood in the middle of the house, in its living room as it seemed. The presence of the sofa and the flowery arrangements made to entice visitors cemented that fact.

The Chooser of the Slain was quite amazed by the place Ranma has taken them to. The aura of the things around the place were simply peaceful and serene. "Where are we?" she voiced out, still craning her neck for a good long look at the various pictures around them.

Raven was currently busy looking towards something. "Uhm... guys... there's this auburn-haired lady in a... kimono looking at us. She also has this weird object wrapped in blankets in her hands."

"Erk..." Ranma noised, as he stiffened and slowly turned to where Raven was pointing boredly. If the demonic girl's description was correct, then his instincts brought him to one place he knew would be safe for the meantime. And if his memories of his old life was still applicable, then someone should be in the house right now.

Sure enough, a red haired middle aged woman stood at a doorway, which Ranma knew led to the kitchen of the house. How did Ranma know this? Well...

"R-RANMA-CHAN!" The red haired woman shrieked in a high-pitched tone, her voice cracked with emotion. Then, her dark eyes rolled up, before her body fell to the ground like a puppet cut of its strings. It was a good thing that a pair of strong arms, which belonged to Ranma, caught her or else she would've been hurt badly.

The red haired man chuckled nervously, as he fought the urge to scratch the back of his head. By the looks given to him by his companions, he wasn't about to get away with the innocent look. He sighed, saying, "Well, whaddya know? I accidentally teleported us to my analogue's home. Imagine that?"

Lenneth and Raven shared a look, before turning back to Ranma, saying, "Oh really..."

After a few minutes...

"Your analogue's MOTHER!" Raven boggled at the latest secret being revealed to her. A little while ago, Ranma has been explaining to her who the woman was, and why her reaction was such to his appearance. Well, aside from the fact that they just appeared out of nowhere...

Lenneth just had to point out, "Do you not think this will lead into many misunderstandings, Ranma-sama? The thoughts of this woman alone when she saw her long lost, dead son alive and well in front of her must be in total disarray."

"Can't help it..." Ranma said dejectedly. He knew it was a serious situation, and could potentially be a paradox of some sort or whatever babble Washuu ingrained into him, but his abilities in teleportation brought him here in the first place. Instincts has brought him here into his analogue's mother's house.

"Anyway... wait... she's coming to..." Raven observed as the red haired woman laying on the tatami mats moaned slightly, before flinching as she began the slow process of 'waking up'.

The woman, obviously, was the Saotome Nodoka of that world. Born out of a different family, her maiden name was Seta. Her family was well known for being a wealthy sort, with its decent samurai heritage which dated back to the first recorded Seta, a certain Seta Soujirou, a few years after the Revolution. Nodoka's forefather was a reformed assassin, who was a member of a group that almost brought about a new era of chaos by burning Kyoto. After the debacle, Seta Soujiro became a wanderer, and has done great deeds in various cities and provinces he managed to pass through. He finally settled down after a few years of travel in the same city he almost had helped burn down, which was Kyoto. There began the growth of the Seta Clan, as well as their reformed prestige of being worthy protectors of the State.

Now, the poor woman's only child was taken from her by her husband a good eleven years ago, give or take. She later found out that her son, Ranma, died in honorable combat. The news was delivered to her by Tendo Akane, Ranma's fiancee. At least, one of them. Nodoka has refrained herself from fully breaking down into tears, managing only a few drops escape from the corners of her eyes. She was a martial artist's wife, and a martial artist herself; she wasn't unfamiliar with the uncertainties of battles, and death was surely one of them.

It was a good thing that the youngest Tendo came to her, since she was able to learn more about her son's life afterwards. The shock of Ranma's death evaporated, only to be replaced by fury, when Nodoka learned of Ranma's 'training mishaps' because of Genma.

It took several people to stop her from going into a rampage and smiting the cowering panda with her katana.

Nodoka was adamant in her appeal for divorce, though. She succeeded with ease, because a lot of people has come to her aid and testified on her former husband's claim of neglect. Therefore, it wouldn't be right to call Saotome Nodoka as such. She was to be called Seto Nodoka.

The fainted woman finally stirred from her impromptu fainting, her memories showing her of an image she had longed to see since she received her son's demise.

Ranma was alive. Somehow. Was it a dream? Nodoka almost choked down a bout of tears as she tried to dispel the damning vision she saw just before she lost her consciousness. She finally sighed and struggled to sit up, and was quite surprised when she was helped up by at least three pair of hands.

When Nodoka's eyes lifted up to see who helped her, she focused on the more masculine of the arms that held her, and saw that his eyes were much MUCH different than she anticipated. Now that she had the chance to look at the young man, his features was EXACTLY like Ranma, except that his hair was blood red in color, and it was in a massive disarray all over his back. He wore an elaborate ensemble, something that she perceived that is of an armor of some sort. His eyes, kami, his eyes were like twin suns rising across a cloudless sky.

She had the sudden urge to faint once again, but it was stifled when the Ranma look-alike spoke, "Are you all right, Saotome-san?"

Nodoka blinked rapidly as she tried to make sure the image before her was real. After at least a minute of waiting in silence, she finally opened her mouth and said, "R-Ranma?"

"Uhmm..." The red haired man chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head in nervousness, "Yyyyyeeeeaaaahh... but... BUT! Before you go completely crazy over the prospect of seeing an image of me once again, I have to tell you something really important. So I need you to be coherent for this one, Saotome-san."

"H-Hai..." Nodoka said in awe.

"W-Well..." Ranma suddenly stammered, his resolve gone as the woman's attention was riveted on him. "Err... that is to say..."

Raven snorted from the side as she watched the proceedings with slight impatience. "Just get on with it, Ranma."

"Right..." The young man deadpanned, "Easy for you to say. Anyway... well, the thing is, I'm Ranma... that's true. But I'm not YOUR Ranma. Before you ask... I'm not from this dimension. I have my own version of you as my mother, technically. I'm sorry to say, but your son of this world, my analogue, has truly passed on."

"I... I see..." Nodoka visibly deflated, her hope extinguished once again. But somehow, she already knew that this Ranma wasn't her son, looks non withstanding. It was the way this Ranma carried himself... that had put him apart from her biological son. Now that her fears were confirmed, she tried not to cry, for she felt this would happen somehow. But she couldn't help herself; it hurts too much for her that her only son was dead. As the memories of her pain and anguish came back to her, her person was on the verge of tears. Before her tears fell, Nodoka felt warm arms embrace her from behind, offering her the much-needed comfort she had longed for.

"Don't cry, Nodoka-mama..." Ranma murmured against the physically older red haired woman, pulling the distraught woman into his arms, "It pains me to see you crying. Though I don't think I have any right to call you such."

Nodoka turned herself in his arms and finally let loose. Her wail was heard all over the neighborhood, while she cried into Ranma's chest. All her pent-up emotions she kept all these months were finally released.

Ranma, on the other hand, just let his analogue's mother cry herself out. It would seem that this has a long time coming, and it was only up until now that Nodoka was able to hold herself up. He wanted to let the woman lay on his lap to rest while she cried, but she never relented in her death grip around him. Her embrace on him grew tighter though, but Ranma endured the torture.

Lenneth looked on the scene with a bit of curiosity, as well as mild jealousy. As a divine being, she didn't have the luxury of having to be taken cared of by parents, and as far as she can remember, she never had one. The only concrete evidence of her past was that of her life under Chaos' tutelage, as well as Hild's.

The former Saotome Matriarch's tears slowly trickled into sniffles, as she hesitantly pulled herself out of the young man's arms. She looked up to his face and saw a longing look that melted her heart.

"Are you all right, young man?" Nodoka asked softly, her heart beating loudly as she gazed at the man who has her son's face. She didn't mind at all, since now that she looked closer at him, she realized that there were a lot of differences with her own son and this 'analogue'.

"Sorry..." Ranma removed his gaze from Nodoka and said, "It's just that... it has been so long since I've seen my surrogate mother. You see, Nodoka-mama of my world wasn't my blood mother, although she was the one who gave birth to me."

Nodoka just nodded solemnly. "I will not ask for any details about how THAT came to be. But... can you tell me about her, though? It might help... with the loneliness."

Ranma smiled slightly, which was mirrored by both Raven and Lenneth. "I'll be glad to, but first... let me introduce my friends. This is Raven, and Lenneth."

Nodoka fixed her posture on the tatami mat quickly and bowed her head to the ground as she said, "Welcome to my humble home, dear guests. It's an honor to meet you."

Lenneth bowed just the same, but not before conveying a look towards Raven saying that she should follow the Valkyrie's lead. The two girls lowered their heads to the tatami mat.

"The pleasure's all ours, Nodoka-sama." Lenneth answered for the both of them, since Raven wasn't too familiar on the customs of the country as of yet.

The seemingly older red haired woman sat upright and faced Ranma eagerly. "Now that the introductions are over, can you tell me what you could about yourself and anything you want me to know? I'm... interested. This is a new experience for me."

"You have no idea." The trio said altogether in unison.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Watch Tower, main base of operations for the Justice League...

It has been seven days since the historical escape of the great super villain Ranma, his brainwashed accomplice Raven formerly of the Teen Titans, and his bodyguard Lenneth. The report has been all over the news, thanks to the lone Media crew that was bold enough to take on the endeavor of filming the whole thing. Although when the people reviewed the whole scene, the term 'super villain' used on Ranma was being questioned.

Batman was currently at the main control console, typing away on the keyboard as he furiously scouted on the Earth's surface. He was trying to find any small indication of Ranma and his companions' presence anywhere on Earth. Seven days have passed... a whole week... and there was still nothing on their scopes. How did this Ranma person manage to disappear like that, as well as hide his accomplices as well?

A few days ago, Gotham's Dark Knight has asked his former sidekick, Robin, of the information they have regarding Ranma. Since the weird young man was first seen by the Teen Titans, they would be the only ones on the planet who knew Ranma better.

((Not that it would matter anyhow...)) Batman thought to himself darkly. He glared at the image of the raven haired pigtailed young man who was supposed to be Ranma. That was before that debacle in China, wherein he emerged as this red haired demon they're fighting now. The first picture was taken from the Teen Titans, from one of their surveillance cameras that littered around their T-Tower.

It was bad enough that the trio had blatantly made fun of the League when they managed to clearly escape them, while the Heroes bickered amongst themselves. Now the Media was questioning the League's intentions to the world since Ranma never tried to fight back, while Raven and that Valkyrie girl moved to protect him. Superman was clearly pissed off at the Houdini act, and Batman surmised that the Kryptonian wanted to fight Ranma by himself.

Shaking his head warily, the Batman eyed an enhanced image of Japan, particularly in a district called Juuban. A large red dot was blinking; this showed the current location of Ranma, Raven and Lenneth. He managed to successfully isolate the intense power that came from the trio apart from the energies surrounding Juuban, and its neighboring town Nerima. Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were already dispatched to take care of the situation, as well as Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy of the Teen Titans. One of the newer recruits of the League, such as Supergirl, also came with the attack force. The other new upcoming members were currently busy taking care of their own missions around the world, and it was only Supergirl that was free at the time. The Martian Manhunter refused to go into a meaningless battle, and opted to just stay in the Watch Tower to monitor things.

Because of the current situation, the Justice League has decided to accept more members in their elite group. It would seem that some foes were too much even for the original members. There was strength in numbers, after all.

Just as he was about to settle on his seat in front of the console, alarms rang all over the Watch Tower. Batman quickly read the warning message that sprang out of the screen, which said that someone has breached the Watch Tower.

The Green Arrow, one of the recruits, as well as the Martian Manhunter, appeared at the Watch Tower's control room in haste. They quickly looked at the Bat for confirmation of their fears, and their agitation came forth when the dark knight nodded grimly. The computer started beeping as it finally pinpointed the exact location where the breach occurred, as well as the location of the trespasser.

It was in the Watch Tower's Power Core room.

When the three superheroes finally arrived at the core room, they got the biggest surprise of their life. Because struggling to stand just a few feet away from the core was Green Lantern, but his features were a bit off. His body was riddled with bleeding cuts and bruises, and his uniform was torn nearly to bits over his barely clothed body.

""How can this be?"" Batman muttered loudly, carefully walking towards the struggling newcomer with his companions behind him, ""I know Lantern was with the other group that went to Japan. So how did he get here?""

Martian Manhunter said nothing, but he floated past Batman and reached for the Green Lantern's hand. The Arfrican-American hero shot him a look of gratitude as he was helped by the Martian to stand up.

Before anyone else managed to say a word in, the Green Lantern said in a hoarse voice, ""T-Tell me... h-have you already encountered t-the being called... R-Ranma?""

Green Arrow's brow raised behind his mask and asked, ""Ain't 'cha with the other's down on Earth? We're the ones who shoulda been asking that.""

The battered hero sighed deeply as he slumped against the Martian Manhunter and said, ""G-Good... it means I'm n-not too l-late..." and fell unconscious.

Batman, Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter looked at one another, the questions in their minds very evident.

((What the heck happened here?)) They all thought in unison. Before they could even settle on the thought of having a second Green Lantern in their world though, the alarms of the Watch Tower blared once again.

Batman and the others quickly went to the control room. Lo and behold, the large viewscreen was delivering a message from Planet Oa, the home world for the Green Lantern Corps. There was an emergency on the home world, as they were being attacked by something. When they showed the image of the attacker, Batman grimaced under his mask, and the older Green Lantern whimpered slightly.

""It's... it's that cyborg that Lex Luthor funded its creation so that it may be pitted against the Justice League..."" Batman stated as he stared at the subject. Like a miniature comet, the cyborg plowed all over the wall of Green Lantern operatives. The Lanterns were helpless as the cyborg stopped in midair and gestured at something. The Guardians were about to order another full scale attack when all of the sudden, the planet was overcome with darkness. The last transmission showed a rapidly vanishing Planet Oa, with the image of the golden cyborg floating in the middle of space.

The Martian Manhunter was first to speak, ""I think we need to contact Superman about the developments...""

Nobody refuted that one.

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of Juuban...

The Seta summer house was a thing of beauty. The trees around the spacious lot cooled the area, especially during the hot season. The house was a gift to the clan's youngest daughter, Seta Nodoka, before she got married to Saotome Genma. The Seta clan was thoroughly against Nodoka's marriage to a man with a very questionable past, but the girl at the time was in love. Genma was quite the smooth talker when he was young.

The house itself has two floors, but there was a third floor that acted as a storage area for unused things. The koi pond at the east side of the compound was easily twice the size of that from the Tendo Dojo.

At the edge of the pond was a meditating Raven, who remained in her demonic form for most of her stay in the home. Well, actually, she turned into the angel once yesterday because of a certain shocking experience. She finally found out about Ranma's curse, the one her 'bonded' mentioned some time ago.

It was quite a simple thing actually; Nodoka accidentally tipped a glass of cold water on a hapless Ranma, who wasn't near ready to fend off the water. Raven would've freaked out, if it wasn't for the link she could've attacked Ranma without question. Instead, she fainted mercilessly, allowing her other self to go into the forefront. Her angelic persona was more than willing to accept the curse, in fact, she was enthusiastically splashing the poor red-tailed hybrid with different temperatures of water.

Nodoka wasn't surprised at all at Ranma's change as well as Raven's, since her own son was cursed in Jusenkyo. Raven's change wasn't the weirdest thing she has ever seen, after all. There were a lot more mysterious things she has witnessed in the past. The event only cemented the proof that the Ranma in front of her was really an analogue of her deceased son. Lenneth on the other hand was more amused than anything. Of course she knew all about Ranma's predicament, since she was a divine being after all.

Sometime before sleeping in last night, demonic Raven managed to wrest control over the shared body, and maintained it up until now. She was currently in a trance, as she was trying to tally the changes done to her physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

Raven found herself in a weird predicament. She was free from Trigon's control, much to her happiness. Though she was still a bit concerned, since she has been living her life without relying on her emotions. Now that she has the sudden freedom to express them, she was at a loss. Also, her acute multiple personality disorder was apparently cured. Well, better dwindling it down into two personalities than several of them, right? Another fact was that the world within herself, Nevermore, totally vanished once Ranma was finished with it. Speaking of Ranma, he has passed the severed link between Trigon and Raven to himself. He can't destroy that link, since it would be too much of a shock for Raven. In an unconscious effort of consideration of her mental stability, he linked it into himself.

The mental bond between Raven and Ranma was mysterious, to put it mildly. The half-demon was quite rattled by the fact that she can't go beyond a certain point in Ranma's mind. Although the information she has received from Ranma's surface thoughts and memories were more than enough, Raven cannot help but wonder what was beyond the dark void that repelled her prodding. There were millions of slitted eyes that stared on her mind self whenever she tried to breach the darkness, and Raven felt extreme fear when those eyes locked unto her. So, she reluctantly left the area alone.

Once of the greatest mysteries of her situation was the physical change she underwent. Raven assumed that most of her darker visage was concentrated on her demonic form, while her lighter ones became the angelic form. She noticed that she stayed in her demonic form more often, and surmised that since she was normally brooding and dark, it stuck to her even with her emotional freedom. Her changes depended upon her mental fatigue and physical condition, as well as emotional stress.

Her troubles were far from over, as she struggled not to think of how her fellow teammates tried to take her down along with her master. ((Mind control? Come on... Ranma has no such skills...)) she thought to herself.

So deep was the demonic girl into her meditations that she hadn't felt the powerful presence that appeared in the yard. She bit off a scream when she was surprised by a few taps on her shoulder. Raven abruptly faced the trespasser, only recognizing then that it was Ranma in female form. Her hair color had no change whatsoever, and the neo-girl still let her hair down her back. The most surprising thing was that Onna-Ranma was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, and also floated upside down.

Onna-Ranma raised a delicate eyebrow as she stared at Raven's surprised face. The demonic girl looked at her with wide eyes, with her hand clutched at her chest and her other hand poised for a spell. The aquatransexual snorted and said, "You were deep into your meditations."

Raven's breath slowed to a more normal pace as she looked at Ranma in girl form warily. She didn't notice his... err, her presence until she tapped her shoulder. "Anyone will be surprised being tapped on the shoulder by a person who can fly upside down. Anyway... I was busy tallying the changes in my body..." she finally said.

The red haired girl winced. "About that... how are you holding up?"

"Aside from the random changes into that disgustingly sweet angel personality, I'd say I'm okay. I'm still trying to cope with being free of expressing emotions..." Raven sighed as she settled unto her seat on the grass once again as she gazed on the koi pond's surface.

Onna-Ranma shook her head warily. "I'm... sorry if I caused you any troubles... believe me, it wasn't my intention."

"I know..." The demon-like girl nodded without looking at her companion, "I'll get through this, don't worry."

The neo-girl looked at the blue sky wistfully and said in a softer voice, "It's just that... when I saw how screwed up your emotions are like that, I just couldn't help but... feel that I had to do something. Not for the sake of doing it, but because it's the right thing to do, and that nobody should suffer that much emotional strain. That link you had with Trigon... when I encountered it and severed it, I had no idea what to do with it."

Raven nodded once again. "You immediately let it latch to something all on its own, so... now we have a link."

"Yeah..." Onna-Ranma smiled slightly, "I don't really mind. I mean, Rin-Ohki has a link with me as well, so another one won't hurt. Just... don't poke in there too much. It could get... messy. There are some things in there that I don't even wanna see or remember, but I access them when I need the information."

"I noticed that when I tried to look deeper into our link..." Raven drawled out, "I encountered a very strong resistance, so I didn't pursue anymore."

Onna-Ranma grinned. "That's good. Anyway, I'm sorry that you have to get mixed up in my life. As you can see, hardly anything that happens to me can be called 'normal'."

The dark-clad girl shrugged and said, "Don't worry about it. I chose to go with you, and you even helped me without asking for anything in return. In reality, I'm indebted to you far more than you can ever imagine. I'm glad to be rid of my father's influence, even if I have to endure a few minor side-effects out of it."

"That's good... because I---" Onna-Ranma paused in his words as his head snapped towards somewhere into the sky. Raven noticed this and tried to snap her out of it, but she failed.

"Ranma?" Raven called to the unmoving young man beside her, "Ranma... what's wrong?"

Onna-Ranma's lips firmed into a straight line and said, "Some of the Justice League members are coming... and... hmmm there's something really powerful coming from outer space."

The Teen Titan member blinked at the being she bonded with, and asked, "You can feel them?"

The red haired girl shrugged noncommitedly, "Yeah I do. When you go on with your life always being attacked for one reason or another, you'll havta learn how to detect your enemy's presence before they could reach you. The knowledge will give you enough time to decide whether to fight or flee."

"So..." Raven swallowed noisily, as she once again marveled at her companion's calmness in this dire situation they're in, "What do you think we should do?"

Onna-Ranma snorted, slowly rotating her body into the normal sitting position, as normal as she can get it by maintaining her hovering height above ground. "We might have to do something about those super dorks first. No offense, but those guys are too hot-headed for some reason. Which reminds me, Raven-chan, that your group already has 'one strike' in my book. They attacked without provocation from me, and almost hit you if not for Lenneth's intervention. I might not give them up to 'strike three', not when they're attacking anyone who's associated with me."

"But isn't staying here the same? They might attack your analogue's mother needlessly, like they did with us..." Raven pointed out.

The boy turned girl growled softly and said, "They'd better not. Besides, Nodoka-mama is purely innocent, a human. Your friends... they're Heroes aren't they? So they won't attack Nodoka-mama."

"Gah... I hope you're right..." Raven lamented. She stiffened once she finally felt her friends' presences as they approached their current location. Looking beyond the low clouds that hung on sky that day, she saw several dots in the air that might be the 'Heroes' Ranma and she has been talking about.

She just hoped her companion was right about the Heroes. Raven knew that her... friends can become over enthusiastic about something, especially their obsession of reinforcing their own brand of justice upon the villains that plagued their world.

But Ranma was hardly a villain now, isn't he?

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the outer vicinities of the Solar System's Asteroid Belt, a small vortex emerged from the inky darkness of space. A large ship, its design and shape similar to that of an Earth mushroom, appeared out of the outer rings of the spatial rift.

This is the Soja, Hakubi Washuu's most prized battleship. Its battle strength was comparable to the Juraians' space trees. But as of the moment, battle was hardly in the minds of those two individuals currently inside the battle ship.

"Washuu-chan... how long before we can finally reach Earth?" Tokimi asked of her sister. Her light brown hair with red highlights on her bangs fluttered gently against the air conditioned cockpit of the ship. Her eyes were similar to those of Ranma's, only, her pupils were on the verge of being black.

The self-proclaimed 'Greatest Scientist in the Universe', Washuu, sighed audibly as she tried to gulp down the acrid bile that threatened to erupt from her mouth. Traveling in that fold dimension gave her the willies, and she was quite surprised how Tokimi could take it. Probably has something to do with the fact that the chaos goddess lived in another dimension.

Shaking her head to stave off the dizziness Washuu felt, she replied ruefully, "Only a good twenty-one minutes Earth time, Tokimi-neesan. Give or take, at least..."

"Hurry up... will you?" Tokimi implored hesitantly, "I feel something amiss, and it involves my son..."

Washuu was about to comment that this Ranma was technically NOT her son, but decided against saying anything. She still wanted to live, after all.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Near Mount Olympus...

"The players have gathered, my brother..." A tall bronze skinned man with red eyes and long red hair commented to his companion. He was dressed in an enchanted silver breastplate, forged by Hephaestus himself. His girdle was forged after Thor's own, and he wore a thick red belt made out of the hides of a Gargoyle's snake hair skins. He was Phobos, son of Ares.

His companion nodded empathically. "We shall wait for the right time to strike at him..." The young man said darkly. He has short black hair, and has the same red eyes the first man had. He was a bit smaller than his companion, and dressed in the same enchanted silver breastplate. His girdle was of the same design, and his belt was made of the same substance... but it was black in color. He was Deimos, another son of Ares.

Phobos chuckled, "We will gain the favor of the Alfadur, and bring much recognition to our family."

Deimos agreed, "Yes, our time has come to outshine all the others."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back on Earth, specifically in Juuban, an encounter occurred. The Japanese Media was already alerted by the commotion, and was now broadcasting the bizarre events in a rather lustrous house near the edge of Juuban. The home was owned by one of the most important clans in Japan, the Seta Clan, and it was now surrounded by several powerful 'superheroes'. One of the news crews pointed out though, as to why there was no Asian superhero member in the group.

Currently, the group of Superman, Supergirl, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman was floating just above the Seta Clan's estate. Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg had alighted just inside the premises, right in the open space behind the huge house.

Raven and Lenneth were standing near the house, their arms crossed across their chests. Onna-Ranma was sitting on the veranda with a curious Nodoka beside her, watching the spectacle in the yard. They have a tea set with them. While in the outside she was calm, Onna-Ranma was inwardly alert at any complications that might happen. She was quite happy that there were fewer attackers this time around, but she was quickly incensed when she figured that the group has their strongest members judging by their aura. Oh, and those Teenie Titan dudes were also present as well.

Ranma, in his girl form, currently sipped warm tea with Nodoka as they watched the proceedings with interest. So far, the two groups (more like one big group against two women) were at a deadlock, which meant that nobody moved an inch since they met half an hour ago. As for why Onna-Ranma was being neglected... well, she was in female form. While she garnered a few skeptical glances from the 'Heroes', they dismissed her just as quickly. They did not know Ranma's curse, so she was safe for the moment.

Finally, the deadlock was broken when Superman landed in front of the Teen Titans, followed by the rest of the Justice League members who were present.

""Where is Ranma Saotome!"" Superman demanded to the irritated Raven and Lenneth.

Raven scowled mightily, which caused the Teen Titan members to cringe. ""I don't have to answer you..."" she spat out angrily, which made her 'future former' team members gape at the open emotions the usually emotionally suppressed girl. She was having second thoughts about the sanity of the Teen Titans, for allowing this travesty and blatant attacks on innocents to continue. They even participated in it!

This time, it was Robin who stepped into the limelight as he implored, ""Please, Raven! We just want to talk about this...""

The demonic girl growled at him, which caused the leader of the Teen Titans to back away slightly, ""Yeah... 'talk'... like what you did to him a few days ago? I don't believe you!""

""It doesn't matter what you think, girl..."" Green Lantern commented calmly. His greenish eyes were glancing in every direction, trying to spy upon the familiar features of their current target. So far, the girl on the porch has an uncanny resemblance with their quarry, but he knew that their target was a boy. Clearly, the person sitting beside the older red haired Japanese woman was a girl.

Lenneth scoffed haughtily. ""Oh, so is that it? This is the great League of Heroes who should be protecting the innocents? You are mistaken in so many ways if you believe what you have just said.""

""Uhm... guys? Will you just chill out?"" Supergirl started nervously, as she glanced at the hovering helicopters around the compound. The multitudes of media crews who were circling the area were broadcasting the whole thing, and it wouldn't do if something drastic happened.

Superman took a menacing step forwards, glaring angrily at the impudent demonic girl that hid the bane of his life. ""Why are you hiding him! He caused needless injuries in China, broke a lot of important international treaties while he's at it and also crippled a man for life! This is it, it's either you're with us, or against us, girl.""

""Okay, that's enough. Now BACK OFF."" A low but very audible voice said menacingly. Everyone turned to the source, and saw that the red haired girl on the house's veranda was gone. However, Ranma was now standing behind Raven and Lenneth, giving the Heroes a disgusted look.

""Damn... he's kinda cute..."" Supergirl commented absently. She blushed when she realized she has said it out loud, and received strange stares from her friends.

The reincarnated Chaos, the one called Ranma was now standing in front of them. The peevish look on his face proved to be disconcerting to anyone who was witnessing the exchange. He stood with his arms across his chest, his red tail swaying right behind him. His wings were not out at the moment, but his long hair was still dark red.

Raven and Lenneth quickly went to his side, trying hard not to smack him senseless.

""Why the hell are you here? Didn't we tell you not to show yourself?"" Raven hissed as she strode to Ranma's side. Lenneth nodded on Ranma's other side in agreement with Raven's question.

""Got bored..."" Was Ranma's curt reply. He stretched his back to realign his bones as he continued, ""Besides, they're after me. And you should know that I'll never let anything happen to the both of you.""

Superman smirked slightly. ""So, you finally showed up.""

The red-tailed man snorted. ""You didn't leave me any other choice.""

Green Lantern sighed as he stepped forward. ""You ARE going to surrender now, right?""

Ranma shrugged dismissively. ""I can't surrender for a crime I knew I never committed.""

""You know what you did!"" Superman roared, the ground underneath his feet cracked as he ground his boot into it, ""You mercilessly hurt those people in China! You even crippled someone severely! You also brainwashed a young girl to use as your shield against us, since you knew we'd avoid hurting her!""

""HEY! I'm right here ya know!"" Raven shouted indignantly.

""Uhm, first of all..."" Ranma began, stepping away from the two women who wanted to protect him as he paced around the group of Heroes, eyeing their movements warily, ""I was being forced to MARRY into their tribe. And for what? To reinforce their people's genes using mine. Even if I'm an analogue of their long DEAD Ranma..."" he shot Nodoka an apologetic look from afar, which was received gladly with a short nod, ""They still wanted me to replace him. The old lady of that tribe said, 'After all, a Ranma IS a Ranma...', how wrong is THAT?""

Ranma made a small hop and twirled easily in the air, his tail swirled around him as he went, ""Secondly, that man who was... crippled by me was my analogue's father. A man I sadly loved as well as despised in my own universe. He trained me how to fight, after all, and believe me when I say that his training methods are beyond inhumane. I know, I was there. But I'm getting sidetracked... as to why he was hurt badly, he tried to fire off an attack that he himself declared forbidden. Never to be used under any circumstances, yet he broke his own vow, just like I thought he would, just to get me to follow his wishes and live off of my fame in fighting and drink until he dies. I wanted to stop him from releasing that attack, but in the process he got into my own attack's way. So he got burned.""

""And lastly..."" Ranma mumbled loudly as he continued his cycle around the group. He was around more than a quarter of the rough circle that would've enclosed the whole group in, and was now walking leisurely backwards, ""I never brain-washed anyone. I did find some weird demon thing in there, and it tried to kill me! So I retaliated. Just what I'm about to be forced to do with you if you do attack so needlessly.""

The blonde-haired, light green eyed girl called Supergirl commented, ""He's got a point, you know.""

""Quiet, Supergirl..."" Green Lantern hushed at the blond-haired female as he spied upon Superman's brow that twitched in irritation.

Raven appeared beside Ranma in a flash of black magic. She grabbed his arm in protest and said, ""Ranma... please, just let us handle this.""

The red haired alien hybrid was shaking his head sadly and grasped at the hand that held him back, ""I don't think the situation's going to be any easier if you handled it. Not that I doubt if you can handle yourselves... it's just that the situation's beyond reasoning now. Even your team mates are convinced you're mind-controlled, just to remind you.""

Ranma gently shook his arm off of Raven's death grip and faced the superhero group. They all readied themselves for any forthcoming attacks, as to which Ranma just scoffed in irritation.

He turned to the 'leader' of the Heroes, Superman, and spoke, ""If you're gonna attack me, it wouldn't do to do battle here. I love this place..."" Ranma's eyes strayed from the red and blue clad superhero as he glanced at the big house, ""Even though this isn't my universe, technically, I still feel the atmosphere...""

""Well then!"" Ranma suddenly said. Before the startled group's eyes, the hybrid alien's form wavered and disappeared in motes of light. Shouts of dismay and anger filled the compound, as well as the furious helicopter rotors overworking themselves to search for the errant 'villain'.

Their search was rendered moot point when Ranma's voice echoed from above, ""Watcha looking down there for?""

""There he is!"" Robin pointed to the right of one Media helicopter as Ranma floated a few yards away from it, his arms crossed across his chest. His red tail waved left and right behind him, as he sported an infuriating grin on his face.

Then, something unbelievable has happened. After being pointed out by the leader of the Teen Titans, every eye on the area turned to the floating form of one Saotome Ranma. The Media crews around were having a field day with the proceedings, especially with the special coverage of the weirdest villain they have ever seen in the span of their careers. It was then that Ranma, after he tired of being stared at by everyone, suddenly turned his back to the Justice League members present as well as to the Teen Titans, bent his waist a little and froze his red tail that pointed ramrod straight upwards. With a deliberate slowness, Ranma patted his bottom loudly, his hand smacking at his black body armor covered bottom as he slightly turned his upper body to the side, if only to show his amused face to the shocked faces of his pursuers. With great exaggeration, he pulled down an eyelid and stuck his tongue out at everyone.

Ranma has just given the combined forces of the Heroes one of the greatest insults of all time.

""Nyah nyah! Wanna fight me? Ya better catch me first!"" Not allowing anyone to recover, Ranma's aura suddenly burst forth out of his body. He gave the gaping Raven and Lenneth a sly wink, before he shot off into the sky quickly. Ranma's form disappeared in the horizon easily.

A tense silence followed Ranma's abrupt exit.

"Oh my..." A soft female voice broke the silence, who spoke in her own native language of Japanese. Everyone absent-mindedly turned to the still-seated Seta Nodoka and saw that she was looking at the trail of energy from where her son's analogue has sped off, "He's quite the prankster, isn't he?"

Raven almost face-faulted, but she caught herself before she let her face plant on the ground. She snorted, "Auntie... Ranma just gave the world as well as the Justice League and the Teen Titans the slip, but not without throwing them an insult along the way. That's beyond a prank..."

Yes, Raven has been taken into calling Nodoka 'Auntie' after a short time of 'convincing' from the Seta clanswoman. A glare from the woman could make anyone grovel in fear from her wrath. Such is the power of the Japanese housewife.

Lenneth stifled a laugh as she commented in the same language, "I have to admit, it was rather amusing to see the faces of everyone. It only shows how devastating to the morale it was for him to show such a thing. If you think about it clearly, Ranma is a tactical genius. Right now, I am assured that everyone will give chase in anger."

Sure enough, several growls of fury were heard in the yard, before the assorted super heroes gathered in the Seta compound blasted into the skies in their own ways. This was to hurry after the infuriating boy, who managed to shock them long enough to escape their many numbers.

Such humiliation will never be forgiven.

And of course, the helicopters which contained the Media gave chase as well. It was the story of the century, and they were also rather curious as to how this drama will end.

A huge dust cloud emerged from the Seta compound as Raven and Lenneth were left standing near the house. Nodoka calmly sipped her tea, a small smile played on her face.

"Uhm, maybe we should go after Ranma..." Raven began lamely. her bat wings twitched behind her. She has her own tail to think off, as it wriggled agitatedly all over her back.

Lenneth nodded. "It would be best if we do. Who knows what may happen to those Heroes of this world, after all?"

"Exactly my point..." The demonic girl agreed.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Between the planet Mars and the Earth's natural satellite, the Soja was currently soaring at great speeds.

"ETA of arrival, Washuu?"

"Ten minutes, Tokimi."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Coming from a different route taken by the Soja, another streak flashed across the space of Mars' orbital path and the asteroids on the other side of the Soja's path.

The golden glow was actually in the shape of a humanoid, and it wasn't alien from Earth. It originated from the Solar System's third planet, created for the original purpose of destroying the Justice League.

Now, it has returned.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Near Mount Olympus in the Heavenly Plane...

"How long for the spell to actually take effect, Phobos?"

"In a few minutes, Deimos."

Two gods stood in a glowing magical circle, who concentrated their energies in the power up of the teleportation spell.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Across the Pacific Ocean, a silver streak of energy cut on the shallows of the water. The silver blur was actually Ranma, who was laughing maniacally as he remembered the gaping faces of those who wanted to fight him. It has been quite a long time since he had this much fun, and he wasn't about to pass the opportunity to have fun.

Not that he really wanted to fight, but those guys were pretty much serious at giving his person some bodily harm. His happy demeanor darkened a bit as he remembered how one of Raven's own team members almost blasted her with that pretty powerful beam. Luckily, Lenneth was able to deflect it on time.

Ranma's real reason for running away like that was actually to lead the whole superhero team out into an open area. It wouldn't do if his mother's house, or Japan for that matter, would get caught in the crossfire if ever a fight managed to break out. He loved Japan; it was the place where he was born after all. He reckoned that those people after him wouldn't think twice of damaging the country, just for the sake of bringing him down.

As soon as he saw the last islands of Japan disappear from the horizon, he stopped his flight. Ranma remained floating in mid-air, his hands across his chest. He might've not realized it, but he was near the Marianas Trench, the deepest of the holes that dug into the Earth. He bobbed effortlessly in the air as he hummed a cheerful tune. He watched the calm sea all over him, which served to calm his slightly excited nerves as well.

""Chakushin kare no NANBA yumemi gochi... tomodachi no tomodachi kara..."" Ranma sang softly, as he remembered a song he has heard from Vanilla. She was singing it in the Nirvana's central garden, and he got curious enough to have her teach him the song, ""Kyuu sekkin imishin SHINEMA-CHIKETTO futari kiri? Tsuki made tsuredashite hoshii...""

""Honki MO-DO moudou omo mo chou Very KYUNKYUN DOKIDOKI..."" Ranma rapped this part as he skipped his boots at the ocean's surface.

""Genkai RANDEBU himitsu no AKUSESU fuwafuwa MERENGE mitai tokimeki A-RA-MO-DO..."" He continued singing as he lifted his feet as the waves tried to catch them.

Ranma floated higher and quickly spun as the waves intersected from where he was floating on a while ago. ""HA-TO ni Kiss kobore souna Jelly Beans... iro to ridori no kimochi dakishimeteru! CHU-N ha Pop mogitate no kodou ga... karamawari shiteru BAKUHATSU-ENAJI...""

""Tachimachi ENDO-RO-RU uwa no sora... anata made 15 SENCHI it's so far! GIKUSHAKU hikaeme Talk fushime gachi... anoko no wadai ha yamete..."" He smiled as a small fountain of water erupted from the contact point.

He switched into a rap tone as he sang, ""Ukaremakutte tsumazuichatte... chou VeryBad Bad ZUKIZUKI..."" Ranma dodged a series of higher waves that would've splashed on him, which would have surely turned him into female.

Ranma shifted into the song's melody once again, ""Yokubari FANTAJI CHIKUCHIKU AIRONI... SHIRIASU ni natte mo ii? Kakehiki SUKURANBURU..."" He floated a few feet in the air out of the waves' reach and angled his body horizontally parallel to the ocean itself. He stared at the cloud-filled skies and sighed.

""SHU-RU na Kiss abare dashita Jelly Beans... modokashikute setsunai PASUTERU iro... TAITO na Hip donkan na senaka ni... fukigen wo ageru junjou DAINAMAITO..."" Ranma smiled slightly to himself as he heard some squeaking noises below him. It would seem that even the dolphins were singing with him. ""ORENJI... PAPAIYA... MINTO... RAZUBERI... GURANBERI...""

He felt the cool wind blowing against his face, his unbound dark red hair hanging down his head. He switched into a rap, ""Nande kana? OK SAIN miokutte Strike hanatsu PI-N BO-RU ataranai Beans kono mamaja KO-RUDO? otoshiyori O-RUDO yuusen zaseki ha yuzurimashou...""

""A-RA-MO-DO..."" He sang once again, ""HA-TO ni Kiss kobore souna Jelly Beans... iro to ridori no kimochi dakishimeteru... CHU-N ha Pop mogitate no kodou ga... karamawari shiteru BAKUHATSU-ENAJI...""

""Junjou DAINAMAITO!"" He finished his song, and he felt satisfied at the moment. His senses suddenly piqued as he distinctively felt several powerful energy signatures that came towards his position from the horizon.

"They're here..." Ranma muttered. He still continued his carefree attitude and remained laying stationary in mid-air as the Heroes drew closer to him.

Just a few kilometers off the coast of a Japanese island...

The entourage of the most powerful beings of that universe flew in formation. Their purpose burned clear in most of their minds, and that was to capture the errant red-tailed boy that had the gall to insult them in front of the whole world. The Media crews followed them without restraint, no doubt thinking of how much their careers would be boosted if they managed to get this coverage.

Somehow, they managed to capture Ranma's energy signature because of Cyborg's quick thinking. The half-robot quickly recorded Ranma's energy emissions into his internal computer before he disappeared after insulting them. It was now being used to track Ranma's movements, which mysteriously paused just inside the Marianas Trench's area of vicinity right smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii was near the area as well.

Cyborg rode with Robin on Beast Boy's back, who remained in his Pterodactyl form. He was quite overwhelmed by the weight of his importance now, since even the Justice League depended on his directions for guidance towards their quarry.

""I can see him..."" Superman suddenly spoke up against the wind, which caused everyone to stiffen in alertness. His ire however grew to great heights as he saw his enemy, with his enhanced vision, 'lounging around' in mid-air.

""Well I'll be damned..."" Green Lantern snorted, ""He's lying down in mid-air, without a care in the world. It's as if we're no threat to him.""

Supergirl cracked her knuckles as she flew alongside of Superman, and said, ""It's too bad, really. Cute, but he just had to do... THAT... back in Japan. And now this...""

Wonder Woman shook her head on Superman's other side. She was still uncertain about this attack on the boy, but given the circumstances, she felt that her own Amazonian pride has been slighted. She just had to fight this boy now, if only to prove her own worth against him. She knew, oh she knew very well, how that boy must be VERY important, for him to have the Chooser of the Slain as a companion. She wasn't looking forward to their confrontation, oh not at all, but she had to.

Robin and Cyborg gaped at the audacity of the floating red haired man across the ocean, Robin through his portable scope and Cyborg with his cybernetic eye. Beast Boy settled on just seeing the dot that was Ranma in front of him. Starfire was visibly agitated, since her greenish aura grew in proportion. Not that she needed any excuse to get angrier; the thought of the Sai-Yahn present on Earth brought her both fear and an overwhelming need to dispose of the threat.

They all slowed down their approach as they neared the red-tailed hybrid, who still floated above the water with nary a thought of their presence. The Media crews that followed the Heroes into the area hovered a distance from the screen. They knew how damaging the battles of the Justice League can get when they started.

The whole group finally halted, as they were just a few yards from the young man. They wondered if Ranma didn't notice their arrival at all, and if they had the upper hand just this once. But it was all moot point when Ranma's hand shot upwards, and waved at them lazily as they paused in their approach. They all tensed when Ranma's body re-aligned itself upright in the air. The red haired man sighed calmly as he faced them.

""Took ya long enough..."" Ranma pointed out plainly, his arms crossed across his chest in outright nonchalance on their appearance. It was blaringly obvious that he wasn't all that worried about them.

Superman grunted, ""Well, now that you're done running...""

""Running?"" Ranma gave them a confused look, his golden pupils gleamed slightly. The multicolored gems on his forehead shone though, as the Heroes' eyes widened at the sight. They hadn't notice those gems before, since it would seem that there was some sort of field that kept them from noticing them.

Ranma continued though, as the shine of those gems on his forehead dimmed, ""Whoever said I was running away from you? I was leading you away from Japan, after all, I love the country where I was born in.""

""Man, the ego on this guy!"" Green Lantern remarked, which earned a few guffaws from his team mates. Not that Ranma noticed it, or even reacted at least a bit on his comment.

Ranma, however, just ignored the pun from the green and black-suited African American hero as he stared calmly at them. ""My ego is well-earned. Meaning, I can back it up. How about you? For all this talk of you being Heroes, I still don't think you're Heroes at all..."" He raised his hand to forestall the angry retorts that were about to be unleashed, ""Think about it. For some reason, you've been attacking me relentlessly, and you still haven't given me a good reason enough for the attacks. While you already gave me enough reason to beat you all up.""

""Huh?"" Robin asked, confused, ""What do you mean? We didn't do anything...""

""Really..."" Ranma deadpanned, and speared Cyborg with a slight glare, ""As I remember it, you tried to attack Raven with that blast from the half-metal guy. I should blast you back for that, you know. But I don't... which leads to the question, why? Don't think about it too much. I just don't believe in unnecessary violence.""

Supergirl asked, ""But what about those people you hurt in China? I heard from the others how you almost massacred them...""

Ranma rolled his eyes. ""I don't intend to go into another tirade about that. They were forcing me to marry into their tribe for my genes. They attacked me just to prove I'm a weak male. I proved them wrong by fighting back. I won't take crap from anyone like that.""

""Enough!"" Starfire growled out, her eyes flamed emerald as she gathered green jade energies into her hands, ""Sai-Yahns are evil! They destroy worlds without remorse! Before you could even think of doing that to our world, we will stop you!""

""Again, with the 'Ranma is so evil' spiel... it's getting old..."" Ranma muttered loud enough to be heard by everyone. He shook his head sadly, and continued, ""Since there's probably no way to negotiate a truce from this..." He opened his arms readily, in a gesture of invitation for everyone, ""Attack me then... to your hearts' content..."

A green bolt of energy flashed in front of Ranma, which caused him to dodge to the side. He saw that the red haired girl who screamed darkly at him a while ago flew towards him at top speed, as her hands threw those green balls of energy mercilessly at him.

This action spurred the others on, some of them screamed battle cries as they threw their own attacks into the fray. Ranma flitted in and out of focus as he teleported easily out of the attacks. Superman fired his heat vision as he flew in while Supergirl created a heat vision duet with her older predecessor. Robin threw his batarangs filled with explosives as Cyborg fired his sonic cannon along with Starfire's trademark 'Starbolt' attacks. Green Lantern fired off green lances of energy from his ring created from the Guardians of Oa's technology, and Wonder Woman has yet to land a blow on Ranma himself.

Saotome Ranma was in turmoil actually, as he idly put half of his mind on the battle. Actually, he was fighting with his instincts at the moment, while half of his own mind contemplated on choices that he seldom thought of when he was younger... a whole lot younger. He wanted out of this fight, since he really didn't want to fight at all. Not out of disrespect, but it was more of a domino thing. He knew that if he fought back against these people, things would probably escalate to a point where he has to retaliate with lethal force.

As much force as the ones being used against him by his pursuers right now.

He felt another of those heat visions from the red and blue garbed guy graze at his shoulder armor. He was quite thankful that his Aunt Washuu was hyper enough to give him her best armor to date, since the deep gouges on the shoulder pads of his armor were already mending themselves as he dodged another starbolt from Starfire.

Ranma bit back a curse when his thoughts became the better of him, as a green hammer, ironically, slammed unto his unguarded back, which caused him to stagger in mid air and get caught by the bright blue wave of energy from Cyborg's arm cannon into his chest.

He was blown back quite violently, the beam pushed him back towards the ocean's surface. He let the beam carry his body a few yards from the ocean, before he finally expended some of his ki to push back against it. His fast descent slowly crept into a halt, with the beam still drilling into his chest. Ranma concentrated momentarily, willing his body to another place. After a familiar blurring of his vision, it refocused again. He saw himself in another side of the battle field, but Ranma was quite surprised when those green globes of Tamaranian energy from Starfire slammed into him repeatedly, which caused him to cover his face with his arms needlessly.

His lack of movement was taken advantaged of by his opponents, as twin pairs of heat vision beam blasted on his upper shoulder and abdomen, and a few negligent explosives smacked to his crossed arms. The combined attacks were concluded by a huge green fist, which gave the currently immobile Ranma a devastating uppercut. The red haired hybrid flew back a few feet from the force, before he managed to control his levitation and stopped himself in mid air again, clutching at his abdomen. Ranma's front armor was smoking from the attacks, but was already mending the damages as he rested a bit.

With the sudden pause in the battle, Superman, as well as the other members of their strike force, smirked at Ranma's slightly heaving form.

""Are you ready to give up?"" Superman asked casually.

Green Lantern joined Superman's smirk with his own, as he said, ""Look man, we can just save you the trouble of getting beaten up if you'll just surrender. Don't worry, we won't hurt you... too much.""

Their mocking grins slowly eased off their faces though, as right before their eyes, Ranma's breathing slowly eased off into calm ones. The red-tailed individual's hunched stance slowly straightened, before finally he stood proudly once again.

It was now Ranma's turn to give them a degrading grin. ""Surrender? You have got to be kidding."" He cracked his knew loudly, before the grin on his face melted into a straight line.

Ranma slowly rotated his body and looked at the assembled Heroes circling him. ""Surrender is not an option for me, because..."" he said, as his body slid into a slight stance that most of the Heroes recognized as a martial arts stance, ""... because Ranma Saotome never loses. Not when it counts.""

An explosion of power caused every hero around the red haired young man to back away, as the waves of silver energy pushed them back. Ranma growled loudly as more of his energy erupted from his body, which flooded his senses into the same state of mind he had when he was with those annoying Amazons. He really did not want to fight, but being forced to make a decision... he wasn't going to allow himself to die.

Too many people relied on his return... visions of Raven, Lenneth, Vanilla, Emeralda, Lea, Ryoko, and finally... that woman in his dreams, Hild... they were all counting on his return. He didn't know how he knew this, but somehow, his instincts screamed for his survival. And Ranma knew his instincts haven't failed him yet.

He will survive. He had to... and he wanted to. If not for himself, but for those people who wanted to see him again, as well as the people HE himself wanted to see again.

""I WILL SURVIVE!"" Ranma finally screamed, as the most powerful surge of energy he expended since he started his power-up exploded from him, which made the Heroes to scramble backwards as the wave slammed from all directions. The waters underneath Ranma's floating form parted because of his energy.

The surge finally calmed, the silver energy filtered into Ranma's form once again. The red-tailed otherworlder's body glowed bright silver. His golden eyes shone fiercely, against their background of blue-gray within his eye sockets, and his tri-colored gems of gold, silver and deep purple near black blazed in anger. His long dark red hair fluttered against the wind, along with his red tail that twitched agitatedly down his backside. His armor responded to his emotions, as it was quickly recovered and reformed around him, sans the helmet around his head and some of the golden bands around his wrists and his neck.

""Now..."" Ranma's rumbling voice echoed in all directions, which caught the Heroes as well as the Media that covered the battle's attention, ""The battle has just... begun.""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Just a few kilometers off the Japanese mainland, Raven and Lenneth flew at their top speed. They were a bit frantic inwardly, as they thought of how their mutual companion was currently doing.

All of the sudden, Raven's flight was jolted into a stop. The demonic girl gasped as her head was barraged by a series of lightning pains, which caused her to almost crumble in mid air. She barely caught herself as she tried desperately to hold unto her flight. She failed, as she felt her control over her own levitation failed, only to be caught by a slightly worried Lenneth Valkyrie.

"What seems to be the matter?" Lenneth asked, as she gave the shivering girl in her arms a good look over.

Raven shook her head to stave off the pain as she struggled to reply, "I... Ranma... he... he's releasing an awful lot of power. His thoughts... they were screaming... images... of women... and us... we... ugh!"

"Be at ease, Raven..." Lenneth said gently, but she had to tighten her grip on the girl as a wave of power washed over them. She snapped her head to the horizon, where she felt the energy came from.

"Ranma..." Raven said weakly, who glanced at the same direction as Lenneth, "He's... he's become serious. He... he's been screaming... that he will... survive..."

Lenneth sighed audibly. "I... I am Valkyrie. I am a glorious warrior of the Divine. What am I doing? Why am I here? But... I... I am... this was not in my mission protocols. I... am I doing the right thing? Why am I having these doubts in my soul...?"

Raven felt her headache abate slightly as it became a dull pain. She regained some strength to look up to her carrier as she asked, "W-What was you m-mission?"

"At first..." The Chooser of the Slain responded, as she glanced off to the side, "I was to subdue and bring Ranma Saotome back with me into Asgard. He... he is a wanted man, a declared Heretic, a proclamation made by the Almighty Himself. I, and my fellow warriors and other divine beings in Heaven, were to comply. It was either subdue... or kill."

"What happened?" Raven's voice grew stronger, her curiosity gave her some comfort off the pain she felt earlier, "Why this? What changed?"

"Everything..." Lenneth intoned calmly, "Warriors learn about their enemies from the first strike itself. What I learned from my encounter with Ranma-sama was... indescribable. After that, I cannot bring myself to swing my blade against his person. For I had loved Chaos-sama for so long, even after his glorious sacrifice. He was my Mentor, my Guide... he gave me the whole premise of my Existence. And Ranma-sama IS Chaos-sama, in most form..."

"So... it's true? All those stories you told us before..." Raven bit her bottom lip, as she struggled her way out of Lenneth's arms. The Valkyrie gave her a gentle look as she gave the older woman a smile of appreciation.

Lenneth frowned slightly. "They were no mere stories. They were all facts..."

"Sorry..." Raven apologized, "It's not that I'm degrading your history. It's probably normal for a half-mortal like me to question these things. Anyway, what are you going to do now? What will happen... now that you did this?"

The Valkyrie's blue eyes glittered slightly, her long, braided, light blue hair swayed down her back. "I... I am unsure. I surmise that this incident has already reached Odin's ears, and he has probably took this in counsel with the Almighty. It is safe to conclude that I may be declared a Heretic as well. Even if it was untrue, I... I feel that I have a lot of doubts already in my soul to ever return to what I was."

Lenneth's blue eyes suddenly focused into Raven's purple ones, and said seriously, "Make no mistake. I do not regret my Decision."

Raven's equally serious face met Lenneth's. "That's good. It's nice to know you're on my side. Well, let's go to where Ranma is, then."

The blue haired woman nodded grimly. "That is very much acceptable."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Up high in the Earth's stratosphere, just above the Atlantic Ocean, a lone spaceship of a sleek black design sped towards a specified location. It was a ship that has descended from the Watch Tower.

Inside the ship, Batman manned the piloting of the craft, with the Martian Manhunter on the navigation, and the Green Arrow in the weapons control. Behind the trio in the main cockpit area, the bandaged form of the future Green Lantern slumped on his seat. The older Lantern was treated a while ago by the Martian, but the wielder of the Oa ring waved away any more of the green alien's ministrations. Speaking of his ring, he was currently holding his so-called ring, which was now in halves inside his fist.

A short while ago after the Green Lantern's arrival from his time flux, the ring fell of his finger, broken into two halves. The Guardians form where he came from has warned him of this, so he wasn't really THAT surprised. But he was a bit dismayed that the ring never did manage to survive that long for him to even use it for emergency use later.

Well, so much for that idea.

The future Green Lantern relayed some of the doomed history of the future he was from during the trip.

""Are you serious?"" Batman asked urgently.

Green Lantern nodded tiredly, ""Very much so. It was terrible. Everything was sucked up in a black hole. Nothing escaped...""

This Green Lantern was from three months in the future. He was the only one lucky enough to escape from the onslaught of the spatial distortion that destroyed most of the west and north quadrant of the universe. Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman... all of them were totally annihilated by the rampaging form of one Ranma Saotome.

It began the same way as it did in this current universe he came out on, in fact, this was HIS supposed past. But now that he changed the Past, he's essentially killing himself. At least, the last powers of his ring managed to bestow upon him some sort of temporal shield that would last at least three hours at best, just enough for him to warn his fellow heroes of the folly of their reckless actions, which has caused the whole devastation to begin in the first place.

The incident was one big stupid mistake, an errant super concentrated heat vision blast from Superman's own revised version of his eye beams managed to tag the unguarded back of Tokimi.

Who was Tokimi? She appeared along with that huge ship... roughly half the size of the Watch Tower... together with a red haired woman. She was a regal and tall woman, her ageless beauty reflected in her actions and manner of speaking. And her eyes... they were almost the same with Ranma's. Those were the initial indications as to who the woman was, and seconded by the fact that she locked stares with the semi-pissed form of Ranma and called him her son.

The red haired companion of Tokimi was Washuu, sister to the taller woman. Both of them floated in the air effortlessly, and they had appeared in the most opportune of times: in the middle of the battle itself. Their presence confused Ranma long enough to let him power down though. The snarl on his face melted into shock, though, when Washuu introduced Tokimi to Ranma as his blood mother.

Tokimi was about to embrace her son gleefully, when an over enthusiastic Superman uncharacteristically fired off his on-the-spot revision of the Heat Vision. So much was she in her emotions that Tokimi failed to stave off the manic red blast, which engulfed most of her back.

Green Lantern remembered vividly, the way Tokimi's face twisted in shock as her body staggered forward, which was fortunately caught in Ranma's arms. It was understandable that the look of horror etched in the red haired young man's face as he watched his newly introduced mother got blasted in the back while she was enthusiastically trying to get to him.

This was the exact moment, when everything shot straight to Hell.

Before anyone could do anything, the cry of pain and anger from Ranma's lips reverberated all over the world, somehow echoed by his large power that exploded out of his body. Silver lightning arched all over his form as he hugged the sagged form of Tokimi in his arms.

Ranma suddenly disappeared, but had reappeared at Washuu's side before anyone could blink. Casually, he handed off his mother into the red haired woman's arms gently and muttered some words only audible to them. They saw how Washuu's eyes widened and finally, she quickly leapt back and called out to her ship for teleportation, which was quickly granted.

Those who were left had no idea what to say about the sudden turn of events, but whatever they tried to say were thrown to moot point anyway, as Ranma reached to his ankles and snapped off the golden bands that decorated his boots. Ranma let them fall into the ocean, which created a large gout of water as they hit the surface. They were visibly VERY heavy.

But the horror of the act was about to be seen after that, as Ranma's body expelled more and more energy, his aura filled up at least five kilometers in diameter. The depression it made on the ocean's surface below was very deep, which further proved the amount of power being exerted here.

Superman tried to be undaunted though, as he shot towards Ranma with his fist cocked into a tight fist. The Kryptonian plowed into the red haired... no... what was the color... Green Lantern forgot... but the hair color changed yet again... anyway... Superman plowed into Ranma's aura, and got into the boy's face. With the strength that managed to stagger even the near invincible Darkseid, Superman unleashed his devastating punch, but it was nothing to Ranma. The pissed young man just caught Superman's fist into his own, and easily crushed the Kryptonian's hand. As Superman's scream became audible over the roar of power from the boy, Ranma's fist flashed and smacked into Superman's face, the meaty thump of its collision was heard even from their position. Superman's face clearly caved into itself as he was flung away from the boy in supersonic speeds. The proverbial leader of the Justice League was later found several kilometers deep in a hole into the Earth in Spain's territory, almost dead.

The others suffered nearly the same fate, and the Green Lantern was about to get his own treatment as well, but a last ditch effort from the Martian Manhunter's distraction allowed him the time to escape. Not that he wanted to; he was ordered mentally by the Martian to call for reinforcements.

The Guardians of Oa were the only ones the Green Lantern could ever think of, so he went back there. It was after his arrival on Oa when he learned about Earth, rather, eighty-six percent of the total area of the Milky Way has been devoured by an unusual black hole.

The Guardians were alarmed when their Terran Green Lantern described Ranma's form, especially the gems on his forehead.

The design was copied by the Kryptonians; the trio of gems in an inverted triangular pattern was a symbol of power used by an ancient race of immortals of long past. They were so long ago that they were considered to be just that, stories. Those of planet Krypton decided to adopt the symbol for their own, as a sign of their own species. Braniac loved using the design, since it depicted such a higher stature of evolution for any race who had the gall to use it.

They wasted no time on the history of it all, though, since their time was of the essence. During that time, the black hole was growing larger and larger by the minute, devouring more and more of the universe as they spoke.

The forbidden technique was to be used. Time travel... the Guardians were terrified enough of the phenomena that they allowed the use of it. But it has a catch though: it was a one-way trip. They also stressed that if there was a version of the Green Lantern in that Universe, the traveler's ring will be destroyed automatically. A failsafe installed by the Guardians to avoid paradox and catastrophe.

And here he was, continuing his suicide mission to save this universe from total destruction.

The slightly older Green Lantern blinked wearily as he heard Batman noised something close to amusement over something.

""I finally managed to hack into Cyborg's cybernetic mainframe..."" Batman smirked triumphantly, ""Switching to his auditory nerves... adjusting visual resolution... ah! There we go..."" he fell silent as the grainy picture shown on the ship's viewscreen cleared up.

(""Damn... we can't even get to him!"") Cyborg's irritated voice boomed into the ship's speakers. The viewscreen showed the image of Ranma, who held Superman's limp form with his right hand. The red haired boy nonchalantly slammed Superman's face again and again to his knee. Blood flowed from Superman's nostrils, as his head was bashed repeatedly into the bent knee.

(""Cyborg, try to distract him again a sonic blast... he might be able to let go of Superman by then..."") Robin's frantic voice was heard. A couple of batarangs flew towards Ranma, who waved his hand negligently on the incoming projectiles. Because of the wind pressure from the young man's mid air swipe, the batarangs veered off course and missed Ranma completely.

A stream of bright blue energy erupted from the lower part of the screen, its path directly towards the floating form of the red-tailed warrior. Batman, the future Green Lantern, Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter watched, entranced, as Ranma idly brought his free hand up and caught Cyborg's beam. The sonic blast parted on Ranma's hand, forming an umbrella that flowed around Ranma's form.

(""Didn't work, Rob! How's Starfire?"") Cyborg's dismayed voice asked.

Those in the ship heard Robin hiss.

(""She's in a pretty bad shape, Cy... she's been hit pretty hard by those energy balls of his..."") Robin intoned bitterly.

(""Green Lantern's down too, somewhere in the ocean..."") Cyborg said grimly, (""I think I can see Supergirl floating belly up over there. Damn, what a mess!"")

(""I think Wonder Woman's gonna try her luck..."") Robin pointed out. A finger on the viewscreen gestured to the Amazon's flying form, a few feet from Ranma's own.

""She's gonna lose..."" The older Green Lantern in the ship groused.

Batman growled out, ""Four more minutes before we can reach that place...""

The future Lantern shook his head, ""It wouldn't matter.""

(""Are you going to fight me?"") Batman and the rest of the people in the ship faced the viewscreen, and saw Ranma conversing with Wonder Woman.

They saw Wonder Woman sigh. (""In truth, I don't want to fight you at all. There was no point... that is, until you insulted us back in Japan."")

Ranma's brow narrowed. (""You expect me to welcome you with open arms, after you try to kill me without any valid reason whatsoever? You presume too much, woman."")

(""This doesn't have anything to do with my companions' reasons for attacking you."") Wonder Woman scowled as well, probably from the insulting tone he made with the word 'woman' towards her. (""This is about my Pride and Honor."")

Ranma grunted. He glanced at Superman's limp form still clutched by the face in his hand and said, (""So, all this for Pride and Honor of your being an Amazon? A pathetic excuse if you ask me. You remind me of those pesky Chinese Amazons and their stupid rules. Beat them as a woman and they'll kill you, and win against them as a guy gets you an Amazon bride. How stupid is that?"")

(""My Honor and Pride are of no laughing matter, boy..."") Wonder Woman bristled.

(""Don't you have a mind of your own?"") Ranma asked, before he waved his hand against Wonder Woman's reply, (""Nah, suddenly I don't wanna know. Frankly, I think you're just a drone... a slave for your people's rules. Do you really think this is right? Attacking someone without any reason... you never listened to me. Of course I will be prone to retaliate against any hostile action towards me. I have the right to insult all of you."")

(""Enough talk..."") Ranma snapped at the Amazon, cutting off whatever reply she had in mind, (""I used to have the same thoughts as you do, but then I realized how stupid it is of me to follow other people's thoughts pertaining Honor. I set out to find my own definition of Honor, and that's what I'm following right now. It's simple actually, attack me and I retaliate. Attack my friends, and I fire back tenfold. Attack my loved ones... let's just say, you don't want to do that last one. Well then! You're an Amazon, so you're just another one of those prissy girls who follow their outdated rules mindlessly. I have no need to listen to such weak excuses. I've heard about them for a million times already."")

The camera's point of view changed, as Cyborg's eyes turned to the stoic Robin at his side.

(""What do we do?"") Cyborg asked. A female shriek emanated from the speakers, which caused the half-robot's point of view to swivel towards the fight once again.

Ranma now had BOTH Superman and Wonder Woman by the faces, but the Amazon was struggling against his grasp. She tried to remove Ranma's grip on her face, but it was futile.

The heroes inside the speeding ship stared as Ranma opened his mouth to say something, when a large shadow encompassed the area. Ranma looked upwards, which caused Cyborg's POV to look up as well. A gasp was heard form the speakers as a large mushroom shaped ship descended slowly from above. What's worse is that Cyborg's transmissions was slowly riddled with static and normal view alternately, before it became total static.

""It seems that the transmission was scrambled by something..."" Batman commented gravely, as he silently willed the viewscreen to burst into life once again. But it was to no avail.

Those in the shape were filled with hope though, when Martian Manhunter's voice intoned, ""I can see the alien ship, as well as some people right in front of us. It would seem that we have arrived.""

When they all looked at the viewscreen, they now saw clearly what has arrived. They were sure it was alien in nature, but weren't sure if it was violent or not.

The first clue of its identity came from the future Green Lantern, who gasped as he struggled to stand and approach the screen, ""The Soja... Lady Washuu's battleship..."" he murmured reverently.

""Jon... do you know what this is?"" Martian Manhunter asked the battered Lantern, who nodded at his question.

""Yeah... it's the ship carrying the one who will change the tides of this fight..."" Future Green Lantern pointed out, ""Lady Tokimi, sister to the owner of that ship, Lady Washuu. Goddesses, literally... don't ask. You'll learn about it later.""

Batman retorted, ""Then it wouldn't do us any good if we allow them to team up with this Ranma, isn't it? Shouldn't we do something about that?""

Green Lantern's now black pupils, it's greenish hue lost because of his power ring's power loss, bored at Batman's masked eyes. ""On the contrary, Bruce..."" he said lowly, ""They're the only ones who can make Ranma stop, if ever he goes berserk.""

A tense silence followed, as Batman and the older Green Lantern drew glared into each other. This was stopped by Green Arrow's voice.

""We're here, people.""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the main battle itself, Ranma looked at the large ship that loomed above him curiously. He felt something very familiar from the inside of the vessel.

Various cries of dismay that came from those who were left of his enemies were ignored by him, as Ranma continued to stare at the massive mushroom like ship above him. It has stopped its descent, and was now levitating stationary in mid air. The dull hum of its engines can be heard in the background.

Suddenly, recognition flashed into Ranma's yellow eyes, as they widened slightly. Why hadn't he noticed it before? It was the Soja! Washuu must be there!

Ranma's brow quirked up slightly. ((Washuu must be real close to be able to reach me as quickly as she did...)) he thought to himself. He still held Superman and Wonder Woman's faces in his hands. The Amazon has long stopped struggling after the ship has appeared above them. Those other Teen Titans have regrouped themselves successfully. Robin and Cyborg, Ranma noticed, have been glaring at him most of the time, with Robin tending to that very hot tempered girl that attacked him first a while ago.

Another ship, this time something more of a Terran design, arrived from his left side. Ranma felt the familiar aura of that Batman fellow, as well as the same tugging feeling at the back of his mind. Probably that Martian guy who tried to probe his head a while ago. And new one... human, from the strength of the aura... trained in a few martial arts if his slightly higher than normal aura strength indicated. And... that Green Lantern guy? But this was one totally weaker than the one he fought earlier. Ranma glanced down, and saw that the Green Lantern was floating face up on the ocean. He shook his head in confusion.

""Gotta get him later... along with that Supergirl... girl. Whatever..."" Ranma muttered to himself. He practically forgot that he had Superman and Wonder Woman in his grasp, but so far he has no future thoughts of letting them go somehow.

Another pair of familiar auras filled Ranma's senses, as his head snapped to the right of the area. A couple of dots appeared in the horizon, which were rapidly growing larger every second.

""Raven and Lenneth..."" Ranma had to smile on that. They were quite a pair, even though they wouldn't admit it. He still owed Raven something despite what she said earlier, and Ranma felt she was his responsibility. Her condition was there because of his inexperience in handling the matter, but he went through with it anyway.

His senses pinged with another energy signature, but this one's from space. And it was approaching at a pretty fast pace.

((Gotta watch out for that too...)) Ranma mused to himself.

Before he could go any deeper with his thoughts, a loud hiss emanated from the battleship that hovered above the area. Something had opened somewhere from the Soja.

Sure enough, Ranma felt the presence of his somewhat favorite aunt, Washuu. She came out of the Soja, along with another familiar aura, but he can't quite place it yet.

Robin and Cyborg frowned in dismay when they saw the mushroom-like ship that has arrived from somewhere. They were quite elated though, when they saw that one of the ships the Justice League used as a transport vehicle arrived a few seconds after the massive battleship above them did.

(""Robin, are you there?"") Batman's voice cackled through Robin's communications device. It was garbled and hard to understand, but Robin was happy hearing Batman's voice anyway.

(""Yeah, I'm here. Where were you? We were being slapped around here, you know."") Robin had to speak louder for Batman to understand, especially with the engines of the Soja rumbling loudly over them.

Batman's voice came back, his voice distorted by the noise of the radio, (""I know. I saw. Look, there isn't much time. Radio communications and videos only work at short range, and it's garbled at best. Now listen well... do not do anything. I repeat, do not do anything. Let the boy and whoever comes out of the ship do whatever they want to do."")

Robin blinked under his own mask. Was that a bit of reluctance in Batman's voice just now? He shook his head, and thought that it was probably only the noise that caused him to hallucinate about it.

(""I read you, Batman. But I had to ask, why not do anything? Ranma still has Superman and Wonder Woman in his mercy, you know."") Robin groused.

This time, it was the Martian Manhunter's voice that answered him. (""Superman and Wonder Woman are strong. They will survive. As for the order not to attack, there is a big reason for this. We will tell you later, but for now, we have to watch what happens. And also, we have another immediate problem..."")

(""Another powerful being is coming... it's the cyborg that Lex Luthor had created a while ago..."") Batman continued, (""It left a few months back, after it absorbed Martian Manhunter's powers of telekinesis and managed to read Luthor's mind. It rebelled and left Earth, to seek its own reasons for existence. It's back, and it just destroyed the Oa Home world."")

Martian Manhunter's voice came once again, (""It's arriving in less than 3 minutes, at the least."")

Cyborg whined, ""Great... just what we need! Another psycho!""

Back to the impending meeting, Ranma stared at Washuu and her companion, who were descending from the Soja via a pink beam. ((Pink?)) Ranma snorted to himself. The pair of women stopped when they floated around Ranma's level of levitation. Ranma wasn't really surprised that both had the power to float by their own power.

Washuu was currently in her adult mode, her physical age was around mid-20's. Her hair was the same as ever, as red as Onna-Ranma's hair, but it was tied up on the back of her head that made it look like a crab out of water. Her green eyes were amused as she looked at him, and her clothes were of that Ranma only saw her wear twice back in his universe of origin. Her own modified Juraian robes were open in front, and it looked like one large cape around her shoulders.

The other woman who floated a bit in the back was dressed much more sophisticated that Washuu. She wore her own robes, but it was darker in color. She has light brown hair, with auburn streaked bangs that was held by a golden clip on her forehead. Her majestic form fitting dark red body suit molded to her skin, held by two huge golden buttons across her chest. Her shoulders were wrapped in a loose white satin sheet that was circled across her back. Her belt was floating on her waist, and was also golden. It met in the middle of her abdomen, not quite closed. Her hands were gloved in black and instead of fingers, he found claws with them. Another golden band floated in front of her neck, that met with two blue sapphires near her throat. A huge red crystal adorned the middle of her chest, just above the two buttons that held her dress. Her face had these leaves that stretched from her neck to the area above the cheeks. It was her eyes, though, that drew most of Ranma's attention. It has the same bearing as his, blue-gray in most of her eyes surface, and seemingly pupiless. But when Ranma looked a bit harder, he could see her black pupils almost meshed with the blue-gray.

Washuu smirked at the confused Ranma. "Well well... such a fine specimen you are... care to go back with me to the ship for a sample?" she asked in Japanese.

""No freaking way..."" Ranma groused in English, as he took his eyes away from the taller woman beside Washuu, ""You're... ugh... never mind. By the way, can you speak in English? It's so that everyone can understand."" He unconsciously glanced at his hands, and grimaced when he saw that he still held the two hapless heroes by the face.

""Wait for a bit..."" Ranma muttered loudly. Washuu blinked as she watched Ranma's form shimmer and vanish in front of her eyes.

""Washuu, wasn't that a Masu skill? Who was that boy?"" Washuu's companion asked curiously in English. It was easy for her to use the language; she was a goddess, after all, and she accessed the Yggdrasil and downloaded the 'language pack' she needed to understand English.

The red haired scientist nodded with a grin. ""It is grand, isn't it? Such a sight to behold, those creatures. And to answer your question... it's a secret for now.""

Washuu and her companion both spied on Ranma, who reappeared just beside the hovering green Pterodactyl with a raven-haired masked boy, an unconscious red haired girl, and a half-machine being on its back. The predatory flying dinosaur, the masked boy and the half-machine was shocked and afraid when Ranma appeared near them.

Ranma ignored the looks thrown at him and tossed Superman and Wonder Woman to Cyborg and Robin, who caught the two Heroes. The green dinosaur they were perched on squawked in protest at the additional weight, but still maintained its hovering albeit more wobbly now. With that done, the red tailed hybrid vanished into motes of light again. He reappeared near the two newcomers once again.

""Now that that's done with..."" Ranma prodded on, ""Washuu... I need..."" he vaguely gestured to his wrists, which were devoid of their usual bracers.

Washuu waved her hand dismissively in the air, ""I know, I know. But before that... aren't you curious as to who my companion is?""

"Uhmm..." Ranma stammered, as he tried to bolster all the intelligence he could muster in his brain. He did not want to make a mistake about this. Anyone associated with Washuu was uber-powerful, or crazy... one way or another. He shivered at the last thought.

The other woman frowned slightly. ""Let us just get on with this, Washuu. I still have a son to meet.""

Ranma's back stiffened as he heard it. ((Her son...)) his mind wrapped around the idea, but he squashed the flare of hope inside of him. What were the odds of it happening, anyway? That scene he wanted for so long, since he separated from his surrogate mother Nodoka?

If it was possible, the red haired scientist's grin grew larger. Washuu can't help herself anymore as she chuckled loudly, before it fell into a loud belly laugh. Her companion slowly brought her hands across her chest, a superior scowl etched in her slightly pale face. Her dark lipstick reflected a bit of the daylight, as it fell into a straight line.

The light brown haired woman was about to chastise her companion, when Washuu stopped laughing and looked at her with a wide smile.

""Heh... sister... meet your 'son'. Ranma, I'd like you to meet your mother, Tokimi... goddess of chaos and ya-dah ya-dah..."" Washuu's face almost split with the smile on her face.

Tokimi and Ranma froze, as they stood in front of each other. The both of them stared solemnly at one another, as they tried to assimilate the deluge of information thrown at them by Washuu. As they continued gazing at the other, they finally saw the semblance between them. Their mannerisms, their way of handling things, the way they want things done, their eyes...

""M-Mother?"" Ranma whispered thickly, her gaze still locked with Tokimi's.

""S-Son..."" Tokimi whispered just as thickly, her face wracked with emotions after such a long time.

As they were about to leap into each other's arms, a bright flash erupted in the area. A loud explosion rocked the Soja, and something just bored into the left-most side of it. Another explosion later, and something came out of the bottom side of the ship, flying straight at them. The golden meteor has just created a huge hole on the Soja, which caused the massive ship to teeter to one side, before it started to fall into the ocean to one side.

Several things happened at once after that.

""My ship!"" Washuu screamed in dismay.

""It's here!"" A simultaneous shout came from Robin and Cyborg.

""Damn!"" Batman cursed from inside their own ship.

""I will go out and try to assess the situation..."" The Martian Manhunter intoned as he turned translucent. He quickly sank into the floor.

""I have to go out there!"" The future Green Lantern rasped out loud, as he clutched at his side. The pain his body felt was indescribable, but he had to endure a bit longer before he can finally rest. He struggled to his feet, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder from the Green Arrow.

""You shouldn't try to move too much..."" Green Arrow said, as he gestured at the injuries on the body of the person from the future.

""Let him go..."" Batman said, which caused the Green Arrow to look at him in surprise, ""He went through hell just to go back, let's at least respect what he wants to do.""

""Thank you..."" Green Lantern muttered, before he mustered his own internal energies... just like how the Guardians taught him in the event that his ring lost power... and bled it out to the broken ring. The two halves glowed slightly, before it sparked and flared a pale green glow.

((Half an hour, maybe less...)) Future Jon Stewart thought to himself grimly, ((I need to hurry with this...))

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The being known only as the cyborg has arrived on Earth, with all its golden glory. It has evolved from being of silver color when he departed all those months ago. He learned and assimilated a lot of powers out there, but somehow he still felt incomplete. After several months of space trekking, it decided to return to Earth. It wanted to find out why it was created in the first place.

It was passing by that planet of some weird fuzzy creatures when it felt an enormous wave of power that washed all over it. The cyborg felt itself being drawn back to Earth, as it felt something...

Desire... the desire to battle the owner of this power it felt.

The cyborg, in all its power, still lacked the drive to continue on living. Sure, it felt the need to defend itself from those who seek to destroy it, but its purpose for survival was trivial. Now, couple with that fact of finding its own destiny, it was on its way to its creator to ask for the reason why it was created in the first place.

What should it do?

But first...

Now, it entered the atmosphere, and it has become a miniature comet. It wasn't harassed by those in that gigantic man-made satellite floating just above the Earth's atmosphere. The home for the world's elite heroes, the Justice League, whom were among the first powers it has absorbed.

Maybe there's nobody home?

Still, its mission was clear. Earth was crawling with powerful beings now, but it concentrated on the most powerful one so far.

... was this a massive mushroom ship blocking its way towards that power? It seemed too sophisticated to be of Terran design. No matter, it will just bore right through it.

And bore into the ship it did, and it left quite a bit of damage on the ship itself. It ignored the massive ship's rapid descent as it spotted the power it felt.

So... the power was supposed to be three now? It thought it was only one, but in truth the power was actually three in number, but they were too close to each other to distinguish from afar.

And the male one was the main power right now.

And now, it headed straight for Him. That is, until this brown haired female, taller than most it saw on Earth, hurriedly hovered in front of its quarry.

Again, it was no matter. Nothing could stop its Desire now...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Ranma's thoughts were too much of a confused mesh of things right now.

First of all, his mother... his REAL mother... has just appeared right in front of him. It was Washuu, of all people, who reunited them. Sure, this version of his mother was just an analogue, who probably doesn't even have a real son of her own.

But she was his mother. His mother...

On another note, the massive power source he felt earlier was now on Earth. It surprised him, quite frankly, how it escaped his senses. Was he that emotional, now that he has met his mother, for him to ignore anything else around him?

Okay, not only that it has entered the Earth's atmosphere without him detecting it, but now it's practically right in front of him!

Whatever it was, it was heading straight right at HIM!

Not that he really worried about it, but whatever he wanted to think at the moment didn't matter the least, since he's too confused to do anything else. Ranma watched, entranced, as the golden comet bored through the Soja (Washuu's gonna freak -Ranma's thoughts) and was now only a few meters away from his position. He blinked, though, when a tall female form blocked the golden view form his sights.

It was for a few precious milliseconds that he recognized his newly-discovered mother's form right before his eyes, who suddenly threw herself haphazardly in front of him. An automatic response of a mother, perhaps? He doesn't really know. Ranma wasn't used to such things, since he wasn't really put much in this place before in Nerima; so his surrogate mother never had to put herself on the line like this.

Before Ranma could even begin to move in order to protect his biological mother, a pale green glow encompassed him, Washuu, and Tokimi. He blinked as he watched the golden comet slammed into the green shield, which momentarily flickered dangerously as shockwaves of the collision filled the area. Waves formed out of the formerly calm waters of the ocean below them.

The golden comet was blown back a bit, and the fires of its reentry in the Earth's atmosphere finally dissipated. The flames finally receded into a humanoid form, whose built was quite larger than the normal Terran. It seemed to be dressed in a golden colored full body suit though, even the head, and the only opening that could be seen was one narrow horizontal slit for an eyehole.

Ranma's attention was caught by another newcomer, whose heaving form was in front of Tokimi, and held his right arm in front of him with his other arm. His right hand was in a tight ball of fist though, and it was glowing the same color as the shield wall that managed to stave off the human comet from before. Ranma was actually quite surprised when he recognized the man that saved his mother from the painful collision... it was the Green Lantern. His gaze momentarily flicked to the side, and spied on ANOTHER Green Lantern form the sea, which was currently being hauled from the water by that other newly arrived ship.

Ranma blinked in confusion. That was rather weird.

""Ranma-sama!""

""Ranma!""

And Ranma blinked some more, as twin shrill voices called out to him. He quickly glanced to the upper right, and saw two forms rapidly which rapidly approached his position. As the twin dots grew recognizable, he saw that they were Raven and Lenneth. Somehow, he felt a bit elated at seeing them, if not to remove the slight awkward silence that seemed to have fallen the battle field.

Raven and Lenneth quickly recognized Ranma's form above the sea, along with several other people. What confused them was one of the Heroes, the one called Green Lantern, was poised in front of them while he held a green barrier in front of the small group.

Raven spied upon her fellow Titans, and saw that they were relatively okay. At least Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy were still intact, while Starfire was only unconscious on Robin's lap. They were currently throwing their attacks towards the golden humanoid trying to ram itself through the Lantern's shield, which were totally ignored by it.

Wonder Woman and Superman were being carried on the Pterodactyl-transformed Beast Boy as well, but they were clearly out of it. She saw the ship Justice League members used as their main mode of transport, which hauled an unconscious Supergirl and, surprisingly, Green Lantern, out of the water.

Her ruminations were cut short when she and her companion finally reached Ranma's side, who looked around him in a very dazed manner.

Confused won't even begin to describe the expression on Ranma's face at the moment.

Raven got to his side first, carefully ignoring the women in front of her Bonded. She did notice, though, that the red haired woman looked vaguely familiar, but she shrugged it off for more important things first, like why the hell does Ranma look like he'd seen a pink elephant flying across the ocean a while ago?

""You okay in there, Ranma?"" Raven said roughly, but it belayed the deep concern she felt at the moment. She was pretty much worried that he was hurt in any way, small or not, by the Heroes that had vowed to take him down. Well, she was also kind of worried about the others... okay, just a tiny bit.

Ranma finally snapped out of his daze, having felt the spike of deep worry in Raven's otherwise bland expression on her face. She apparently forgot that while she can read some of his surface thoughts, he could read her emotions just as well. And right now... Raven's worry over his situation was quite... powerful. He felt somewhat guilty.

""Yeah... well... kinda..."" Ranma had the urge to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, but the surreal situation he was in right now was not lost to him. Speaking of situations...

""Ranma-sama... it would be best if you take notice of what's in front of you..."" Lenneth gritted her teeth, as she poured more energy on the barrier she had erected around them.

It would seem that while Raven was tending to a confused Ranma, Lenneth took stock of the situation, and surmised that the shield held by the future Green Lantern was failing. She shrugged off the question in her voice, as to why this Green Lantern was expelling a lot of temporal waves, since the gold humanoid thing in front of them reared back again and again as it tried to break through the green wall. Without saying much, Lenneth erected her own barrier, reinforcing the one erected by the time traveler.

The future Green Lantern, upon seeing that someone finally got the wits to throw in their power to help him repel the monster being that threatened to thrash everyone behind him, sagged as his ring's power finally fizzled out of commission. As his power left him, Jon Stewart's eyes turned back to its original black from green, and the glow around his body receded into nothing. He fell, having nothing left to allow him to hover in the air. He was caught, however, by a pair of arms that belonged to the brown haired goddess that he had shielded earlier.

""Rest easy, member of the Guardians' Corps. We will handle the rest... and for what you did, you have my eternal gratitude..."" Tokimi intoned to him.

Jon Stewart chuckled weakly, as blood started to leak out of the corner of his mouth, ""I am honored, Goddess of Chaos. Though what I did was just repayment for the sins of my past, against your blood.""

Before Tokimi could ask any more from him, Jon Stewart sighed as he fell unconscious.

Tokimi quickly turned to her still-ranting red haired sister, ""Washuu! You have a patient!""

The redhead stopped ranting abruptly, and spied on the battered form of the former Lantern. ""Alright!"" she quickly replied, as she floated towards Tokimi and the downed Hero.

Meanwhile, Ranma's dazed look sobered as he took stock of the situation. A moment of revelation graced his face as he said loudly, ""That... that guy just tried to... hurt my mother...""

The cyborg declined to reply, as he was busy ramming his body on the barrier Lenneth has erected.

""My mother..."" Everyone sans Lenneth glanced back at a shaking Ranma, who has his knuckles bunched up into tight fists at his side. Everyone dreaded what was going through Ranma's mind at the moment.

Ranma was almost convulsing in rage. ((How dare that... that... ugh!)) he thought angrily, which caused Raven to wince a bit. Ranma's power spiked, which created a silver aura around his body once again. The trio of multi-colored gems on his forehead flashed angrily. He raised his right hand in the air and bellowed, ""That JERK!""

All the people in the area, alien or not, had to do a mass blink when the red haired hybrid with the red tail vanished from his position, only to reappear a few inches off the side of the golden being that was trying to breach the barrier.

The golden cyborg has no time to ruminate on its situation, though, as it was launched back into space, its chin crunched inwards.

But this time, the cyborg wasn't alone. For just below it, Ranma sped after the cyborg, an indescribable rage etched on his face.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Everyone still conscious from the battle site was silent as they watched twin comets 'leaving' Earth's atmosphere. Actually, it happened pretty fast... only a few people was able to follow it.

Washuu's beloved ship, the Soja, has already achieved her crash-land just off to the side, which accidentally created a few medium-sized tsunamis that may or may not reach mainland anywhere.

The red haired universal genius has stopped crying a long time ago, as she opted to just glare at the aforementioned Heroes that have indirectly caused her most prized possession to crash. Well, all the hard work she did was supposed to be paid back in full by reuniting the analogue mother and son, but things got weird. It would seem that the information on the data her analogue of this Ranma's immediate dimension of origin was correct in her assumption that her nephew's effects in spatial stability was infinitely confusing.

It would seem that, as long as Ranma's presence was there, Fate and Destiny were to be ignored.

Tokimi, on the other hand, has her right arm outstretched in front of her, and clutched in her right hand was the Green Lantern's crumpled form. Okay, the older Green Lantern. His uniform was gone, replaced by tattered civilian clothes, comprised of normal dark blue jeans and a black muscle shirt.

The silence was broken by Robin, who looked at the scene with so much confusion that anyone who paid attention would've pitied him. ""What the heck just happened?"" he asked a bit timidly. He felt inadequate here, with so many superheroes that surrounded him and his other fellow Teen Titans, they were severely outgunned. Not to mention, these newcomers who seemed to be in cahoots with that Ranma guy.

Speaking of that guy, Ranma has gone after whatever just thrashed the red haired newcomer's ship. Apparently she owned it.

The red haired scientist, Washuu, smirked as her jade-colored eyes twinkled in glee, ""Well, apparently... you were attacking Ranma for some weird reason that I won't even ask anything about it. Probably something stupid. My sister's been all bitchy wanting to meet the analogue of a son she didn't have in this universe, but somehow she had Ranma in another one. This totally fascinating being came bursting out of the Soja's hull, my ship actually, after it punched a hole right through it. The guinea pig factor would've covered the irritation I felt at my pretty ship's crash, but then it just had to try and ram Tokimi too while it came after Ranma. Good thing this young man pushed her off the line of fire, or else there would be a Reckoning.""

Robin just swallowed nervously, inwardly repentant that he even asked anything.

The craft that carried the other Justice League members hovered nearby, its open hangar doors out front displayed the forms of Batman, Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter, as they pulled the 'other' Green Lantern and Supergirl out of the water. Robin and Cyborg, along with the unconscious forms of Superman, Starfire and Wonder Woman, rode along the Pterodactyl form of Beast Boy as they flew towards the Justice League's ship. They were all accommodated in the open hangar bay, with Batman and the others who welcomed them inside.

Washuu ignored them, basically, and concentrated on the young black african american, the one that managed to save Tokimi from a world of hurt. The blow that would've connected shouldn't have hurt Tokimi all that much, but it would still hurt. Also, the fact that the temporal waves that flowed around the form of the man was out of whack. He was probably a few months from the future. Joy!

And the Ring in his hand, rather, the remains of the Power Ring of Oa, one of those Washuu helped those Guardians built for their space police corps of some sort, was severely shorted out. As per rule of the existence of one particular ring in a specific universe at a time, this one imploded earlier than expected. Probably used up all its energies... which would mean that the man was about to disappear as well.

Washuu DID see the same face of the Green Lantern from that other guy picked up by those other people on that primitive Terran ship with the green Martian guy...

Ah, paradox. Such mysteries in the universe cannot be fully explained. The effects varied, and Ranma was proof of that.

A bleep made Washuu blink in confusion, until she remembered that her computer has been monitoring her ship for a while now. It would seem that the Soja's self-repair systems have activated. Just in time too.

But damn, the older Green Lantern held up by Tokimi needed medical attention now, no matter how trivial it will be. Temporal wounds were like that... no amount of medicine could cure them. But still... Washuu was still obligated, as her duty as a doctor, to treat anyone fairly.

After deliberating about it for less than thirty seconds in real time, Washuu finally decided and summoned a warp hole to her Laboratory. Her pride and joy... her ultimate creation... a large facility made entirely inside a pocket universe.

The former goddess of Knowledge gestured towards her sister, who acknowledged the signal with an inclined head as Tokimi went through the black swirly portal that had appeared a bit earlier. The goddess of Chaos has the older Green Lantern held with one hand.

Washuu was quite surprised when she spied upon the young girl with demonic physical attributes... bat wings, sharp tail and all... and a much taller girl with platinum blue hair. The latter she recognized, as she has been hanging around Heaven before, after all. Lenneth Valkyrie, the Choose of the Slain, rumored to be a cold bitch that would destroy anyone who'd manage to irritate her without a second thought. The Valkyrie was Odin's confidant, as well as the leader of a large-scale army of dead Heroes who will participate in Ragnarok. The duo has been silent all these time, and it would seem they wanted to get out of this awkward situation as much as she does. Also, the demonic-looking girl was looking at the Lantern weirdly, as if she never expected to see him there. So she offered the same courtesy as she did with her sister towards the two, since they were his nephew's allies after all.

Lenneth nodded at Washuu gratefully, and grabbed Raven's limp hand in passing and went into the portal, the same one where Tokimi had disappeared into earlier.

The redhead still hasn't entered the portal, as to which those inside the Justice League ship were curious of. Washuu turned to their direction, and with an amplified voice that somewhat carried to their position, she said, ""What about you? Aren't you coming?""

Inside their ship, the still-conscious Heroes looked toward one another.

It was Green Arrow who ended the impasse, as he said to the others, ""You go ahead, I ain't gonna go with you. She might say something valuable. 'Sides, you need to keep an eye on them, especially the other Green Lantern in their care.""

""Speaking of that..."" Cyborg eyed the unconscious younger Green Lantern in the ship's med bay, who lay among the other Heroes who were knocked out in the fight earlier.

Beast Boy shook his head comically, his eyes swirling in confusion, ""Dude... I saw double GL's...""

""Right..."" Batman dismissed the questions, ""Those can be answered later. Right now, we have to go into their territory."" The Dark Knight turned to the Teen Titans, and said, ""The other Green Lantern has warned us not to instigate any form of hostility towards those two. The reason will be given to you once we get there. As of now, restrain yourselves from throwing your attacks.""

Robin snorted and grumbled, ""Wasn't it you who fired off a while ago first...?""

Batman pointedly ignored his former apprentice, and favored the green Martian, J'onn J'onzz with a nod, ""Fly the ship near the portal entrance, and open the side doors. You will come with us, as well as Robin, Cyborg, and myself. As for the others, Green Arrow will return to the Watch Tower and have them treated there.""

""I don't want to be there when all this shit hits the fan..."" Green Arrow groused, as he eyed Superman and Supergirl with a small hint of jealousy behind his masked face, ""That guy you tried to take down just took all your firepower and hit back. I ain't gonna survive in a fight like that.""

With that settled, Martian Manhunter proceeded to let the ship hover by the portal entrance, where the red haired woman was currently floating beside of.

It was probably the sixtieth time in the same hour, where J'onn has been asking himself, if they have just bitten more than they could chew.

Unknown to him, the others felt the same way.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

((I'm going to rip him apart!)) Ranma's thoughts were solid and true. They all led to visions of him ripping this guy in different ways possible.

The irate red haired hybrid shot straight up of the Earth's atmosphere, and watched as his view slowly darkened into the emptiness of space. The stars were very much visible there, and it would've awed him if he wasn't so concentrated on breaking the other humanoid that flew a few meters above him into space.

Their one way 'chase' was halted, when the golden-skinned android finally regained its bearings, as it used its tedious control over the cosmic waves around it in space. It slowed its travel to a halt, in the space between the Moon and the red planet Mars. It was quite surprised that it managed to travel THIS far, but it had no time to wonder about it as it was almost decapitated by blazing fist. Good thing its reflexes were quick to respond, or it would've been headless, again.

Ranma cursed as he missed his target, who managed to swerve a bit to the left and allowed his ki-encrusted fist to miss. He quickly swerved and stopped his drifting, only a few feet away from the android.

Both combatants finally met each other eye to eye. Their gazes met, as they assessed each other's strengths and weaknesses.

The red haired hybrid was actually quite interested at the android, since it reminded him somewhat of Cell. Was this that green android's analogue in this universe or something? Whatever... the outcome still remained the same. He will crush this idiot to bits for endangering his mother.

The android, still unnamed after all those months he scurried around various parts of the galaxy, was quite enamored at the amount of power it can sense from this being. The punch it has received from Ranma was powerful enough to knock it well outside Earth's gravitational pull. Such a feat that even Superman would be hard pressed to duplicate.

""((I do understand, that you are the source of the Power I have felt from afar...))"" The android's eyes glowed faintly against the black backdrop of space. It took Ranma at least five seconds to figure that the robot spoke through their minds, since space has no air for sound waves to travel unto.

""((Who the hell cares?))"" Ranma retorted ever so eloquently, ""((What I do understand, though, is that you almost beheaded my mother with that stunt of yours...))"" The red haired young man gestured rudely to the android with his finger, as he invited it to attack, ""((Whatever you wanna say won't excuse you for attacking my mother. You will be destroyed.))""

The android's eyes glowed dimly, ""((So be it. A reason to exist... to fight someone as powerful as you...))""

The android jerked back as a blazing fist smashed into its face. When the golden figure stabilized itself, it turned its angry eyes towards Ranma, who still had his hand outstretched into a punch.

""((I don't care what you say...))"" Ranma mentally growled out to the cyborg, ""((What you need to do is defend yourself...))"

The alien hybrid's form flickered and vanished, which caused the android to immediately rely on its other senses. It managed to catch a few glimpses of Ranma's fluctuating power here and there, but no concrete evidence as to where his exact position was.

It was too late, though, when a powerful blow rocked the android's right side. Another hit came out of nowhere, which slammed on its left upper shoulder.

If it were able to curse, the android would've done so, but it can't do anything but stumble back into the fight. Finally, after a few more potshots from its opponent, the robot seemed to have a steady groove going.

Ranma had a small sense of deja vu as the android started to match his blows with lightning fast dodges. It would seem that it was a fast-learning machine, and he saw himself superimposed on its image. Not that the cyborg's learning curve was as quick as his, but it was quite impressive for a machine.

He has already noticed that it was only a cybernetic organism, quite similar to Emeralda, if he recalled right. The android's aura was absent, but its strength was there. Also, Ranma could identify various fighting styles present, ones that he has encountered a bit earlier. Weird.

Ranma paid for his lapse in concentration, as the android managed to smash a double handed backhand into his face, which rocketed the hybrid a few kilometers back.

((Okaaay... that wasn't nice...)) Ranma mused as he caressed his slightly swollen cheek. This was a rare occasion that someone managed to hit him this hard since he recovered his powers. ((Hmmm... right. Time to get serious...))

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in Washuu's Laboratory (no pun intended)...

The two members of the Justice League who volunteered themselves into accepting the unknown factors' invitation into their lair. A weird thing, it was... a portal led into it. Batman and the Martian Manhunter were being flanked by the three Teen Titans left conscious. Robin looked at the swirling oval-shaped portal wryly, while Cyborg goggled at the technological prowess of the one who managed to create a pocket universe. Beast Boy was, as usual, confused.

Once they entered the spatial rift, they were treated in a long hallway of swirling colors, with a light at the end of the path.

""Took you long enough..."" Washuu snorted slightly, as she cocked her eyebrow at the five people who staggered into her personal space. ""I am Washuu Hakubi. I am your guide for today.""

""Damn..."" Cyborg whistled as his head crooned, his cybernetic eye lit up in glee, ""Who made this stuff! I'm have to meet him, and I'm gonna worship him!""

""Her..."" The red haired scientist corrected the half-organic with a chuckle, as she gestured for her bedazzled audience to follow her deeper into the lab, ""No worship needed, I'm afraid. I gave all that up when I retired as the Goddess of Knowledge you know.""

The statement left Cyborg gaping like a fish, who was now being towed deeper into the facility by his fellow Titans Robin and Beast Boy.

Upon reaching the main area of the lab, the small group quickly tensed when they saw the forms of a rather small demonic girl, dressed in a dark leotard. Her head was free from a hood, and her long purple hair cascade down to her upper back. She has a pair of miniature bat wings jutting out of her back, and a thin tail with an arrow tip wriggled from her upper behind. The other woman was a lot taller, with long platinum blue hair that glistened every now and then. Her battle armor was still in place, as her massive shoulder guards floated a few inches off her shoulders. Her sword was strapped around her waist.

Both women had their backs on the new arrivals, since they seemed to be preoccupied with the form that lay on the medical bed in the middle of the room.

Beyond the pair, though, loomed the danger the newcomers felt. A tall and regal woman, with short light brown hair with red highlights on her bangs. Her battle regalia she wore earlier was now off her body, and instead a tight dark red and black body suit encompassed her body, which showed off her VERY impressive curves. There was a large oval-shaped red gem on her chest, as well as a gold one on her forehead. A gold band seemed to float around her waist, since it doesn't touch her flesh itself. Her eyes vividly reminded them of Ranma, as the normal whites found on human eyes were dark blue to her own.

As the Heroes finally reoriented themselves, they noticed the wholeness of the room at last. They saw several monitors that displayed the battle between Ranma and the android, shown in different camera angles. There was also a screen that showed only numbers, with the names of Ranma and Unknown tabulated with them.

Adjacent to Ranma's name was number that varied constantly, but the last number they saw was around 630,000,000. The other one, the Unknown, has the number 590,000,000.

""Tokimi... we have guests..."" Washuu called out from behind the group as she walked past them while they remained stationary.

Tokimi looked up to her red haired sister with a quirked eyebrow and commented, ""Apparently..."" Gesturing to the whole room in general, she continued, ""Now that all most representatives of the players are here... isn't it time for you to make the introductions?""

There was an unvoiced signal, where all of the participants gathered at the small clearing of the room, where the monitors as well as the apparatus surrounded it. Batman and the Martian Manhunter were followed closely by Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy. The green elfish member of the Teen Titans was 'tempted' to touch one of the shiny things in the lab, but he felt a thousand eyes trained on him, which made him feel wary of doing anything.

Raven glanced briefly into her team mates eyes one at a time, before she floated carelessly towards a free area, trailed by Lenneth who traveled by foot.

Lastly, Tokimi took one last look at the machines that surrounded the injured Green Lantern's bed, before she joined her sister Washuu as the duo calmly walked to the same clearing everyone went to.

""Alright... we're all here..."" Washuu began, as she eyed the two groups in front of her. The two girls were exotic enough, and one was demonic in looks, but judging from their inherent aura, they were pretty much docile most of the time. The other group was a mystery though, but it seemed that they were a batch of superheroes of some sort, probably sworn to protect the planet against invaders of all kind.

Washuu shook her head mentally as she spoke loudly, ""Well, let's all begin by introducing ourselves, shall we? I know it sounds pretty childish, but believe me, children have the weirdest ideas that actually work most of the time. So... let's begin. I am Washuu Hakubi, the greatest scientist in the universe..."" she stifled her laugh at their bewildered looks as two robotic puppets suddenly appeared on her shoulders, as the two showered her with confetti and stuff, while they praised her name in earnest.

Tokimi sighed in slight frustration. ""My sister is an egomaniac, but she does back up her claim... anyway. I am Tokimi, goddess of chaos. At least, that's what they call me. I don't care.""

The redhead just rolled her eyes in response to her sister's antics, which wasn't lost to everyone in the room except Tokimi herself. Weirdly enough, without even the slightest indication of communication, Tokimi and Washuu both turned towards the demonic girl in skimpy clothes and the totally bored-out-of-her-mind Valkyrie on Earth.

""I recognize you..."" Tokimi gestured at the Valkyrie, who bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment, ""Lenneth Valkyrie, celestial bastion of Odin and champion of the Valkyries. Dubbed as Chooser of the Slain, because they ferry the souls of valiant heroes and heroines into the halls of Valhalla, the place for fallen heroes. That is in preparation for the End of Everything, Ragnarok, as foreseen by the Norns...""

Lenneth smiled grimly, ""That is correct, my lady Tokimi.""

Washuu raised an eyebrow at the silent demon-like girl, who tried to remain inconspicuous but failed rather badly. ""What about you?"" The scientist asked her curiously.

The girl shot an unreadable glance towards Robin, before she answered curtly, ""I am Raven, born in the world of Azarath.""

""Trigon..."" Washuu snorted in irritation, as she recognized the demon's name rather easily. Raven almost freaked at this predicament, but the scientist's bolster of self-confidence was contagious.

""I heard of him before..."" Washuu continued as the silence swept their conversation once again, ""He's a ruthless high demon with very high goals. Classification of Trigon's place in the Universe placed him as a First Class Demon, Unlimited. He did TRY to take over Nifelheim once, but there was always someone stronger... Lady Hild, the counterpart of God in Hell, massacred him into submission. When he was finally subdued, he was punished into exile by Lady Hild herself, and threw him into another dimension. I guess he found a way to access some of his powers and managed to still do some damage on our realm.""

Tokimi eyed Raven with her unearthly orbs, which caused the smaller girl to shiver slightly. ""Ah... is that why she's half demon then?"" Tokimi then smiled at her warmly, as she ignored the gasps that came from the Heroes' side, ""It must have been hard for you, to be persecuted like that. You cannot fit in any world, neither demon nor of humans.""

""He was trying to use me..."" Raven growled softly, ""To... to free himself. He raped my mother... in order to produce the child of his prophecy that would be his instrument of freedom from his exile. And that child, is Me.""

""Raven..."" Robin wanted to go to the girl and comfort her, but she has heard his voice that called out to her and answered it with a harsh glare.

""I still don't understand... why you have to attack Ranma like that..."" Raven's eyes flared red for a moment, before they resumed their normal purple pupils, ""He did nothing wrong.""

""He was CONTROLLING you..."" Batman stressed the word, as he tried to ignore the sudden temperature change as Tokimi and Washuu shot him a frosty glare.

Cyborg cleared his throat, ""Raven, girl, you have to understand... you just suddenly up and disappeared. We don't know where you went, and all of the sudden, we hear you're in China, doing NOTHING when monkey boy decimated those people.""

""And yet you chose to attack so adamantly, even when you do not understand the true nature of the problem?"" Lenneth asked without sympathy at all, ""You do not require some sort of assurance as to what drove Lord Ranma to retaliate in such a manner?""

""He hurt people... that's enough reason for me to drive him out..."" Batman said adamantly.

""This is pointless..."" Raven deadpanned, as she turned her nose on the Heroes she used to go with. Before, she understood just as much as Robin in terms of crime fighting. Bad guys should be thrashed without mercy. But now... they encountered someone that was torn between the definition of being a good guy and a bad guy.

Ranma attacked humans, that much was true, but he was attacked first. A retaliatory act, which was greatly misunderstood by everyone.

Suddenly, the dark girl's attention was caught by one of the screens that flashed all over Washuu's laboratory, which displayed a news segment that featured the battle a while ago. This was also caught by Tokimi and Washuu, who turned towards the screen as well.

""Apparently, we're not the only ones who are vouching for Ranma-chan's innocence..."" Washuu commented wryly, as she pointed at the news. She even took the initiative of enlarging the image screen.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The screen showed the news station with an anchorwoman dutifully explaining a certain uprising in some countries in Asia. Her long light brown hair cascaded down her back, and her bright dark-green eyes remained cheerful despite some of the darker reports she was trying to convey to the people.

""... and that was the latest news regarding the situation in the Asian Nations. Which brings us to the highlight news of the day, as our correspondent managed to capture this raw footage from the Justice League's battle a short moment ago. Come in, Janet...""

The screen faded into a scene which can only be described as somewhere from the inside of a helicopter. A short black-haired woman stared for a moment to the camera before she began excitedly, ""You wouldn't believe what I just saw, Lorna! Our very own superheroes, the Justice League, were soundly defeated by only one man! Yes, you heard me right! I have this footage that showed the battle a while ago...""

Various scenes from the battle flashed into the screen, from the Justice League ordering Ranma to surrender in his backyard up to the point when the Soja was taken down by the golden android...

The black-haired reporter continued, ""There's also a complication, Lorna... one of the Teen Titan members, the ever-enigmatic Raven, was seen at the side of the so-called villain.""

The anchorwoman named Lorna asked, ""Maybe it was mind control?""

""I'm not really sure..."" The reporter shrugged slightly, before her face slowly melted into confusion, ""But it was really strange, since not once did I see this villain instigate the battle. In fact, if I heard it correctly, he was trying to negotiate. But it was deftly ignored by the Justice League. As we have seen a while ago, this person was accompanied by Raven and another weirdly dressed woman. Not only that, a huge spaceship appeared and seemed to side with the young man as well.""

""We get that all the time..."" Anchorwoman Lorna said simply.

The reporter shook her head, ""I really don't know... but I feel there's something really weird about the situation. As you've seen in the footage, Raven tried to explain something to the assembled heroes, but was almost blasted by her teammate Cyborg's firepower. She was saved by that other woman, who was dressed in an old European Style armor. When the young man tried to stand and probably defend themselves, both of the women stopped him from doing anything. Even when the new arrivals came, there was no willing retaliation. Now I wonder why that is... and why did the Justice League ignore the more peaceful solution to this problem?""

The anchorwoman and the reporter both lapsed into a tense silence after that, neither one knew what the answers to their questions were.

""Anyway..."" The reporter coughed lightly as the silence almost became too suffocating, ""This is Janet Smith, reporting from over the Pacific, CNN News Asia.""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile, in the weird central called Nerima...

A handful of weary travelers managed to come home after their debacle in China, along with the severely incapacitated and injured Saotome Genma.

The man's best friend, Tendo Soun, cried upon seeing his youngest daughter alive and well. But it was nothing compared to his tears when his sights came upon Genma.

It has been a grueling few days, and they managed to settle down into a routine that was quite somber than normal. News of Ranma's appearance, even though it was stressed that he was no where near similar to his dead counterpart of this world, shook them to their very core. That, and the fact that Genma was still in the hospital being treated from his recent massive blood loss, and not to forget about his lost limbs as well.

Imagine the whole of Nerima's surprise when they got wind of their long dead local town hero fighting the world's mightiest team of professional superheroes, the Justice League, in mortal combat. Not only was Ranma able to keep up with all those super powered beings who tried to take him down, but he managed to stave them off easily as well.

In the local hospital, Genma was in a full body cast... watching the news with wide eyes. He still felt the massive chills that encompassed his body. He felt very lucky... that he wasn't killed. He never thought that this Ranma was THAT powerful...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back to Washuu's Subspace Laboratory...

Silence was a wonderful thing, really. But too much of it sometimes hurt the ears. Like at the moment, the whole entourage of people inside of Washuu's little side of the subspace universe remained rooted on their positions, their eyes still riveted upon the already finished news segment that featured the battle they had earlier...

Well, that is, until Washuu's snort echoed across the area.

""Some 'Heroes' you are... yes indeed..."" The redhead's smug and superbly sarcastic tone cut a deep wound in the prides of those male superheroes present.

Before anyone could comment on that, Raven's sharp gasp caused them to look at the demonic girl curiously. The gothic girl suddenly fell to her knees, as her arms hugged her own body tightly.

""Raven!"" Robin tried to go to her, but Raven raised her hand up to stop his advance.

""Stay back!"" Raven hissed angrily. She brought her hand back around her, as she felt her insides shift once again. ((This feeling... oh... that again...)) she surmised to herself as her mind blanked out.

""What's happening?"" Cyborg asked in alarm, as he watched his friend and team mate when she slumped to the ground. He was about to go to her and ignore her warning from before, but a sudden flash of light blinded them momentarily.

When the light faded, they were quite shocked to see another person in place of Raven a while ago. No... not another person... this new being has the same purple hair that their Raven had earlier on. The main difference was that, her chakra gem was blue instead of dark red, and her cloak was white. Oh, and her batwings seemed to have disappeared, only to be replaced by a pair of small feathery wings. The arrowhead-tipped of the tail that decorated her back a moment ago was replaced by a heart-shaped tipped tail.

Washuu calmly sidled up to the morphic being's side as she checked on her vital signs. She nodded gleefully when they were all normal, which meant that the change was part of her system now. ""Interesting..."" she murmured.

""What the hell happened!"" Cyborg's angry voice thundered inside the laboratory, which caused Lenneth, Tokimi and Washuu to wince slightly.

Batman growled, ""So... this is how that boy managed to control Raven...""

Robin shook his head in denial, ""B-But... how? I mean... she's an angel now... a while ago she was a demon...""

""Dude..."" Beast Boy breathed in awe as he stared at Raven's inert form with slight hunger in his eyes, ""She's beautiful...""

""Don't be deceived by physical looks, boy..."" Batman's warning voice cut into the green-skinned boy's infatuation of the angel, ""She may look like an angel, but it doesn't mean she is one.""

""Why are you so hard on the poor girl?"" Tokimi glared at the Heroes in irritation.

""It's all this Ranma's fault!"" Cyborg ranted loudly.

""No... actually, it's not..."" A high-pitched voice interrupted them. They all turned to the source, and found that the being that still resembled Raven has awakened amidst their bickering. She looked at them with soulful purple eyes, the same eyes that reflected the hard glint when she was in her demonic form.

Washuu helped the angelic girl up, mindful of her constitution that was still unused to the change. The red haired scientist knew what the girl was going through, since a long time ago she used to change into a younger form herself, but now it was unnecessary. She has already accepted the hard past she was exposed to, and found that turning into a young prepubescent form will never heal the hurt she felt all those years ago, when she lost her only son.

The angelic Raven shook her head, her feathery wings fluttered behind her in attempts to remove the kinks in the joints. She looked at the assembled Heroes carefully, especially to Cyborg. His unwarranted attack a few hours ago wasn't forgotten even with the change. She was still Raven, only with a few different compulsions.

""Lord Ranma... he never did anything to hurt me..."" The angel began, as she gave the red haired scientist who helped her a grateful glance, ""The truth of the matter, is that he saved me. You do know about my father, Trigon, am I right, Cyborg, Beast Boy?""

The half-machine and the green-skinned changeling nodded reluctantly, still a bit wary of the new Raven in their presence. She was infinitely different from the original Raven they got used to.

Raven nodded to herself, unconsciously trying to hide behind Washuu's back because of her shyness, ""That being was just a representation of my father's link to me. He was trying to make me weaker emotionally, by controlling my Anger. That was why he controlled Anger... because it is the easiest emotion to fall into the darkness. He knew that my Anger will be my downfall, and he took advantage of that fact. Because I am half demon.""

Beast Boy thumped his chest with his fist, as he exclaimed, ""But we beat the jerk the last time we were there, right? Ask Cyborg... we kicked his butt!""

""You only managed to halt his advance, but you never 'destroyed' him..."" Raven informed them, ""As I've said earlier, it's only a representation of Trigon's link in my mind. The one you actually fought was only Anger, who got changed because of my father's influence. Because if you managed to miraculously beat him, I would've had free reign of my emotions already. But I didn't. That is, until now.""

""Lord Ranma, in an accident, got sucked into the portal of my mind as you both did..."" Raven continued, ""And just the same as you two, he encountered Anger in Trigon form. The only difference, is that he managed not only to beat it, but he defeated Anger so badly that she reverted back to her original form and STAYED that way. And to further fix my psyche, Lord Ranma tried to put all my emotions back together. Well, being inexperienced, he only managed to put them back half-way...""

Tokimi sighed audibly, ""He tried to do something he never had the experience of doing, right? So he tried to merge all your fragmented emotions into one, but something must have interrupted him...""

Raven nodded wearily, ""He miscalculated the amount of damage he made in Nevermore, which ended in its destruction. He managed to patch me up mostly, but as you can see, there are still some problems.""

""So..."" Cyborg said after some time of contemplation, ""It IS Ranma's fault.""

Raven sighed timidly, ""In your eyes, that's probably the case. But I really don't see it that way. Better be this way than be socially inexperienced and become a tool for my father sooner or later. I am actually quite grateful that Lord Ranma did succeed in eliminating my father's mental link with me. Now, I don't have to worry being called an unsocial goth..."" she looked down to herself and smiled wryly, ""Uhm, with the new look notwithstanding.""

When she saw that none of her so-called friends believed her, Raven suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow and sadness from her chest, which caused her eyes to water. ""Look... I'm so sorry if I'm like this now, okay?"" Raven's voice cracked in a high pitched tone as she sniffled, ""I mean... is it so bad to hope for a solution to my dilemma... ANY solution? This is far better than how I've felt when my father was still inside my head...""

""But... what... I mean..."" Robin stammered helplessly, torn between going crazy over the recent shocks to his system, or just remain catatonic.

Washuu huffed, ""Look, you can bolster all you want, but what's done is done. Just be thankful that there aren't any more side effects. Besides... I'm more worried about what Ranma-chan's facing right now.""

Everyone turned to the screens previously ignored by them, which showcased the fight between the golden android and Ranma in space.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

By now, several major asteroids have been turned into dust. Ranma and the android sported a lot of gashes all over their bodies, but so far none has taken the 'lead' of after the flurry they had earlier.

The red haired alien hybrid gazed at his opponent coolly, impressed that it was able to stand against his attacks well. It was quite an exchange of blows, but he can do better. A lot better. He was currently clutching at his left side, since the android got several lucky shots in on that area. Already, he felt the torn skin healing as the precious seconds of reprieve passed by.

Besides, Ranma wasn't going to let himself lose in this fight. Just like what he was thinking back when he was fighting those people on Earth earlier, he wanted to return to some important people who were probably worried sick about his condition. He really needed to finish this fight and help Washuu find a way to take him back, or maybe... Washuu already found a way. Nevertheless, nothing can be gained as long as this android stood in his way.

""((You fight well...))"" Ranma suddenly heard the android's deep voice inside his head once again, ""((One has to wonder though, what drives someone like you to continue on fighting with such weak odds? You will lose... since I already copied most of your techniques into myself. It would be pointless for you to continue on this meaningless endeavor...))""

""((You'll never be able to understand...))"" Ranma 'replied' from his mind, ""((As much as I wanted you to understand my reasoning, I have no intention of teaching you the ways of life. It's a waste of time. Besides, the main thing here is that you almost killed my mother with your stupid act. And for what? To take me out because I'm powerful? Such a weak excuse doesn't deserve to be listened on by me.))""

The android crossed its hands across its chest, as the lacerations that spread all over its body sewed themselves back together, ""((They are in my way, so they have to be removed. And you... you MAY become a hindrance to my purpose in the near future, so I have decided to remove you as well.))""

Ranma growled mentally as his form vanished in motes of bright lights, which caused the android to quickly become alert of its surroundings. It also knew how to teleport, but the problem was that it has no way of knowing where Ranma would appear. A split second later, it was almost decapitated when a strong right hook swished passed the back of its head, as Ranma appeared just to its back right. The only saving grace for the android was its sensors that blared the warning of the sudden appearance of a powerful energy signature behind it. The android quickly danced away from the blow, but it was forced to swerve here and there as Ranma continued to rain blows all over the place.

""((You do NOT just attack other people randomly just because they're in your way!))"" Ranma's speed punches increased as his body started glowing in a silver light. The android became hard pressed at dodging, but it was proven futile.

Here became evident of the differences between the organic and the inorganic. The android was a powerful being, capable of copying the tricks of its opponents. It was able to master the move just as how the move's original owner managed to master it. While Ranma was basically the same, his assimilation of techniques was quite different from the way the robot did.

Ranma dissected the moves he managed to be interested into, and tried to understand the logic behind it. From there, Ranma will be able to redefine the technique and refine it, and revised the whole thing into a few more branches off of the original move into three or more modified and probably more powerful moves from it. He will train on them, until he mastered the moves he has created within his mind and develop the muscle memory needed to produce such moves.

The android just copied the moves directly from its originator. It might be a nice upset in the beginnings of the fight, but in the long run, the moves become redundant and predictable. It would be child's play for someone as good as Ranma to be able to catch the certain limitation of the android's copy routine and employ counter attacks against them.

The android was able to duplicate the moves exactly, but that was it. No other variations were employed because it cannot really compute fast enough or even comprehend how to do so.

Hell, the android was even having a hard time understanding its purpose, let alone learn how to variate moves from the original.

The power output of the android has a limit as well, since its body has its own limitations as well. Ranma has yet to learn his limits still...

So here was where the deadlock was broken. The android was able to execute moves such as teleportation like Ranma did earlier, but it lacked the control and finesse Ranma has when he does it. With its power glaring constantly all over the place, Ranma was able to discern the approximate place where the android might appear next in the form of power spikes.

The android was also able to duplicate Ranma's speed punch techniques, but when they both executed it against each other at the same time, the android felt more blows hit its body while Ranma escaped the encounter without a scratch. The cyborg has none of the sixth or seventh senses Ranma used to detect power surge changes around him.

Which was why the android was now being pummeled by several hundred blows, as another barrage of speed punches from Ranma managed to break into its guard. It copied most of Ranma's moves perfectly, but lacked the muscle memory to execute the moves properly. With a devastating last punch, Ranma managed to smash the android's face in and made it fly back only to hit an asteroid that appeared in its trajectory.

The android shook the cobwebs out of its reforming head as it pulled itself off of the massive space rock that stopped its flight trajectory. Its eyes glowed red as it 'glared' at Ranma, but it was for naught since the red haired hybrid appeared in its face once again, and threw a devastating roundhouse kick that managed to smash the android back into the asteroid, totally wrecking the rock into smaller bits of space debris.

Ranma watched impassively as the smashed android's body suddenly vanished into teleportation once again amidst the destroyed asteroid. He felt a slight tug of energy to his right, which caused him to swing his fist off to the same direction. A golden projectile of energy was easily smacked away from him by this action, only to duck as the android's fist passed by a few inches above his head. Ranma let loose a snap kick which was evaded by the android with a simple twist off to the side. Ranma allowed his kick's momentum to make him do a simple somersault and allowed his other foot to follow the first kick, and this time it hit the android's side rather painfully. The android was flung back like a rag doll as it twisted uncontrollably in space for a few moments, before it got its bearings and managed to stop its unwanted momentum continued.

""((You are growing too dangerous... it is time to finish this encounter...))"" The android mentally told Ranma, who didn't react the slightest. Its body was engulfed in a bright golden aura. ""((As much as you are stronger than most of the opponents I've faced, you're still organic. You will tire out soon. According to my calculations, you are already feeling the strain---))""

""((Which is why you're never going to win against me...))"" Ranma's own mental voice cut the android off, his red tail swung agitatedly behind him, ""((You're the one who has limitations. Organics can develop their strengths infinitely... if only they knew how. But then again, we agree on one thing though... it's time to finish this...))"" And with that, Ranma's multi-colored gems flared up together with the silver aura that blossomed from his body, and encompassed most in the area with a bright light with arcs of silver lightning.

It was quite a sight to behold, as Ranma's back exploded with silver translucent feathers. The re-forged Light Hawk Wings flapped once within the windless space, and wrapped around the red haired alien hybrid like a protective silver cocoon.

To the android, it was like a star was born.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Inside Washuu's Laboratory...

The spectators of the ongoing fight outside of the Earth's spherical territory gaped at the scene. The amount of power was obvious; the battle reminded them of Superman's fights against REALLY strong opponents, like Darkseid. But somehow, they seemed to pale in comparison with this one...

""What are those numbers that kept on changing?"" The Martian Manhunter asked curiously, as he pointed at the series of numbers that constantly changed during the fight. They were being shown on another screen, which had the images of both the android and Ranma with each of the numbers to the sides of each image.

The Unknown, which was now discerned as the gold android, has the numbers 710,000,000 indicated just beside its figure. Ranma's image has 850,000,000... and it was still rising rapidly.

Washuu grinned slightly, and tossed her red hair to the side as she sidled up to the screen the Martian pointed at, ""Well... they basically monitor the energy outputs of the individuals I targeted. The physical manifestations of their internal energies are being measured based on the standard of the one used by the Galactic Police, as well as some other governments that scattered across the universe.""

""Uhm, hello? Why are you using it anyway?"" Beast Boy asked.

Washuu raised an auburn eyebrow at the green-skinned human, as she squelched the urge to take the little munchkin and make him a guinea pig. ""Well, for one thing..."" she explained, ""I wanted to know just how powerful Ranma was, even if the sensors were just mere estimates. Besides, others like the soldiers from the Cold Empire far to the South Quadrant of the Galaxy 250-012, they have the same system. But theirs was more mobile in the form of a visor. They call them 'Scouters', and they can detect various life signs from the planets they're trying to conquer.""

Beast Boy's eyes widened marginally, ""Oh..."" he finished lamely.

""Yes. Oh."" Washuu said in amusement as she turned, only to be faced by a seemingly catatonic angelic Raven who stared at nothing in particular. After waving her hands in front of the angel, Washuu turned to Raven's companion, who remained silent all through-out the tirade.

""What's wrong with her?"" Washuu asked Lenneth, as she gestured at the still-immobile Raven that stood ramrod straight in her place, ""Is she broken?""

Lenneth rolled her ice blue eyes and shrugged, ""Raven shares a bond with the person who's becoming more and more powerful as he battles against one of this universe's most powerful beings. I think she is excused if she feels a bit out of the weather because of it.""

Tokimi's voice broke the slightly embarrassed chuckle Washuu gave out from Lenneth's semi-sarcastic reply, ""Washuu? Is this really normal? The readings on Ranma's power levels are raising much more rapidly that we anticipated.""

""Lord Ranma... so angry..."" Raven muttered mainly to herself, but everyone heard her anyway. She ignored their stares as she continued staring at nothing. ""Hurt mother... must destroy who stands in his way... must go back to them... ugh... so much... power...""

""No, it's not..."" Washuu responded to Tokimi's question, deftly ignoring Raven's ramblings as she stared at the results pouring into her viewscreen, ""Then again, Ranma's not really normal now, is he?""

""Lord Ranma is anything BUT normal..."" A raspy voice interjected into the conversation, which caused the Justice League members, the Teen Titan members, along with Tokimi, Washuu and Lenneth (Raven was still catatonic) to glance at the almost forgotten patient who was initially brought into the laboratory first. It was the 'other' Jon Stewart, AKA, the Green Lantern.

""Jon?"" Batman asked seriously, his mask's eyeholes turning into slits as he stared at the man's disheveled appearance.

The future Green Lantern chuckled slightly, but he winced as the pain his body felt registered in his brain momentarily. ""Uhg... hurts. N-Nice to see you too, B-Bats...""

""Bats?"" Robin and Cyborg both muttered to themselves, while Beast Boy was glued to the screen showing the magnificent battle between the now-angelic Ranma and the golden android Doctor Ivo created for Lex Luthor.

Bats... err, Batman ignored the almost inaudible snickers that escaped the impertinent duo of Teen Titan members listening in the conversation. ""Why are you here? How will this affect the timeline? Do you have information that may help us capture this Ranma person?"" he fired question after question on the hapless Green Lantern.

Jon Stewart was used to the brooding caped crusader's way of asking information, so he took everything in stride. ""I'm here coz I'm here to stop you from doing anything that would ensure the future I was from. It took a great deal of power, and a lot of lives, to get me here. As to how it will affect the timeline... don't worry. The original Green Lantern will not disappear or something, rather, I'm the one who will disappear. As I've said earlier, there has been a lot of sacrifices for this chance. I'll disappear soon to balance out the timeline. As for the last question... nope. I'm not going to help you capture Ranma. Refer to the answer to your first question.""

Batman fumed.

""Why?"" Martian Manhunter asked, deftly avoiding a confrontation between the dark knight and the ailing Lantern.

Jon Stewart's now black eyes bored into the Martian's orange orbs, and said, ""You tell me, J'onn. You're an educated alien, one who's well-versed in lore and myth. From the first time you saw him, you already knew who Lord Ranma was. I know, because in my timeline, it was you who was in my place... trying to stop us from attacking him. You and Diana.""

""What are you two---"" Batman began, but was rudely cut off.

""I thought as much..."" J'onn J'onzz's face was graced with a pained expression, ""All the facts point only to one direction. Those gems on his forehead was just but one indication as to who he really was. I think that the Justice League has been so used to fighting that we had forgotten to stop and ask questions first, before attacking. He could've easily wiped us all out but he didn't... a testament to his merciful heart.""

The future Green Lantern sighed, as he settled himself down on the medical bed he was on, ""Well, that merciful heart can easily be turned into cold and vicious... especially if we tried to attack the wrong person..."" his glance quickly went towards Tokimi, before going back to the black recesses of the laboratory's ceiling, ""In my timeline, it was one of us that managed to hit Lady Tokimi. I think it was Superman, but it didn't really matter in the end. Lady Tokimi in my timeline was severely injured by the unwarranted attack, since she was so unprepared for it. It was then that we experienced the power of a Central God... the main power of the Trinity Gods.""

Batman growled out, ""Can anyone just tell me what the hell are you talking about?""

The Martian Manhunter's eyes glowed softly, and bored themselves into Batman's masked ones, ""What he means, my friend, is that we were WAY over our heads when we tried taking the Lord Ranma down like we did. It was a stupid decision, one that we should've deliberated a lot longer than we had.""

""It was awful, Bruce..."" The Green Lantern gasped out, as he convulsed slightly when his temporal wounds reasserted themselves, ""The future of our world is dead... not only our world, but several other galaxies because of our impertinence. We forgot that there are some forces into which we shouldn't delve into... and we got so cocky. Our universe literally went into a black hole because of our stupid mistake! It was all our fault!""

""Easy there, big guy..."" Washuu muttered in concern as she glanced at the vital signs her patient was exhibiting in the machines where his broken body was hooked up with.

Green Lantern huffed as he clutched at his sides painfully. ""Damn it... I don't have much time..."" he muttered, as he glanced to the side and saw the red haired scientist giving him a sad look of resignation. He expected this when he went through the portal, that his own body will slowly disintegrate because of the temporal damages he received from using the forbidden art of time travel. The Guardians of Oa have reiterated that thought to him, that they weren't by no means gods, and using the forbidden technique has dire consequences. One that he's experiencing now...

""Look, I don't have much time before I disappear..."" Jon Stewart glared at Batman, ""I just wanted to save this universe's future. Mine by now would be lost, and even if there was a remote chance of getting back there, there's nothing left for me. We made a mistake, and we're going to pay dearly if we don't think of the consequences of our actions.""

Batman's jaw clenched. ""This Ranma broke the Law...""

The Green Lantern snorted, ""We're not the police. And we have no right to judge a person like that. Or have you forgotten that little fact, Bruce? When stripped off of the glamour and the prestige, we 'Superheroes' are nothing more than a group of vigilantes. We break laws as well. But we have a reason... and Lord Ranma has his own reasons for attacking those people in China...""

""Those female Amazons are trying to get him in the sack, literally..."" he continued grimly, ""He asked them not to pursue, but they did. So the battle lines were drawn. And the man severely injured, was a known felon who tortured his own son in the guise of training.""

Green Lantern stared at Batman seriously, ""That man, was Ranma's analogue's father. Simply put, it was only justice served, since that man has been wanted by the Japanese authority for thousands of cases concerning break ins and thefts, as well as conniving people off their money using his own son as the collateral. Not to mention the severe child abuse cases...""

""Wait..."" Robin cut into the conversation, which caused everyone to look at his direction, ""You're not saying... he's Genma Saotome's son!""

Cyborg grunted as his lone organic eye widened, ""No way... that guy? I read the file... damn that guy matches Slade's perversity.""

""Precisely..."" Green Lantern shot the former partner of Batman a small but pained smile, ""Things are not what it seemed to be. Especially now... this Ranma is no ordinary being.""

""Why can't anyone just go around those pretty stories and just say it up straight?"" Batman groused.

""If you'll just keep quiet and listen, then you'll finally get what we've been trying to tell you, Bruce..."" The Martian Manhunter sighed.

""Central Gods are just THAT, Bruce..."" The African American said simply, ""They are a trio of ultimate GODS. The Trinity of Gods... each prominent in their jurisdictions. There was the Order, the Nightmare, and the Chaos. There were recounts of some of the oldest races, that there's also another faction of gods. The Ancient Gods, who ruled even before the Trinity. There was much confusion as to WHY the Trinity came about since, nobody really recorded it. But as things turned out, the Ancient Gods were really... bad... at running the universe. So whatever gave birth to the Universe presented it with the Trinity, who waged a war that ended all wars at that time. They won of course.""

The Martian Manhunter gave a nod, ""The Trinity took over the Universal ruling, and the universe was given new hope as it bloomed into the setting we see today. The gems on Ranma's forehead... it was a symbol of the Trinity. The Kryptonians adopted the symbol when one of the local researchers of their planet managed to stumble upon the legends of the Trinity and its exploits. Although... the Trinity wasn't much of a trinity anymore, since one of them sacrificed his life to save Existence.""

""Chaos... legends say that Chaos took it upon himself to banish the Elder Gods into the place where Existence began, the Alpha Prime Point of Existence..."" Green Lantern interjected, ""It was supposed to be located in the middle of the universe, but due to the splintering of timelines by the minute, the place was rumored to have been sealed in another dimension.""

Washuu spoke up, her eyes showed that she was reliving some of her past memories, which were forcefully unlocked a few years ago, ""The Trinity was kind of like the Central Goddesses ancestors. We were a stand in, a forefront figurehead to show a personified version of gods. I was the representative of Knowledge, Tokimi was for Chaos and Darkness, while our other sister, Tsunami, was for Life and Light. When Chaos disappeared, his essence was spread all over the multiverse. That's why there's only a handful of chosen individuals who have certain chaotic auras within them. They must have received the residual chaos energies expelled after the original Chaos' energy dispersal.""

""With Chaos successfully banishing the Elder Gods, the whole of Existence needed a new ruling order..."" Tokimi continued from where Washuu has stopped her narration, ""With Order and Nightmare left, they chose to split the ruling order amongst themselves. Order became who you know as the Grand God, or Alfadur, creator of all things. Nightmare became the Grand Demon, who rules the Underworld and everything related to dark. Order was usually associated with everything that is Good, while Nightmare was usually connected to anything Evil. But that's totally wrong..."" She glared at the slight smug smirk that blossomed on Batman's lips.

Washuu shook her head, ""That's true. There was never a 'Right' or a 'Wrong'... it was always about Free Will. The main problem with the Elder Gods' rule was that they controlled everything mortal under their powers and manipulated them like puppets. That was why the Great Abyss, the Ultimate Source of All, created the Trinity with the last visages of Its powers as the counterbalance. The Trinity, especially Chaos, destroyed the false belief on Fate and Destiny. But with Chaos' disappearance, it wasn't long that those left to rule Existence started committing the same mistake the Elder Gods did. Fate and Destiny seemed to have appeared once again, and the right of Free Will to choose a mortal's path in life has been challenged.""

""But that's over, now..."" The future Green Lantern said resolutely, as he glanced at the curious looks given to him by everyone in the laboratory, ""Lady Tokimi, Lady Washuu... the Guardians of Oa from my timeline told me something before they sent me back. They seem to believe that Chaos, the original Chaos, is back. Of course, with you being You, you've known that all along.""

Tokimi grinned slightly, ""Oh, I know about that. Being somewhat a Divine, I'm still connected with my other selves in the multiverse. I got some glimpses of their thoughts... and one in particular. The strongest one of us all... the Tokimi of where Ranma was from.""

""Also..."" Washuu cut into the conversation, ""My counterpart from the last universe Ranma was from warned us about the strange residual energies coming from Ranma. His chaos factor, something that was supposed to be present in everything in the universe as a given, exceeds even those of the ones you call 'gods' and 'demons'. In fact, his whole being, believe it or not, is made up mostly of chaotic energy.""

""In other words..."" Martian Manhunter said in slight awe, his red-orange eyes glowed slightly as they widened, ""Ranma is...""

""The revived Chaos..."" Tokimi and Washuu said simultaneously, which caused the Justice League members, as well as the Teen Titans, to gasp loudly.

Lenneth Valkyrie stifled a laugh at the dumbfounded faces. ""It would seem that it took you long enough to realize the fact. Why we called him Lord Ranma when we first met him, or why I easily submitted to his bidding. I felt it... the original Chaos... within his soul. Most of the residual energies of Chaos in the universe gathers around him, which causes him to affect everything in a major manner.""

Raven's posture seemed to straighten, as her back snap ramrod straight in her position. The wings behind her quivered as her body glowed silver. ""Master..."" she sighed longingly.

""What's happening with her?"" Robin asked in slight confusion.

The future Green Lantern strained as he pointed towards the screen, which featured Ranma and Doctor Ivo's android's fight, ""The battle is about to be concluded.""

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in outer space...

The battle took a tremendous toll on the surroundings, but nothing compared to the damages done to the personage of Ranma and the android. Too bad though, that Ranma's power still seemed to climb even when the fight dragged on. The android on the other hand...

It seemed to have seen better days, and after their latest squirmish, it lost a chuck of its shoulder, plus its right knee has a large part of it dented dangerously. Its head was distorted in a bad way, as one of its eyes was caved into it. Even though it lost most of its machine parts in favor of its cosmic energy, the damages done to its body was too extensive for it to begin healing itself. It seemed to reserve its power for attacking Ranma...

It has been a few months ago when the android encountered a race of semi-organic beings. It was reminiscent to those of the beings called Borgs, but they have developed their bodies way better than the Borg's used. The half-organic, half machine parts were fused together and were held by a massive jolt of cosmic power. The godly power was the same energy that changed most of the android's body into its current state, which is why it is now of color gold, symbolizing its change from the original metallic gray.

The nanotech within the android's body was now infused with cosmic energy, and the term 'android' was now a loosely used term to name it.

But even with the drastic change its body withstood within these months, everything still failed when it has encountered this force of nature in front of it as of this moment.

It still couldn't understand the true purpose of this red haired being, who suddenly changed form a moment ago. At first, it managed to match the tenacity of its enemy's attacks blow per blow, but with the sudden increase in power output, it felt inadequate all of the sudden. It could always imitate the wings Ranma has right now, but it felt that it wasn't really necessary for it, since it was the essence that was important.

The android realizes its own limitations when assimilating a technique. Somehow, it felt that whatever generated those wings, the energy needed to make those was unique. It knew it can create wings, but not THOSE kinds of wings.

As it floated a bit farther away from the red haired alien hybrid, the android pondered on its remaining options. There was no way it would try to run, since it was its choice to pursue this fight. Besides, it still hadn't understood the reasoning behind Ranma's existence. Being a powerful creature in its own right, the android felt that Ranma could answer its questions. But as the fight wore on, instead of answers to its queries... more questions were raised.

Ranma, on the other hand, has only one thing in mind: To defeat this nuisance and get on with his life. He methodically attacked each part of the android with great efficiency, and took note of its fast healing capabilities. Though he knew that there was a limit to its regeneration, much like everything has a limit. The great power Ranma felt from the android earlier was now dwindling down, and it was only a matter of time before this fight will be over.

((Finally!)) The red-tailed hybrid thought to himself, ((I can see my mother's analogue after this...))

Ranma wasted no time mentally conversing with the android, as he unfurled his wings behind his back dramatically, which spread quite a few numbers of ki-feathers in space. And then... he vanished.

The android looked around warily, its energies were now being spent trying to repair most of the damages in its body. But somehow it's slower now, having sustained a whole lot more damage than it was used to. But its ruminations on its opponent's location was for naught, because it lacked a certain trait most organics have: Instinct.

The android never had the chance to develop on this trait, since it only changed recently. Besides, its thought processes were a bit more primitive than most, being a computer and all. Nothing can match the brain of an organic when it comes to thoughts... and computers lacked Instinct.

Because of this disability, it failed to have an organic's Danger Sense. Most of the skills it acquired were all assimilations, and were limited as such. It never knew how to develop those techniques it acquired.

So it failed to notice that its target was now behind it. Ranma's arms were outstretched, his hands cupped in front of his body. At the tip of his hands was a silver ball, which grew in intensity and size by the second. The android discovered a little too late, as it turned only when it noticed that a light source glowed behind it. When it turned, all it saw was the trio of dark purple, gold and silver glow in an inverted triangle that glowed along with the twin orbs of yellow eyes located just below them, but they were offset by the other source of light. Somehow, its remaining eyes widened dramatically when it saw the source, since the small ball that Ranma began with was now the size roughly half of its body. And it was still growing...

Well, Doctor Ivo's creation had no time to ponder any more than that, as the silver ball of energy doubled quickly, and suddenly engulfed half of its body. The android did panic a few moments, as it tried to pry itself loose of whatever grabbed its person into the ball. But the silver energy held fast, and with its weakened state, the android was trapped inside the growing silver sphere. It wasn't long before its whole body was entrapped inside the spheroid, where countless jolts of massive energy bombardments battered the android's immobile form inside it.

Ranma held fast on the energy ball that was roughly thrice his body size in diameter, where the android was now trapped and was being tortured inside. He based off this attack from the massive fireball Saffron has created when they fought. Ranma wondered what would happen if one would get trapped in such a ball. He therefore fired off a normal ki-blast, but instead of letting it loose like he was supposed to, he encompassed the blast inside a tight ball of hollow ki to hold it in place. The energy seemed to create a powerful vortex inside, but was confined within the ball he had created.

Sensing that the test was a success, Ranma released his hold on the energy ball and backed away as it exploded fantastically in place. It almost injured Ranma as well, but his innate energy barrier snapped into place. The explosion was soundless in space, nevertheless the damage was apparent. As the light show vanished, the battered form of the android was revealed.

Needless to say, the android was one big mess, since by now half of its body was severed up to the torso. Half of its right arm was gone as well, only most of its left arm was intact, as well as its damaged head. The red light that glowed from its eyes was dim. Pieces of its former body lay wasted around it, as they floated aimlessly in space.

""((Well, this is unpleasant...))"" The android's voice echoed within Ranma's mind, ""((It would seem that I am defeated. Is this my Fate?))""

Ranma shook his head, his wings wrapped around him like a silver cloak, ""((You chose it for yourself, when you attacked my mother.))""

The android tentatively calculated the amount of time it needed to repair itself, and discerned that it would take some time to do so. ""((My only regret was not being able to discover why I was created.))""

""((Only you can answer that...))"" Ranma sent to the android thoughtfully, ""((Since when you became Aware, you should've taken your own existence and shaped it on your own. Enough of this... time to end the battle...))"" Ranma angled his body with his right side favored towards the android and opened his right wing. He lifted his hand and trained his open palm towards the hapless android. ""((For trying to kill my mother... there is no escape...))""

Ranma's right hand flared with ki, in-sync with the flash of the gems on his forehead. Just as he was about to throw the gathered concentrated ki towards the offending android that irritated him a while ago, an Egyptian symbol of some sort flashed into being just beside the battered droid. A golden full-face masked man, who wore dark blue tights that was wrapped with a golden cloak, materialized into being from the Egyptian symbol. Without doing anything else, the unknown man grabbed Doctor Ivo's android by one of its broken arms, and flashed the symbol behind them once again.

Both the android and the golden cloaked man disappeared along with the glowing Egyptian symbol.

The red haired young man awkwardly dropped his right arm, its energy discharge dissipated as he stared at the blank space that occupied the almost destroyed android a while ago.

((Well... this sucks...)) Ranma thought lamely, as he scratched the back of his head. He slowly turned himself back to the Earth's direction, and vanished in motes of light once again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in Washuu's Laboratory...

The Superheroes stared at the now blank screen with various states of shock in their faces.

""T-That's... Doctor Fate, right?"" Cyborg asked hesitantly, unable to believe just what he had witnessed. He knew from the Teen Titan's databanks that the android Doctor Ivo created was state of the art. It has defeated the League many months ago and copied most of their powers. To see it defeated in such a manner...

""I believe Doctor Fate has some other plans with regards to the android..."" Martian Manhunter intoned.

Batman sighed softly, ""Everything's going way out of hand. I don't understand much of what's going on...""

""It's not fun if you know the outcome of any situation..."" Tokimi said calmly, ""The future is supposed to depend on the actions of today, hence nobody actually knows the exact future..."" She glanced off to the side, towards the heavily-breathing form of the future Green Lantern, ""Well, except for some cases...""

""I GOT HIM!"" Washuu suddenly squealed in glee, which caused everyone to jump in surprise at the sudden outburst. A black portal appeared above their heads, and everyone was forced to give space to whatever may come out.

Sure enough, the screaming form of the red haired, red tailed Ranma fell from the hole. But the young man proved to be agile, as he immediately reoriented himself and stopped his fast descent a good two feet above ground.

Ranma cursed to himself as he breathed in relief when he stopped himself from crashing into the floor of where ever he was sucked into. He just reappeared in the space where the earlier fight with the Superheroes happened, before a portal happened to open just beside him and sucked his body into it. He found himself inside a pocket universe, quite similar to the one he had created from the other universe's Washuu's instructions. Whereas Washuu preferred her pocket universe to house her laboratory and various equipment, Ranma used his as a warehouse of some sort.

Gently pushing himself into an upright position, he took stock as to where he was now. Ranma patted imaginary dust out of his black body suit, as well as his body armor. He immediately winced and rolled his eyes when he spotted several familiar faces, particularly the glaring faces of Batman, Robin and Cyborg. Martian Manhunter and Beast Boy just looked at him curiously, not that Ranma knew their proper names in the first place.

It was when he whirled to his right that he spotted those he wanted to see. Washuu was looking at him smugly, probably because she was the one who generated the rift to pull him into her laboratory. Lenneth just smirked at him as she stood in her full battle regalia, her arms crossed across her chest. There was an African American man lying on a medical bed, and it was obvious that he was hurt bad. Ranma was a bit concerned at that. Raven was still quite out of it, but the one he wanted to see was... Tokimi...

Ranma was about to open his mouth and say something significant when Raven suddenly snapped her purple-eyed gaze towards him. With a loud cry of joy, she made a fantastic flying leap and tackled the shocked Ranma off his feet, which caused the pair to fall down on the lab's flooring with Raven on top of Ranma. Not that it matters as Ranma struggled vainly underneath her, for Raven snuggled quite happily against his chest, unmindful of the eyes that looked at them currently.

""The hell... Raven?"" Ranma gasped, trying to suck in unneeded air as he gazed at the cuddling form of a white leotard-clad Raven on his chest, ""Err... you're...""

Raven paused her ministrations of rubbing her face into Ranma's black body suit-clad chest and looked up to her 'bonded' with big doeful purple eyes, and said, ""Master Ranma? Is there something wrong?""

""Stop calling me THAT!"" Ranma said urgently, trying to keep his voice down in order to prevent making Raven think he's angry at her. He nervously glanced around, especially to those guys he fought earlier. Sure enough, they were either glaring at him in anger, or there's that green-skinned boy who was staring at him stupidly, as if he can't believe the sight. Not that he really could blame the boy but... oh hell.

Now that Ranma's gaze went to his erstwhile parallel 'relatives' and the normally stoic Valkyrie, Washuu was smirking at him victoriously, while his analogue mother...

Tokimi has this maternal sparkly-eyes look going on in her face. Her normally scary flat blue-grey eyes were now gazing at him in full shiny glory. It was ten times much worse compared to the look Ranma's Nodoka-mama's 'My son is sooo MANLY' gaze back in his home dimension.

Lenneth was trying not to laugh. Not that it really showed in her face, but her cheeks were all puffy and red, sure-fire signs of someone stopping their laughter.

""Well..."" Washuu groused happily, ""Would you look at that? Such a sweet sight, really! I feel the love!""

""Indeed..."" Lenneth agreed with the red haired scientist readily, ""I reckon that Raven has been waiting a long time to do something like this in her whole life.""

A small whimper brought their attention to Tokimi, who has her hands clasped in front of her chest, as she bent down and stared at the sight in a joyous and blissful expression on her face. Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy surmised that Tokimi's expression of glee overshadowed Starfire's enthusiasm when the Tamaranian discovered something new.

""My wonderful little Ranma..."" Everyone waited in baited breath as they hung unto Tokimi's soft but clear words, ""My little Ranma... is SO MANLY!"" she finally squealed in the end. She carefully held back, obviously, since she didn't want the spell to end. Tokimi didn't want to break the wonderful moment for her potential future daughter-in-law (ignoring the fact that this Ranma wasn't native to their world).

"Ma... MAMA!"" Ranma squeaked in protest as he felt Raven's arms hugging him tighter.

""ENOUGH!"" Everyone except Raven and Ranma jumped at Batman's shout, ""We still have to deal with...""

""Oh PIPE DOWN, Bat-BOY!"" Washuu growled out at Batman, ""If you don't, you're gonna regret it!""

""Oh REALLY..."" Batman crossed his arms across his chest, and ignored Martian Manhunter's telepathic message of ""((Watch what you say, Bruce...))"" and glared at the red haired woman, ""What are you going to do, kill me?""

Washuu grinned nastily, ""Oh no... you're not going to get out of MY punishment that easily..."" She laughed out loud, which caused everyone except Batman (probably doesn't know any better) to shiver slightly at the evil undertones supplied by the laughs. Washuu waved her hand in the air and a semi-transparent keyboard appeared in front of her. She quickly typed something on it, waved it away, and stared at Batman with an expectant look. "Just a slight modification to your genetic make-up... and five... four...""

Martian Manhunter blinked when the young man called Ranma waved at his direction frantically, as if warning him of something. The red haired man was signaling him to keep away from Batman... oh. J'onn J'onzz quickly stepped away from the dark crusader warily.

Batman blinked as he noticed his companions were shying away from him. He was about to ask why, when a bright beam of light from somewhere above captured his form. He hasn't have the time to scream, when he felt his body shrink and change abruptly. He brought his hands in front of his face, and saw that they became webbed and... green?

Martian Manhunter and the Teen Titan members stared as they watched Batman shrunk into a two-foot creature. The mask slipped off his head because of the sudden size shift, and exposed the bald spot on top of his head, which was surrounded by a small circle of hair jutting out of the shiny bald top. Batman's mouth sharpened and became beak-like, and his hands and feet became stubby and webbed in between the fingers and toes. His skin also became scaly and... green.

Robin pointed at the newly-transformed Batman and shouted, ""Ah! Batman! You... you're...!""

""I do not want to be him right now... whatever he is..."" Cyborg said as he shook his head.

""Ewww... GROSS! What is that!"" Beast Boy commented eloquently. ""I can transform into a lot of animals... but I've NEVER seen THAT!""

Martian Manhunter stared at... IT... sympathetically. Somewhat. Okay, not so much... but it was the thought that counts.

""A Japanese mythical Water Beast called the Kappa..."" Lenneth informed them.

""... told you not to aggravate them..."" The future Green Lantern mumbled on the medical table.

""Washuu... you still have that nasty device with you!"" Tokimi admonished her sister, who didn't have the slightest remorse over her actions whatsoever.

Washuu just gave Tokimi a toothy grin.

Ranma groaned. ""The Kappa Transformation Beam...""

Raven ignored the phenomenon in favor of Ranma's manly chest.

Batman just screamed.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Still in Washuu's laboratory, approximately one and a half hours later...

Ranma was now in Tokimi's lap, in child form, being engulfed by a huge embrace from his analogue blood mother that would've shamed the Amazon Glomp.

After Raven was coaxed off of Chibi-Ranma an hour ago, Washuu has presented Ranma his new limiters. They're 'somewhat' like his old one, although you never know with Washuu. Not that the red haired scientist would tell anyone anyway. So here he was, his hair back into its original raven-black color and was re-tied into a pigtail. Weird though, that when the limiters were snapped into his wrists, his long red hair lost its redness, as well as its long length. It seemed to have been sucked back into his head.

Oh, and his power surge into an unknowing Super form caused him to deplete most of his energies, which reverted him to his eight year old form when the limiters snapped back in place. Not that he really minded, actually. It was the fact that Tokimi quickly swooped in and grabbed poor Chibi-Ranma into a massive hug that took him by surprise.

As of the moment Chibi-Ranma was indeed on his mother's lap, smothered in her arms while Raven clutched at his arm. Both women gave the other a sharp gaze as they tugged on the authority of monopolizing Chibi-Ranma.

Ah, the pains of being cute and cuddly...

Well, KAPPAman (formerly known as Batman) was currently being held at bay by the Martian Manhunter. The transformation still has at least five and a half hours left, wherein his original DNA code will reassert its original form and force him back into human form. Robin and Beast Boy was trying hard not to offend the scary red haired scientist, who was currently in a tense conversation with the inquisitive Cyborg. The half-man, half-machine was quite interested at the technological knowledge Washuu has, and it was the same curiosity that quelled some of his hesitance in conversing with her. Lenneth drank her tea calmly on a table and chair provided graciously by Washuu. She removed her battle armor a while ago, and favored a simple light blue blouse with black slacks that she saw in something called a 'commercial' once when she watched the picture tube in Nodoka's home.

Washuu was currently monitoring the machines that measured the future Green Lantern's vital stats in check, which has gotten her pretty much worried. The signs were visibly dropping steadily, and there was nothing she could do about it. She knew that the African American knew of the incurable temporal wounds he received from the Forbidden Technique that allowed him to be taken back through time, but she didn't like feeling helpless.

The red haired woman sighed wearily as she turned to her 'guests', and caught their attention by coughing lightly into her hand. When she was sure that she had everyone listening to her, she said, ""I have bad news, ladies and gentlemen.""

The two Justice League members and the Teen Titans quickly went near where Washuu was, and formed a semi-circle around the medical bed where Green Lantern was. Lenneth stood from her seat and went to Washuu's side, while Tokimi carried a sleepy Chibi-Ranma towards Washuu's other side. Raven was still clutched to the child Ranma's arm, so she went along with the ride.

Everyone nodded at Washuu to continue, which prompted her to do so.

""As we all know, the Green Lantern here is from the future, right?"" Washuu asked, and noted that she got another round of nods from the group, ""Okay... well... temporal mechanics was never a stable thing to begin with, especially to mortals. Well, Green Lantern took a grave risk in getting back to the past, as he once mentioned in his narrative a while ago, and knew that this was a one-way trip.""

""He is going to die, isn't he?"" Martian Manhunter asked in monotone, which got a few gasps from the kappa-fied Batman and the Teen Titan members.

""I knew the risks..."" Green Lantern spoke up from his deathbed without opening his eyes, ""I decided that it was my atonement for my sins... for allowing that disaster to happen."" He groaned as a spasm went through his body.

When it subsided, he continued, ""You don't WANT that future, believe me. There is NO future. I knew that going back to the past spelled doom for me, but I still went for it. I wanted you to have a chance...""

Green Lantern struggled to turn his head to the side, and gazed directly into the eyes of Batman, ""We became too arrogant in the future, and believed that we were supposed to be superior to any other race in the universe. At least, that's the impression I got. We became obsessed with dispensing Justice, but forgot why we do so and for whom we lived to serve and protect. We became caught up in the situation..."" A coughing fit forced him to pause in his monologue, and the people assembled around him saw the blood that splattered on the white sheets of the medical bed he was on.

""Not every alien that arrives on Earth is an enemy, Bruce..."" Green Lantern said tiredly, ""And not everyone who doesn't want to follow our own code of law is an enemy. We are not gods to force our own beliefs on other beings..."" His glance strayed towards Chibi-Ranma's sleeping form, who was being carried by the tall brown haired woman called Tokimi.

Not that he was rude or anything, but Chibi-Ranma was quite tired from spending several days of burning so much ki. Even though his body was used to expending just as much energy as he did, he was still quite weary of the fights he had. Hence, he literally fell asleep right off in his mother's arms, and the people around him didn't take offense on him about it.

Regardless, the dying Green Lantern continued to gaze at him, part of him feared the little boy, part of him respected him a great deal. This was the same being who managed to single-handedly annihilate everything in his world, but the Green Lantern can't fault him. Ranma was only defending his mother, which showed that the young man's principles and honor were stronger than most people he knew.

Ranma showed everyone just how much he cared for those who got close to him, and how much he was willing to sacrifice to keep them safe. That thought terrified the Green Lantern to the core of his soul.

To hell with the Universe. You hurt my mother.

Those were the last words he heard before the Earth was destroyed by the black hole Ranma generated with his power. Ranma was... IS... the Chaos of the old. The Chaos of legends, which were thought to be figments of myths created to amuse the people of the old.

Legends, yeah right... he has first hand experience on how true those legends were.

And the Green Lantern knew... he KNEW that he was dying right now. He could feel his body slowly fading, his molecules unable to hold itself within this dimension. He may be revered as a hero to those who will carry on in the Justice League, but he felt he didn't deserve such honor. Jon Stewart was quite selfish in his reasons for doing this, after all.

To squelch that overwhelming guilt of destroying the future.

Jon Stewart gasped once again, as pain literally gnawed on his right leg. He knew, especially since the bump that signified the solid leg under the sheets that covered his lower body has flattened. His right leg has been officially disintegrated by the temporal illness he has...

So starts his death...

The people around the time-traveling man watched in morbid fascination as they watched Green Lantern's body slowly fade in and out of focus. They saw how the leg disappeared under the sheets.

The other leg followed shortly.

""My time's up..."" Green Lantern muttered as he directed his gaze upwards, to avoid watching his own disappearance. ""J'onn... remember this: Recruit more members. There are other beings on planet Earth worthy of bearing the name Justice League. It will also act as a control for our own growing arrogance. Being many in numbers, there's bound to be different kinds of ideas regarding justice. Learn them, and assimilate them into our own Code. Besides, there's always safety in numbers, my friend...""

Martian Manhunter nodded solemnly, ""I will do as you ask, Jon Stewart.""

By now, Green Lantern's lower extremities followed his leg's disappearance.

""Lady Tokimi..."" Green Lantern mumbled, ""Please... I ask for your forgiveness again. I should've listened... to Diana. She knew... and she tried to warn us. But our arrogance got the better of us, and disaster struck upon our future. Your son... was just doing what his heart tells him to. He... he did nothing wrong... but to defend his loved ones.""

Tokimi replied, ""I accept your apologies, brave warrior.""

Half of his chest and arms were now gone.

""I have to say goodbye here, my friends..."" Jon Stewart said absently, and glanced at the younger generation, the Teen Titans. ""Be more open minded, younger generation. Don't commit the same mistake we did. Don't forget... you must... you must fight in order to protect the innocents, whoever they are.""

The sheet that covered his body depressed totally. By now, only his head and a bit of his neck were visible.

""This is it..."" Green Lantern sighed as he closed his eyes, ""I have fulfilled my purpose... even though I was selfishly thinking of absolving my own guilt. I... I'm truly sorry... L-Lord R-Ranma...""

Finally, the poor guilt-ridden man faded silently and totally, his presence in this timeline disappeared in finality.

""He... he's really gone..."" Beast Boy choked on his words, as he turned his back from the empty medical bed and shed his tears.

Robin bravely stood at the bed's side, still staring at the spot where the future Green Lantern used to be. ""He knew the risks... and he still went back. A true hero...""

Cyborg stayed silent.

""He gave us a second chance..."" Martian Manhunter said seriously, and gave the Kappa-fied Batman near him a direct gaze, ""We shall not waste this chance he sacrificed his life for.""

""Here..."" Washuu called out as she plucked something from... somewhere... and threw it towards Batman. The transformed hero caught the object with little difficulty even with his new and somewhat temporary hands, tantamount to his training. When he opened his webbed fist, he saw that it was a small disk.

""I recorded the Green Lantern's last words... everything..."" Washuu informed them, ""If you need to have some visual aids in explaining things to your... League.""

Seeing that Batman was still preoccupied on staring at the disk curiously, Martian Manhunter opted to bow and said, ""We appreciate the gesture, Lady Washuu... this would prove very useful to us.""

Washuu smiled at the polite, albeit green, man and said, ""I know. Now..."" she turned her eye to the sleeping Ranma, who STILL kept on sleeping, ""How to deal with Ranma-chan...""

Tokimi sighed longingly. ""We have to get him back, don't we?"" she asked hesitantly, unconsciously tightening her hold on her analogue son.

The red haired scientist pouted cutely, ""Yeah, sadly... we have to.""

Raven spoke up from her place beside Tokimi, as she grasped at Ranma's arm tighter, ""I... if we send him back... I will never see Master Ranma again, won't I?""

Washuu just grimaced slightly as she nodded. ""Well... actually, I already have the machine ready, but... the bad news is that it's only good for one trip."" She raised her hand to stave off the expected questions from her audience, ""Tampering with dimensions is tricky. I only have enough juice to power up the precise dimensional targeting system of the device for only one shot, and it would take me another three thousand years to gather enough energy for another chance. By that time, this universe may not exist anymore anyway.""

""WHAT!"" More than one person in the room shouted. They immediately quieted down when Chibi-Ranma whimpered in Tokimi's arms as he stirred, before he settled down and continued his slumber.

""Well, Green Lantern demonstrated to us what happens when one tries to break some of the temporal rules..."" Washuu explained, ""The Power Ring and the power he possessed disallows him to exist on other dimensions where his analogue exists. But there are some exemptions, like the gods themselves intervening, or that a special type of device some god blessed to use as a conduit to go back and forth through time. Ranma-chan is different. VERY different, from what my other self in the dimension he was from has sent me in her message...""

""Go on, Washuu..."" Tokimi prodded when the scientist paused in her explanation.

Washuu blinked, ""Ah, right... anyway. Ranma-chan is no ordinary being. Far from it. It was already mentioned a while ago... he is Chaos himself, or reincarnated Chaos. Nevertheless, he is Chaos. And because of this, he affects EVERYTHING in the world he comes in contact with. Fate and Destiny gets screwed up so bad that Ranma's mere presence can affect a LOT of things in that dimension. People who were supposed to die, DON'T. Events that were supposed to happen fail to do so. But there's a downside... he can't stay TOO long in a certain dimension without affecting it too drastically.""

""In other words..."" The red haired woman continued, ""He should go back to his home dimension. The world he's in, if it's not his original one, will surely be destroyed in a cataclysmic event. WAIT! Before you babble your nonsense again, let me finish! Ahem... anyway, the whole of Existence is one BIG line that should've been maintained since the beginning of time, but due to a thing called Free Will, various universes branched out of the original line. This is where the Parallel Worlds, as well as different futures are created. Well, the Trinity is an exemption of the Parallel World rules, since they don't have analogues in another world. Which meant that... Chaos is constant.""

Washuu sipped from a glass of... something that she pulled out of... nowhere again, and continued, ""Ranma is established as Chaos revived, so he should be constant. But this affects the stability of certain timelines and parallel worlds, since they will be forced to pull themselves into each other and combine. What I want to say now, is that if Ranma-chan stays here any longer, this universe will become so unstable that it will collapse as it collides with another universe probably parallel to this one. Yes... utter destruction.""

Tokimi spoke up, ""For how long?""

Washuu shrugged, ""It depends on the world stability, actually. Some may last for thousands of years until they get affected. Some in the instant he steps foot into it. Well, for our universe, it's somewhere around twenty five years or so. Therefore, we should make this one and only shot of sending him home count.""

Everyone remained silent afterwards...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

""Huh? Wassat?"" Chibi-Ranma muttered irritably as he was rudely shaken awake from his sleep. He didn't mean to sleep in the middle of... whatever that was earlier, but he was just so tired...

Anyway, Ranma in child form blinked as he struggled awake. He recognized Washuu, who woke him up from his rest. He saw the blurry form of the young boy with his hair done up in a spike, and wore a red, yellow and green costume. There was this green-skinned kid with elfin ears and small fangs jutting out of his lower lip beside the first boy. Beside the green dude was the half-human, half-machine who tried to blast Raven earlier.

It would seem that the Teen Titan members voted to stay inside the interesting laboratory to wait for Raven even when Batman, who by that time has reverted back to his human form, protested loudly about this. Despite the fact that the experience with the pigtailed boy changed Raven dramatically, she's still their friend, and they wouldn't abandon her just like that.

Raven was looking at Ranma as if he was going to die and still in her angel-like form, and Lenneth was back to her mostly impassive self.

His mother, Tokimi, still has him in her embrace.

Chibi-Ranma didn't see that one guy who was dressed mostly in black and the one with green skin wrapped in a blue-green cloak.

""You awake, Ranma-chan?"" Washuu asked softly, her gaze turning tender as she saw the cuteness of the drowsy child.

Chibi-Ranma nodded sleepily. ""I was just napping..."" he murmured.

Washuu grinned at him, ""We know... but you might be happy to know that I can send you back to your dimension now.""

THAT perked Chibi-Ranma up really fast. He sat upright from Tokimi's lap and exclaimed, ""Really! I can go home? Well... not really home but... back to the dimension I was from!""

""Yup..."" Washuu gave him a 'thumbs up', ""You're talking to the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe! Muahahahahahahahahaha!""

As Ranma expected, two puppets popped out of Washuu's shoulders, which showered confetti and praises to the cackling red haired scientist.

""Right..."" Chibi-Ranma drawled out, ""Anyway, so how can I get home?""

Washuu shook her head with a snort and wagged her finger in front of his face in admonishment, ""So excited to be rid of us, huh? Nevermind... I have the machine ready already. The mechanics are long and boring, and according to my other self, you bore easily.""

Chibi-Ranma ducked his head in embarrassment, ""It's not that I wanted to go home this soon, but... I know about my time limit and all. You've been lecturing me about that for a long time.""

""Such a nice boy..."" Tokimi gushed as she squeezed the hapless child Ranma, who squeaked slightly in protest.

""Well..."" Washuu continued, ""I can send you home now... just lemme activate the machine. Let's go to the other room...""

""Right..."" Ranma nodded as he struggled to get up, but it was not needed since Tokimi gleefully carried him all throughout with a glaring Raven hot on their heels.

A sliding door suddenly appeared near the edge of the laboratory... which was slid open by Washuu herself. The red haired woman gestured for everyone to enter first, which allowed Tokimi, Ranma, Raven, Lenneth, Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy to enter the laboratory.

The entourage came upon a much larger room, which had a massive machine in the middle. The room was circular in appearance, and it housed the machine perfectly within its confines. The machine reminded Ranma of those things he saw while watching Sci-Fi shows in TV. There was a computer console off to the right side from the door, wherein Washuu was now headed straight for.

""Well... it has no name yet, and it's untested, but I KNOW it works by theory..."" Washuu commented lightly as she reached the console. She pressed a few buttons, before the machine hummed and lit up as it started working.

Tokimi felt Ranma flinch in her arms, which caused her to automatically glare at her sister, ""What do you mean, 'By Theory'?""

Washuu sighed and replied, ""Just that. I haven't tested it yet, since I don't have the juice to fire it up again after the test run. But I've checked the mathematics behind it, and I'm quite assured that it would work.""

The machinery's hum became more urgent, as a ball of light appeared in the middle of the enclosed structure. Arcs of electricity flowed all over the place, barely avoiding the group as the machine charged energy within its power cells.

""Before you go, though..."" The red haired scientist muttered innocently as she hefted a small pistol-like apparatus that she hid behind her, ""I have something for you. I know you'll find this very useful.""

Ranma eyed the woman curiously, internally he's quite terrified. He wanted to run and hide, but Tokimi held fast to him. His visions of his aunt being THIS innocent looking got him into her lab. Those prodding tools of hers were COLD!

Washuu gave him a toothy smile that seemed to catch the poor boy flat-footed. As Ranma was dumbfounded at the smile, Washuu quickly shot forward and grabbed the boy's arm, stuck the thing she had in her hand (which turned out to be a pistol injection) and fired. Before anyone could scream outrage at the action, the deed has been done.

While Washuu pulled back the syringe gun from Ranma's skin, the boy quickly brought his hand up to the site of entry and eyed the scientist with a small amount of betrayed expression on his face.

""Relax..."" Washuu reassured everyone, as she pocketed the device, ""I gave you a dose of my special Translator Microbes I developed especially for your immune system. I made these sometime around sixty to seventy thousand years ago... I was still the Goddess of Knowledge back then. This will help you in your travels, especially in outer space. As the name implies, they translate alien languages fairly quickly. Most of the more advanced beings in the universe has them, and they're not dangerous in any way. In fact, they're quite helpful.""

Ranma groaned as he felt disoriented for a moment, ""Well... better warn me next time!""

Washuu gave him another dazzling smile. ""Now where's the fun in that? Now... back to our original plan..."" she turned to the growing bright light in the middle of the huge machine she developed, and pointed at the swirling mass. ""There's your way home, Ranma-chan.""

""Home..."" Ranma parroted, eyeing the swirling portal with no small amount of nervousness. He felt his mother's hug grow tighter around him.

""I will miss you. Even though you're not my actual son, I could feel my connection with you, somehow."" Tokimi said sadly, resting her chin atop Ranma's head. It was true, somehow, that like how Nodoka felt her connection with Ranma, she felt her own maternal instincts grow rampant around the boy. Which is why she carried him with such joy and happiness, something she hadn't felt for EONS.

""I won't say goodbye to you, mama..."" Ranma murmured softly, as he clutched at the arms that embraced him, ""I will meet you again.""

Tokimi nodded. ""I know, son...""

""Ranma-chan..."" Mother and son looked up to the expectant Washuu, who looked at them with a small amount of sadness, ""It's time for you to go. I can't hold the portal much longer.""

Ranma inclined his head at her, as Tokimi brought him back down to the ground. He quickly turned and hugged the tall brown haired woman around her legs.

""I will meet you again, mama."" He repeated. Ranma felt Tokimi's warm hand over his head, ruffling his head gently.

""That we will, my son."" Tokimi intoned as a promise.

Ranma reluctantly pulled back from his mother, and was suddenly face to face with Lenneth and a slightly agitated Raven.

The Valkyrie bowed to her waist with a hand over her chest, a sign of respect towards Ranma, ""We will see each other, Lord Ranma.""

The pigtailed boy's tail wriggled behind him as he looked at the woman with a small grin, ""Yeah, I know.""

As Ranma turned to Raven, he felt a huge pang of sadness and regret coming from the girl. She was still in her angelic form, and it brought out some sort of... fondness... from Ranma. He liked the girl somewhat, and he could feel their link. The situation had Ranma at a loss, since he really didn't know what will happen to the girl once he exits this world.

""Master Ranma..."" Raven called to him, which brought his wandering thoughts back to the present. He shook his head slightly, trying to stave off the bout of regret coming from his soul. It was all just the bond, right? It wasn't his feelings, right?

Raven approached the confused boy with dread in her heart. She knew this would come someday, but not this soon! Her heart clenched at the thought of him leaving her, but she has always been alone. What's so different now? A lot of people have left her for less reasons, like Malchior, so what's keeping her from getting on with her life from this one? She realized that she was already hugging the boy tightly in her arms, afraid of letting him go lest he disappears. She found herself wishing for more time... more time... to decide...

""It's going to be okay, I think..."" Ranma began worriedly, when Raven held him at arms' length. Tears fell down from her beautiful and expressive purple eyes as she stared at him longingly. ""I... I wish that...""

""Shh..."" Raven's finger shut the boy up. ""I understand, Master.""

Not trusting himself to say the right things, Ranma kept quiet as he endured being gazed at by the forlorn Azarath girl.

A silent communication passed between the two of them, as they nodded at one another before they let go of their contact. Ranma glanced off to his side and spied upon Robin eyeing him with some degree of irritation and jealousy, as well as a huge amount of relief. Probably because he was leaving. Cyborg was stoic, as his arms were crossed across his chest. But he was looking at Raven with trepidation, as if he was wary of the girl. That was nothing compared to the jaw-on-the-floor look Beast Boy has as he stared at the normally unflappable dark girl.

Ranma slowly walked on the catwalk towards the portal, and kept his gaze unto the hole that will get him home. Not necessarily home, but back where he was needed. He didn't know for sure how much time has passed, since temporal mechanics are experimental at best, but he WILL go back. He stopped in the middle of the catwalk and glanced over his shoulder once again, as he gave the group he was with for some time a last look of serene happiness and gratitude.

Just as Ranma was about to take his final steps to the main portal, twin pillars of light erupted on the machine's catwalk to the center, effectively barring Ranma access on the only path towards the generated gateway. When the pillars finally solidified, a pair of men stood in Ranma's way.

The tall bronze skinned man to the left has red eyes and long red hair. He was dressed in an enchanted silver breastplate, forged by Hephaestus himself. His girdle was forged after Thor's own, and he wore a thick red belt made out of the hides of a Gargoyle's snake hair skins.

The man on the right has short black hair, and has the same red eyes with bronze complexion the first man had. He was a bit smaller than his companion, and dressed in the same enchanted silver breastplate. His girdle was of the same design, and his belt was made of the same substance, but it was black in color.

Before anyone could speak though, Lenneth has stepped in front of Ranma, and eyed the two beings in front of her warily. ""Phobos..."" she nodded to the man on the left side, ""And Deimos..."" she inclined her head to the man on the right, ""I had the feeling some of the gods would come sooner or later...""

The taller red haired man glanced at the Valkyrie and grinned nastily as he commented, ""Well well... if it isn't the traitorous Valkyrie. Odin will be so displeased on your... behavior. Even though he's not of my brother and mine's pantheon, we deeply sympathize with Him.""

""I agree..."" The one on the right said afterwards, ""Your pantheon's almighty Odin gave you a simple job, and yet you failed miserably. Not only did you not bring the mortal Ranma Saotome dead or alive in front of Odin, but you've helped him during his stay in this dimension. Such a sad turn of events, indeed.""

""It cannot be helped..."" Phobos mused loudly, ""Lenneth did have this enormous hero worship on Chaos. But still...""

Deimos chuckled, ""Ranma Saotome cannot remember her, and yet she perseveres by his side...""

Without saying anything, Lenneth drew the Levantine from her side. She has already summoned her holy armor for battle, and stood in a defensive stance as she eyed the newcomers with no small amount of anger and hatred.

Ranma was about to force his ki into his body to change his physical appearance once again in preparation for battle, but a soft hand gripped his shoulder urgently. He glanced up, and saw Raven's frowning face looking down at him.

""Master Ranma... we have to get you through the portal now."" Raven said seriously. The expression was all wrong for her, since she's in her angelic form, which proved that the situation was critical.

""Phobos... Deimos..."" Tokimi hissed as she stepped forwards, her battle robes summoned unto her body as black tendrils of power exploded from her fists.

Her presence gave the two gods some pause.

Phobos scoffed. ""Hah. As if some old goddess with weakened powers will be enough to distract us from our goal."" He was forced to dodge to the side as a black bolt of energy cackled on the spot where he was on before.

Tokimi held her charged hand up, as she glared at the offending beings that wanted to hurt her son. ""I suggest you go back to where you came from, whiny brats. While I may still be limited to what I'm allowed to do in this dimension, I can still handle two prattling younglings such as yourselves.""

Deimos growled as he charged his own fist, and threw a fireball at Tokimi. Luckily, Tokimi's barrier blocked its progress. ""We do not follow orders from traitors like you!""

Before anyone could launch an effective offensive attack though, a black pillar of light erupted between the combatants, which halted the impending battle.

When the black light dissipated, a figure of a woman emerged from the smoke. She wore a seemingly formal outfit, a form-fitting dark blue and pink skirt that was parted in the middle up to her upper leg that exposed the woman's perfect curves. Her skin was dark and exotic, and her eyes were almond-shaped. Her long flowing platinum silvery blond hair flowed out from the dark blue headband she wore on top of her head. Her eyes were like shining sapphires in the night, constantly changing their colors as they twinkle in merry delight. She has a starburst symbol on her forehead, and a pair of five-pointed stars on both sides of her cheeks. She has a pair of golden armlets wrapped around her wrists, as well as a pair of gold anklets around her lower legs. All of her fingers had rings around them. Some strands of her hair were tied with a pair of golden bells, and her ears had a pair of complicated-looking earrings on them. Her gait was that of a pin-up model from a magazine, which caused Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy to feel a little beat of heat come up to their loins.

To the two gods, though, it was of an opposite effect. They felt a bit of dread, since this was an unexpected turn of events for them.

""Amazing..."" The Teen Titans immediately turned their heads to the awed voice of Tokimi, who stared at the woman with a small amount of nervousness, ""Lady Hild... one of the Original Trinity... the Nightmare of Existence. But... why?"" Her gaze went to his son, and she immediately understood. ""I see...""

Silence reigned the whole laboratory, as only the loud clacks of the newcomer woman's white high heeled shoes echoed all over the place. She went to the position where Ranma was on. Raven wanted to step in front of her bonded to protect him, but in some way she was totally paralyzed in place.

It's not that anyone didn't want to move, it's just that they CAN'T move. They were somehow rendered immobilized by this woman's powerful presence, even a normal human like Robin could feel the enormous pressure of her aura against his own.

Immortals and mortals alike felt their own mortality in the presence of this incredibly beautiful and exotic woman.

""Brother..."" Deimos asked to his companion worriedly, who has gone rigid in his place beside him.

Phobos shook off his nervousness as he shifted his stance, but it was obvious that he was still worried, ""Why is the High Demoness Hild here? Unless...""

Deimos nodded empathically, ""She came for Lord Chaos. This is not a good situation for us, brother.""

""Has She stated Her side?"" Phobos asked to no one in particular, ""Why? Why does She choose to betray the Alfadur?""

""Phobos... Deimos... such hot-headed gods you are..."" The woman's voice has a hypnotic melody in it, ""But... how dare you attack... Him..."" she turned her gaze to the immobile young pigtailed boy, who stared at her in mixed confusion and slowly growing familiarity.

Ranma has dreamt of her in the past. One of the earlier memories he has received from his original personality. She was... she was...

""Hild..."" The boy breathed softly, but his voice carried over the silence that hung over the laboratory. The woman, Hild, smiled flirtatiously at Ranma as she brought her hands around him in a welcoming embrace. Ranma took it graciously, his golden eyes flickering slightly.

""Dearest Hild..."" Ranma repeated, this time with a bit more intensity, ""The Existence...""

Hild sighed as she hugged him tighter to her bosom, which brought thrills that ran up and down her spine, ""You saved it, dearest...""

""I..."" The gems on Ranma's forehead glowed softly.

""Now is not the time, love. Our fateful reunion is to be postponed. But it has been so long, and I cannot resist... so just let me hold you like this for a little while longer. You are needed elsewhere, and I still have some things to take care of. But after that... I'll be with you my love..."" Hild murmured into his ear, in a tone that brooked no protests coming from him. She drew out of her self-induced embrace, and glanced at Washuu.

""Anytime now, Washuu..."" Hild raised an eyebrow at the red haired woman, who gasped and went back to her computer.

""THERE!"" Washuu shouted in joy, and pressed a final button in her translucent computer. Phobos and Deimos were shocked immobile when they felt their forms dissipating from the subspace zone.

Everyone turned to Washuu.

""I just kicked them out from my laboratory..."" The red haired scientist said grimly, ""We need to distract them!""

""I will do it..."" Lenneth said without hesitance as she disappeared from the laboratory.

Tokimi sighed and commented, ""Very much Valkyrie-like. Always charging into battle. I'll go too..."" She turned to Ranma, ""Be well, my son..."" and without waiting for a response, her form vanished in motes of light as well, but not without throwing a cursory glance at Hild's direction.

The Nightmare, or Hild as she called herself, shrugged as she said, ""I'll be damage control. Who knows how much damage those kids do?"" She eyed Ranma hungrily, which caused the boy to shiver slightly, ""I will be seeing you again SOON, Chaos dear..."" And with that, she disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Robin was about to shout his commands to his teammates, when Washuu turned to them with a serious expression on her face, ""You will stay here. This is no ordinary fight you will try to get involved with.""

""I'm with her!"" Beast Boy crowed, but immediately ducked his head as the glares of his teammates threatened to burn him into a crisp.

""Wait! I'll help too!"" Ranma shouted, but he was held back by Raven.

""You need to go to the portal NOW! We don't have much time, Master Ranma!"" Raven said firmly, as she dragged the protesting boy towards the portal.

Raven stopped pulling on the boy when she felt him go willingly, but she hasn't let go of his hand yet. When they were a few inches off the portal, Raven turned to Ranma with tears in her eyes.

""So... this is it..."" The angelic woman said softly, gazing at the hand she was held on to, ""Now go Master Ranma! Don't let their distraction go to waste!""

Ranma sighed sadly. ""Alright..."" he muttered, and faced the portal. A sudden impulse made him turn back to Raven, grabbed her hand and forcefully pull her down to him.

Raven was too surprised on the boy's move that she had no time to respond when she felt her lips collide with Ranma's. The kiss, albeit urgent, was sweet and loving. Raven hadn't felt anything like this, EVER. Her insides went haywire, but her powers hadn't gone insane like it should have. It was a new experience for her... and she loved it.

((Oh my... he's kissing me! Master Ranma's kissing me!)) Raven thought to herself as her eyes drew close on their own. She ignored the screaming protest of the Teen Titan members as well as Washuu's cackle of triumph in the background. All she wanted to concentrate on was the feeling on her lips... his lips... their lips...

And then it was over. Ranma pulled back reluctantly from the dazed girl, and gave Raven an impish grin. Without another word, Ranma jumped into the portal willingly.

Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy ran up to their dazed teammate, who was still staring at the portal in shock.

""Raven!"" Robin shouted urgently, as he grabbed the poor girl by the shoulders and shook her, ""Are you all right? Raven!""

Cyborg grunted as he looked into the portal angrily. ""Damn that punk! Stealing a kiss like that...""

""It should've been my lips on Raven!"" Beast Boy said indignantly, but was smacked back by a magically produced white fist that appeared in mid air.

Robin and Cyborg stared as the angelic-looking Raven's body was encompassed with a white aura, her eyes glowed dark red, which matched the white garb she had on her body. Her small feathery wings quivered on her back, as her heart-tipped tail twitched violently. The dark blue chakra on her forehead blazed a blinding light.

""A kiss from my Master Ranma..."" Raven whispered, her voice progressively got louder, ""That... that..."" The white aura winked out and turned into a black one as her form shuddered for a moment, before it morphed back into her demonic form. The white leotard and cloak she wore earlier melted into black. Her black leathery bat wings flapped once, as her now arrow-tipped tail lashed from behind her. Her blue chakra gem shifted into dark purple. If anyone looked closely, her ears were a bit pointed and elfin-like, if not for the longer purple hair she sported for the moment. Her purple eyes flashed angrily. ""That JERK!"" she screamed loudly, her sharp voice echoed all over the area.

Her aura ablaze, she shook Robin's hands off her shoulders and turned to the portal, ""How DARE you, you jerk!"" Raven took no notice of her transformation as she shook her fist against the portal.

The next statement brought a huge amount of dread from her teammates.

""If you think you can kiss me and run like that, you have another thing coming!"" The now-demonic Raven shouted as she jumped into the portal without preamble. As she passed through, these words can be heard from the dull roar of the doorway, ""You're not going to just kiss me and ride off the sunset like that, you jerk!""

The white spatial rift closed into itself with a pop.

""Oh no... RAVEN!"" Robin shouted as he stared at the now-vacant area in shock.

Beast Boy shook his head in denial, ""What the heck just happened? I mean she... I... we... Raven followed the guy!""

""Dammit!"" Cyborg punched his fist down to the floor.

""I KNEW it!"" Washuu pumped her fist into the air in happiness, ""She's got the hots for Ranma-chan! My nephew is so manly!"" she cackled evilly.

""WHAAAAT!"" The rest of the Teen Titan members screamed inside the laboratory.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Six days after the events...

It has been near a week since Raven disappeared.

The Justice League, true to their word on their promise to the last words of the future Green Lantern, opened their group to other super powered beings across the Earth. They were surprised and quite pleased to find that there are other capable heroes worthy enough to be inducted into their team.

The disk of the future Jon Stewart's final words was kept in the archives, to serve as a reminder to the League about their true mission in life. The present Green Lantern was quite disturbed at the revelations revealed by that disk, but he was elated that his other self was able to do the job right in the end.

Superman was mortified at the events described by the time traveling Green Lantern. He vowed not to become too irrational when it comes to newcomers on their planet.

For almost a week, the Media has been showing the historic battle of the joint venture of the Justice League and Teen Titans against the lone individual, who managed to fend off their attacks without killing anyone. The Media crews tried to find out more about the certain person, but they all failed. They also caught footages of the fight between Lenneth and Tokimi versus Phobos and Deimos, not that they really knew who they were in the first place. The battle didn't last long, especially when the brothers felt Ranma's aura vanish from this universe. They found it useless to fight when Ranma's presence disappeared from their world.

Lenneth Valkyrie disappeared from the mortal realm, but refused to go back into the Heavenly Realm. None of the Teen Titans or anyone else on Earth knew about this, but she disappeared from Heaven along with several groups of rogue Valkyries. She disappeared along with another woman, who was introduced to the Teen Titans as Hild. Nothing much was known about her... except that she seemed to be involved with Ranma somehow...

Tokimi and Washuu vanished from their world as well when the red haired scientist finished her repairs on the mushroom like ship called the Soja. It amazed Cyborg, actually, at the speed Washuu has on repairing the ship that size. It only took the red haired scientist a good one day and a half to repair the Soja. The sisters blasted off-world after that.

As of the moment, the Teen Titans... what's left of them anyway, rested on their T-Tower base. There was a bit of excitement when Starfire woke up, but it has calmed down after a few days. She wanted to fight the 'Sai-Yahn' again, and they showed her a copy of the disk which contained the last words of the future Green Lantern. She quieted down after that, probably contemplating upon her actions during the fiasco.

They were relaxing inside their game room, where most of their movie nights and gaming hours were spent. They were watching a rather cool sci-fi movie chosen by Cyborg (it was his week) when their tower sensors acted up.

Starfire floated up in the air as she looked around in askance. ""The alarms... my friends, we are under attack!""

""What is that!"" Robin jumped to his feet, immediately going to the nearby console and tapped a few keys. His eyes widened when he discovered the cause.

""A spatial anomaly?"" Cyborg queried curiously as he looked over their leader's shoulder.

Robin nodded. ""Yeah... and it's going to appear right... here.""

""Here!"" Beast Boy squawked, his mouth turned into a beak and his arms turned into chicken wings as he ran around the room in panic.

Sure enough, a bright flash of light erupted from the spot in between them and their TV, and a ball of light materialized.

Robin brought out a couple of his batarangs. Starfire floated down next to him as she readied her glowing fists. Beast Boy stood a little behind Robin, ready to transform once whatever was coming out of the portal gets out of it. Cyborg charged his sonic cannon as he aimed for the spot where the portal was appearing.

The portal grew into at least three feet in diameter before stopping its growth. Strong gusts of wind caused the equipment near the contact point to fly out in disarray, which irritated Beast Boy no end (his turn to clean this week). All of the sudden, the portal spat out something... or someONE... who yelped in surprise as it fell unto the red carpet of the tower flooring butt-first. The portal closed with a pop.

"Owie... that hurts!" The person whined in a language only Cyborg and Robin could decipher at the moment. Robin because he studied the language in his private tutoring back in Gotham, while Cyborg used his auto-translation program. The person was obviously female, and spoke Japanese. She wore a dark blue cloak around her body, which covered the black leotard she had underneath. Her face was covered with a cowl, but a pair of purple eyes can be seen. She has light gray skin all over her body. She struggled to stand up, while holding her bum that hit the ground first.

"When I get back, I'm gonna have to speak with mother about pushing me into portals when they're being conjured. I mean, I know I did something really naughty, but still..." she muttered, but caught herself as she found out that she was surrounded by some teenagers. ""Well, hello..."" she switched to the English language.

""R-Raven?"" Beast Boy asked stupidly. He stepped forwards a bit while he tried to look intently at the girl. Sure enough, those same purple eyes that held so much contempt for life stared back at him. ""IT IS YOU!"" he screamed, launching himself into the air to hug their lost friend.

A hug which the girl sidestepped easily. The poor boy pass by her and wind-milled his arms as his uncontrollable flight led him to the various equipment situated behind the girl's position. If Beast Boy paid attention, he would've heard the words 'Hentai!' coming out of 'Raven's' mouth.

'Raven' ignored the crash behind her as she stared at the wary group nervously, and mustered enough monotone voice to bring her point across.

""So... what's up, guys?""

""Friend Raven!"" Starfire squealed as she seemingly teleported in front of the poor newcomer, who got herself engulfed in a tight Tamaranian hug.

Cyborg looked confused. ""But... how? I mean... we were told there was no way you can get back...""

""L-Long... story... ack... StarfireINeedAir!"" 'Raven' gasped out as she struggled to break free from the embrace.

That night though, after a few rounds of explanations and the welcome back party, 'Raven' was finally alone in her room. She stood amidst the darkness of the dark dwelling.

"Mom has a weird sense of interior decorating..." The girl said hesitantly in Japanese as she glanced at the scary atmosphere the room generated. "Mom's pretty weird after all. But compared to her friends, she seems to be the most normal. I didn't think they'll swallow the story mother has manufactured for me."

The girl sighed. "Oh well, she did warn me about it. Hmm... so... I should help these kids in their battles as my... punishment... for my naughtiness..." she blushed darkly under her cowl, "To be caught by my own mother... but no matter how much he denies it, father got a kick out of our little... tryst..."

She quickly removed her cloak, and a few of appendages emerged from her back. Her wings were not a matching set, as on one side it was feathery white like that of an angel, but on the other it was black as midnight. She also has a tail, a long leathery tail that has an arrow tip at the end. The girl brought a finger to her eye, and poked her purple pupils gently. A small plastic circular purple object popped into her fingertips. As she brought her hand down from her eye, a blue-gray pupil exposed itself to the world.

'Raven' smiled to herself and whispered, "Well, Dizzy... I wonder what you've gotten yourself into. Mom said I should help these people in their fights but... I'm a lover, not a fighter. As dad experienced it..."

A small giggle escaped her lips, which she quickly stifled. After all, 'Raven' was supposed to be cold and unemotional.

Donna Zephyr Gray Choushin Saotome AKA DZ, or Dizzy, has arrived to start her own training journey, as per instructed by her mother...

May the kami have mercy on the souls of those in the dimension.

"I hope I make a lot of friends here! But... if some pervert tries to get fresh with me... POW! Right to the kisser!" Dizzy gestured to the heavens with a fist, but she blushed when she realized what she was doing.

"Oh my... I hope no one saw that. It's so embarrassing..."

Really, may the kami have mercy on that dimension.

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To Be Continued...

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NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:

Hmmm preview... oh yeah!

Ranma goes back to the Vandread Universe with a pissed off Raven in tow. Planet Zi is... oh dear. Rin-Ohki's been a bad cabbit.

The Nirvana finally reaches their home system, but gets attacked by the Earth Harvester Fleet. The BIG one.

Rin-Ohki and the Anima Seraphim did something really strange. But it was a good thing.

The battle between Ranma and the Kagato-clone. Who will win?

And why and how did Ranma crash land on THAT planet?

What? Amnesia!

Ranma's second and third times of copulation! (First time was with Ryoko...)

Another history-changing save! Someone tries copying the Masamune!

The second member of the reincarnated Trinity!

Meet the renewed Nightmare... the most unexpected one of all. Oh my.

Heheh. Maybe. Or I could just make a transition chapter. Dunno.

AUTHOR RANTS:

By the way, if anyone wants to see what Ranma looks like now... well... see my profile here: profiles dot yahoo dot com / lordrance

Big chapter? Damn right it is.

Heh. Got nothing much to say. Hild appeared. Ranma and Raven disappeared.

Really... nothing too important happened.

The kiss? Oh... that'll be explained in the next chapter. Count on it.

Oh... someone might ask, why does Dizzy have a long name? Well... Gray Choushin Saotome is the combined surname, each of them used by Ranma at a certain point of their travels. So I just combined them to avoid confusion later on, as well as a small preview of how many times Ranma would change his name...

Why does Hild have changing eye color? Fashion sense, I guess. She can change its color by magic glamour, so nailing its correct color is useless.

Why is Washuu-chan in her adult form? She grew out of her past grief. A few thousand years is long enough for grieving.

Why is Tokimi so loving? The power of maternal instincts, my friends.

Why did Phobos and Deimos arrive late? Just to show that when you plan too hard, it's bound to fail in some way. Besides, it serves to aggravate the two into attacking Ranma sometime again, as well as mustering enough followers to help them.

Why did I punish Batman too much? I kinda feel that he's becoming too obsessed in his sense of justice. Sure, he's kinda cool since he's only human amidst the super powered people in Justice League, but he's also one of the most egoistic. The sooner he learns, the sooner he can lecture Superman about the Kryptonian's own ego.

Why are there some hints of Justice League: Unlimited in the fic? Because... it's there. It's kinda like a preview thing... and Supergirl with Green Arrow were called in early was to prove that.

The History is all wrong, why does the cyborg reappear too early? Again, a preview, as well as to prove a point. Ranma's appearance CHANGES Fate and Destiny to a sickening degree that it warps the whole dimension into an unrecognizable pulp. The cyborg had no plans in returning to Earth at that time, but it felt the compelling pull of Ranma's energy.

Where's Slade? Nursing his broken jaw, probably. I thought I oughta kill him, but where's the fun in that? Besides, Dizzy's gonna have loads of fun with him when he tries the whole 'Prophecy' thing with the original Raven. He then realizes that this wasn't the TRUE Raven, and that Dizzy's a bit more... sunny... than her mother (she's too innocent most of the time to even corrupt).

Why does Starfire hate Saiyajins too much? Dunno, ask her. She's the one with the beef with Saiyajins. Ask her guardians too... they're the ones teaching the kid how to act.

Why does Robin act so wimpy? Again, look at the Batman thing reason. He's the only human in the group, and facing an enemy full of power, he'll cower (not in an obvious manner of course). Unlike Batman, Robin knows of his limitations, that's why he's with a team. Well, except those times when he goes real obsessed about Slade.

Will we see Hild again? Hell yeah. She's not gonna let her husband get away that easily. They're probably the first official couple in the history of Existence. Deus is gonna have a hernia for this one. Heh.

So, Urd is Ranma's daughter? No comment. If you don't know by now, then you haven't read the past chapters. Read them first. A hint though... Hild is chasing Ranma/Chaos. There.

Where's Rin-Ohki and the other girls? Obviously not here. They'll reappear next chapter.

Is that Dizzy of Guilty Gear? Yup. It is. Uncanny isn't it?

Is Ryoko pregnant? Where the heck did this come from? Just to satisfy the curiosity... yes, she is. This is Ranma's driving force to return to Ryoko instinctively. Meaning, Ranma doesn't know about the baby yet, but he feels in his heart that he should return to her. They did the hanky panky in background scenes not mentioned in the story. What? I can't explain everything, ya know. 'Sides... the ratings ain't good for a lemon.

By the way, as a side note... Washuu's true age is Unknown. The 20,000 years old bit is measured in her MORTAL years, although she spent quite some time as the Goddess of Knowledge before that. It's impossible that she's just around that age, because someone from the Tenchi Muyo universe is around 40,000 years old. That demoness girl... hmmm... I forgot her name. Ah! Yugi! That's right... from Shin Tenchi Muyo. So, she's actually more than 20,000 years old. But you never heard that from me. Washuu-chan's gonna kill me!

Heh.

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Teen Titans the animated series - Justice League the animated series - Tenchi Muyo: Rin-Ohki!  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Valkyrie Profile - Guilty Gear X/XX (A short preview of what's to come)

Again, someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migraine she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'real time'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the siege of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land) are few of the worlds Ranma encountered in this dimension. And certainly not the last.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

But as time went on, it was revealed that another one who bore the gems of power was Luna Inverse.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	20. Chapter 8e

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... Arc 1's done.

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

To my significant other, Lady Ayame... this is for us!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 8E - PAVING THE WAY TO THE FUTURE

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"Uhm... you can stop hugging me now..."" Chibi-Ranma said in embarrassment, as he tried not to notice his unexpected passenger's lithe body against his own. Even if he's still in his child form, his brain was that of an adult. Big people thoughts ran rampant in that little head of his... and they're not helping his predicament right now.

The portal was one big swirling mess of a gateway, which caught Raven unawares. Her previous irritation on the pigtailed boy vanished as she was sucked into the whirlpool easily. She quickly sought out an anchor for her to keep her balance. Lo and behold, she found one.

"Don't wanna..." Raven whined to his chest, unable to stop a few tears from escaping the corners of her eyes. Ranma was about to leave her, for good... and the thought actually pierced her heart fiercely. She just realized it as soon as she entered the portal, that she was about to be separated from the person who she was bound tightly to. Good thing she followed him, even if for the wrong reasons initially, else she'll be left in a world without him.

Of course, even when Ranma underwent all those changes mentally and physically, he was still a sucker for helpless women. The policy included 'crying women' in bold letters.

"H-Hey... it's all right, really!" Chibi-Ranma sweatdropped. Apparently, he's STILL a wimp when it came to a female's tears, though he knew about it. It was just part of his nature to crumble at the sight.

It was at that small respite that he managed to look around them.

Chibi-Ranma gaped. "What the hell happened here?" he whispered to himself.

Raven took a gamble and pulled her face from Ranma's chest, and gazed around herself. She saw that they were definitely in another world, with the multi-moons and all that hanging in the sky, as well as the various advanced technology around them. But...

"Er... it looks like there's been a war, Ranma..." Raven said softly as she stared at the decapitated mechanical head of what seemed to resemble a tiger. Or was it a lion? And colored in blue, too.

"Of course there was, I was here before I left for your universe, after all. But it wasn't THIS bad..." Ranma was stumped. Sure, temporal mechanics were unstable at best, but with the looks of things... the time elapsed seems not that far. There was a familiar flag that lay in tatters just beyond the decapitated mechanical lion/tiger head.

((Head?)) Ranma thought to himself furiously, ((Now what am I forgetting here... ah! Rin-Ohki!)) he crowed mentally as he opened his link with his partner.

Ranma and Raven grimaced in pain as tremendous amounts of grief and anger filled their heads. And it all came from the newly-reopened link.

"Ranma... what is this!" Raven growled out as she clutched at her head in agony.

The physically young boy on the other hand was busy trying to connect with his partner again, but he was having little success. Rin-Ohki was so far gone into her rage that she was ignoring anything else that would hinder her revenge. Revenge? On what? On who?

Not that it matters. In fact, Ranma hadn't noticed that he was already floating up in the air, homed in to that large concentration of maddening anger. He seemed to have ignored the fact that Raven was still clutched at his chest. There they were, with Ranma flying horizontally in the air, with a frantically grabby Raven who tried to stabilize herself. She was helped by Ranma when the young boy quickly changed into his much larger form of around eighteen years of his physical age.

It was then that it hit the demonic girl... that she could fly as well. Almost cursing her weird outbursts of wild emotions, she let Ranma's waist go and allowed her own dark powers to levitate beside Ranma. Not that the young hybrid noticed it in any way. But she still followed him... she doesn't have anywhere to go to in the first place.

They flew in mid-air for a bit, and marveled at the plain sight below them. There were a few clumps of land where trees grew, but the planet was mostly made of sand and deserts. There were a few areas where Ranma and Raven saw a group of those mechanical animals, Zoids as Ranma told his companion, battled against each other. The red-tailed boy explained to Raven as much as he could remember from when he was here a while ago.

A flash of light caught their attention, as the duo sped along in the air. When they turned towards the source of the light, they goggled at the sight of piled scrap metal that littered the ground below them. It was a virtual junkyard, and judging from the smoke that wafted from the debris, they were still recent.

In an outcropping just beyond the mountain of mechanical debris, there was a gathering of some sort. A large group of robotic animals surrounded something in a tight circle. Curious, Ranma and Raven floated in the air and went near the gathering. What they saw had different reactions from either one.

Raven was quite interested, as she saw a small silver-like animal whose breed was a cross between an Earth bunny rabbit and something that was most likely a cat. The said animal has been surrounded carefully by the gigantic robots, but it seemed unperturbed as it hissed around itself in great anger.

Ranma's expression was one of resignation. His link with the aforementioned partner of his was still closed, so he had no way to communicate with Rin-Ohki until the link was restored. He grimaced as the agitated cabbit hissed and fired off an narrow beam of energy blast from its mouth towards one Zoid that tried to come near it. Good thing the pilot cleared the jump out of his Zoid's cockpit, or else he would've been sheared in half as his Zoid fell apart in two clean parts.

It started a chain reaction that made the other Zoids jump into the fray, and the cabbit just started blasting them all away with waves of energy that erupted from her mouth, as well as beams from her eyes. The gem on the cabbit's forehead glowed fiercely as the massacre began.

"Eh... this will be a long day." The pigtailed hybrid sighed, as he sweatdropped when a stray beam almost sliced Raven in half. The demonic girl squawked as dodged to the side hastily, her hand clutched to her chest in fright.

"A really, long day..."

It was a weird day, indeed.

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In the Nirvana, three days after the Planet Zi Incident...

Ranma was currently staring towards the speckled view outside the window of the hallway just outside the Nirvana's bridge. He reminisced upon the events that happened within the days that has passed...

It has been a few days after Ranma and Raven arrived from the other dimension. It was by chance that the Washuu in Raven's original dimension was quite lucky, since she has somehow pinpointed the somewhat exact location where Ranma disappeared, only off by a few hours or so.

But even so, those few hours of Ranma's absence managed to aggravate one lonely cabbit, who thought she lost her beloved master. The small, seemingly harmless creature was to be remembered by those who managed to survive the all-important war for planetary peace in Planet Zi that day. That same creature everyone laughed at initially by the natives managed to raze at least sixty percent of the Zoid population of the planet. It was by luck that Rin-Ohki was able to resist blasting the Zoid Eve as well, which was 'supposed' to be the one who sent Ranma into another dimension. The destruction of the huge monolith would've spelled doom to all the Zoids in the planet. It will kick the civilization's technology back a few thousands of years worth of advancement.

By the time Ranma managed to calm the enraged cabbit down, she has inadvertedly mowed down both the Republic and Imperial forces Zoids alike. The Republic's flagship Zoid, the Ultrasaurus, was slammed by one of Rin-Ohki's energy blasts from her mouth. The beam managed to shave off a third of the huge Zoid's body. The legendary almighty Death Saurer, which terrified the ancient Zoidians of the planet's past, suffered an even harsher fate as its strong hide was no match for the fury of the currently deranged cabbit of destruction. The upper part of the Death Saurer has been cleanly sheared off, which effectively stopped its random acts of violence cold. Not that it really made that much difference with Rin-Ohki's berserk state.

Planet Zi was in the middle of a war when Ranma and Rin-Ohki landed on it. In as good as four hours, Rin-Ohki effectively ended the planetary war that lasted for years.

Upon setting her sights upon her master, Rin-Ohki was totally joyous at the reunion. She abandoned her erstwhile task of reducing a Zoid robot named Gojulas into scrap metal, and virtually teleported into her master's arms. Rin-Ohki ignored her master's companion for the time being, to give her total devotion on relishing the feel of her mind's reconnection with her master once again. The rest will come later.

Ranma did not bother trying to explain the situation to the natives of the planet. He can't possibly formulate a cohesive excuse regarding his partner's actions. Well, actually, he knew, but why suffer a long winding speech about it when he could just take off? Besides, Ranma can't really help if he was suddenly pulled out of this dimension. It was indirectly his fault, but he can't help it.

The pigtailed hybrid hasn't even bothered asking the cabbit to transform into her ship form; he just teleported while he held Rin-Ohki in his right arm and Raven by his hand on her shoulder. Raven has no time to ask for any questions as Ranma made a first teleport just below the admissible height in the atmosphere where the air was still breathable. After pinpointing the Paeksis Plagma and the Nirvana's crew's position in space, he phased out of Planet Zi's atmosphere with his companions. The trio left the planet's surface virtually in ruins, but Ranma knew the natives can start their lives again.

It was in Nirvana that Ranma had found out about Hibiki Tokai's location. The boy was picked up by Dita, Jura and Meia from the planet they were assigned to. Hibiki also has this strange feel around him, and Ranma surmised that the boy has matured at least in a little bit. Probably some experience from the planet where he crash landed changed the boy's attitude drastically. Ranma did not bother asking much since he's not really entitled to needling out the information from Hibiki.

The trio of Lea, Vanilla and Emeralda had greeted him in the Hangar Bay. It was the place where Ranma, Rin-Ohki and Raven reappeared after their teleport off-planet. Ranma nervously introduced Raven to the group trio of women and expected some resistance, but he was quite surprised when he encountered none of the usual banters about new women in the group. Raven was actually quite enthused at meeting the new people, since she found out that the trio were not really ordinary mortals. She felt at home with the girls, and the trio accepted her warmly. This did not ease the nervousness in Ranma's mind which was questioned by Raven, who felt his emotions through their link. Rin-Ohki would've bothered asking about it herself, but she was too busy catching her rest as she snuggled deeper into her master's arms. Ranma deigned not to answer Raven's question, and was thankful that Lea averted her attention into assimilating the new girl into their group.

The raven-haired young man noticed that the trio has been acting a bit differently towards one another, and now with Raven. He has dreaded this particular meeting, but all his doubts were laid to rest. He has thought that the three wouldn't accept Raven, but he was clearly mistaken. Still, the thought brought some shivers to his spine, as he tried to think of the sudden implications of this change. It seemed to him that the three were 'too friendly' now.

Feh. Ranma dismissed those scary thoughts for the time being. The important thing for the moment was that he rested a bit. But first, he reported to Washuu everything that has happened to him in the other world, especially the new form he was able to acquire. Washuu was definitely excited, and while she had wanted a more physical sort of evidence, Ranma just coughed up the disk the other world's Washuu gave him to present to her other self. Washuu was kind of disappointed, but she just accepted it in stride. She has locked herself in her lab to investigate the data inside the disk, and it suited Ranma just fine.

The last few days have been hectic for him.

The young pigtailed hybrid snorted as he watched several pieces of space junk smashed against the Nirvana's shields harmlessly. He remembered the supposed 'celebration party' that the whole crew assembled for their return to their home worlds. Ranma's face winced a bit, as he thought of how carefree these women were...

Ranma was about to rest atop one of the trees in the indoor biosphere in the center of the Nirvana, when he stopped at the doors which outcropped the green garden. Instead of being empty as it usually should've been, the area was filled with people, women, scurrying about carrying various condiments and decorations. Some were dressed in perverted versions costumes, while others were just dressed in other outlandish scanty clothes which almost caused Ranma's nasal cavity to explode with his life fluids.

The normal clothes the majority of the crew wore before were already straining on Ranma's self-control, and their clothes now were much, much worse.

The horrified young man clutched at the silver cabbit sleeping in his arms, as he slowly backed away from the entrance towards the hall. He was almost free when he bumped upon Dita, Meia and Misty, who were trailed behind by Lea, Vanilla, Emeralda and Raven. All of them were dressed in different colored kimonos, modified to fit the styles of the future he was on from those he remembered from the past. Misty hung upon a flustered Meia's arm, which brought Ranma to blink at the scene. They were probably on their way towards the center hall of the ship.

"Where are you going, Ranma-sama? And why aren't you dressed?" Lea asked as she pointed at the black body suit that covered Ranma's body. He did wear a pair of dark blue trousers though.

"Probably to sleep..." Raven said drolly as she cast a dry stare towards the fidgeting young man.

Ranma scratched the base of his pigtail, a reflex action he was never able to change through the passing of years in his new life. "Uhm... I... fine. I was gonna catch a few hours of sleep somewhere. Say... what's with the decorations and stuff? And while we're in the middle of the magnetic storm, too."

Meia cocked her head to one side slightly and asked, "You were not informed of the celebration?"

"We're waiting to celebrate when Nirvana breaks through the storm!" Dita hopped in place repeatedly with joy, which caused Ranma to avert his gaze with a small blush on his face. Things got too bouncy for his taste, even if the kimonos were of a tight fit to avoid such things from happening. Raven smirked at his reaction.

Dita sobered though. "It's too bad... Mister Alie... uhm, Hibiki is still outside with Jura..." she suddenly glared at nothing in particular, "Powering up the Nirvana's shielding..." then she suddenly brightened up with a smile, "He promised to celebrate with me later, though!"

"... right..." Ranma deadpanned, but stopped himself from commenting any further when he spied on Misty at the corners of his eyes. She was clutched unto Meia's right arm and smiling, but he saw her eyes. The depth of sadness and loneliness was overwhelming. Ranma opted to watch for the girl's welfare for the time being.

Sure enough, amidst the chattering of the other girls amongst themselves Misty slowly detached herself from Meia and backed away from the group discreetly. After making sure nobody was looking, she casted him a longing glance before she disappeared into the hallway that led deeper into the Nirvana.

Meia hasn't noticed Misty's absence yet, since she was busy conversing with Raven and Lea about the benefits of handling emotions effectively. Dita was busy doing a one-sided conversation with both Vanilla and Emeralda, who just looked at the chatty girl like she was a bane of their existence. Lea observed both of her younger companions absently, ready if ever Emeralda or Vanilla decided to strangle the hyper girl anyway.

After Ranma has ushered the girls into the party proper, he excused himself to get himself something to drink from the cafeteria, ignoring the fact that there were some girls in the party who served drinks. Lea and Raven both gave him a meaningful look, which he pointedly ignored for the moment. He quickly sped outside of the hall and retraced Misty's footsteps.

His innate curiosity led him to the Engine Room, where the greenish glow of the Paeksis Plagma bathed Ranma as he entered it. He spied upon the blue-haired girl, who was at the catwalk that was above the Paeksis Plagma itself. Even at the distance between the girl and Ranma, he could see the crystalline drops that fell towards the Paeksis below.

Misty was crying.

Ranma bit back some choice curses that almost erupted from his lips as he stared at the slightly shaking, slumped figure of Misty. Rin-Ohki shifted a bit in the crook of his left arm, and was currently content in dreaming of frolicking in a large carrot field. Ranma on the other hand firmed his resolve as he stepped towards the girl silently.

Misty almost fell over the railings of the catwalk when she felt a large hand touch her shoulder. She whirled around and tried to project a dangerous stance to intimidate whoever managed to sneak up on her, but all she was able to do was make Ranma smile at the weird contortions her body made itself do.

"R-Ranma-san! You scared me!" Misty has thought of slapping the smiling young man soundly on the cheek for frightening her, but the anger she felt melted away when Ranma's smile became infectious. Soon enough, she found herself smiling shyly.

Ranma grinned as he pulled back his hand. "Sorry if I scared ya. So... what're you doing here all alone?" His face suddenly grew thoughtful as he stared at the slightly nervous and abashed girl in front of him, "You're not... playing with yourself, are you?"

Misty gasped loudly as her face suddenly lit up in an atomic blush, "N-NO! What made you think that I was doing THAT!"

The red-tailed man shrugged slightly, his free hand lifted to his face as he pushed the black-tinted eyeglasses on his face up his nose. "Dunno... you're the one skulking in a dark place all alone. I mean, who knows what you're doing here? I was just curious." Slowly, all traces of humor left his face as he turned away from the girl. Ranma leaned his back to the catwalk railings beside Misty, and stared at the dark recesses of the room.

"So..." Ranma began after a short period of silence, "What's really bothering you?"

"N-Nothing!" Misty shuddered slightly as she turned her back on him.

The pigtailed hybrid smiled gently, as he continued looking at nowhere in particular. "Those tear tracks on your cheeks say otherwise, Misty-chan."

The girl sighed softly, as she stared down at the soft green glow of the Nirvana's energy core. She would've thought of this setting as somewhat romantic, but she knew that with this man, it probably would not happen. Too many women love this man, and she was nothing compared to them. Besides, she knew she was too selfish to even think of sharing him with other girls, as it would seem to be the case based on how those women who came back from the planetary excursion a while ago acted upon seeing another girl with Ranma.

Besides, Ranma was one big clueless jerk. Well, he really didn't mean to be one, but he was! Nothing short of a tantamount Nuclear Holocaust could get his attention, and she knew she wasn't as brave and as hard pressed as those other girls to claim a right on him.

As if sensing Ranma patiently waiting on her, Misty quickly composed herself as she replied, "It's really nothing... it's just that I feel kinda lonely here, you know? Even if I'm a girl like most of those around here, I feel that I don't belong with them. I'm a girl who, by all means, was an alien to them. My customs and beliefs are far different than theirs. I can't force my beliefs on them, nor can they force their beliefs on me, and that's why I'm kinda lonely."

"Ah..." Ranma noised as he turned his body so that he was facing the railings of the catwalk, and leaned unto his free arm as he draped it across the metal pole, "I know how you feel. When I first came here, I was kinda weirded out by their beliefs too, ya know? As far as I'm concerned, my mind's still on the 21st century mindset. A lot of what I believed in are foreign here too."

Misty winced as she thought of what he said. Because of her own self-pity, she has forgotten that Ranma was as temporally displaced as she was. In fact, Ranma has more problems than she does. Faced with this dilemma, she has no right to complain to him, as her problems were insignificant compared to what plagued his person.

"How do you cope?" The blue-haired girl finally found her voice, "How do you keep on going, knowing that there's no way you can go back?"

Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "Who says there isn't? There is a way for me to go back, but it's a hard and difficult road. It may take me another thousand years, but I will persevere. I just try to live on everyday, to exist, knowing that there has to be a light beyond the tunnel. Also, I treat these little excursions of mine like field trips. They teach me things... new things as a matter of fact, about different customs and ideals of some people. Also, this gives me insight to what people in the future will be like."

Misty sighed as she too leaned unto the railings, "I don't think I can cope with that..."

Ranma snorted slightly, "I can't do much about my situation, so I just try to live it accordingly. Besides, if you were to voice your opinions to the crew, I'm sure they'll listen to you. You're just girls... you'll understand each other."

"Eh?" The girl form Pluto growled as she stomped her foot on the catwalk agitatedly, "What do you mean, 'We're just girls'? Are you implying something?"

The pigtailed hybrid looked at her at the corners of his eyes, his black glasses glinted against the faint green glow of the Paeksis, "Girls have their own language. That's why they get along really well, even if they just met. They get all noisy and babbly after a while of talking, and then they're all best pals. Give them one topic, and they'll talk about it for hours. Boys aren't like that though, at least, not by much. Sure we act all buddy-buddy with one another at first, and we talk about random things, but we don't get all huggy and babbly like you do. Boys are cool, and girls are..."

"Ooooohhhh!" Misty turned on the catwalk and stomped away from the young man and shouted, "You... you... MALE! Arrogant jerk! Arrgghhh!" One could hear Misty's curses fading into nothing as she continued stomping out of the engine room.

Ranma stared after the fuming girl and watched her disappear from the doorway that led outside. Once Misty was gone, he looked down at the Paeksis Plagma, which was glowing erratically.

"Yeah, laugh it up..." Ranma grumbled at first, which was followed by his soft chuckles to himself, "At least she ain't crying anymore. I can't stand girls that cry. I just hope it ain't gonna bite me in the ass later..."

Just as he was about to relax, the door to the engine room opened once again.

"RANMAAAA!" A chorus of female voices echoed all over the engine room.

Ranma grimaced. "Nope... no rest at all."

The girls, which included some of his companions as well, were adamant in teaching him a lesson about respecting women. Well, he really didn't mean to say those things otherwise, he just wanted to make Misty concentrate on other endeavors.

Oh well... that has been a few days ago. As of the moment, he was at the bridge of the Nirvana, just as excited as the other members of the crew as they anticipated their eminent arrival in their star system.

Unknown to them, there was a surprise waiting for them at home.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The situation in the Mejer and Talark system had been bleak. The Earth Harvester force came barreling through the defensive grid the two planets surrounded themselves. The Harvesters sacrificed one of their huge motherships to punch a hole through the automated mines. Once all of them were removed, it was a simple matter of cruising comfortably into the Mejer and Talark space for the Harvesters.

It was a weird sight to see, when the two planets did not even mount a small defense force to fight for their lives. The citizen of each planet were at an uproar as well, asking their respective leaders as to why they had to watch this travesty in the making.

'Grandma' and 'Grandpa', the illustrious and shaded leaders of each planet, were silent about this.

There had been four battleships of the enemy, one had already destroyed itself as it rammed through the defense system. Two came through the cloud of debris to survey the area, then parted to allow a more decorated and massive vessel to squeeze in between them. They stopped just outside the borders of the two planets, as if waiting for some sort of signal to begin the massacre, while the people of the two planets lay defenseless.

At that time, on the opposite side of where the trio of Earth battleships appeared, a white vessel pierced through the darkness of space. It was the Nirvana, with the Soja II still anchored at its side.

The whole of Nirvana was on alert, and everyone was in their stations. Bart was already inside the pilot's console of the Nirvana, while Hibiki, Dita, Jura, Meia and the rest of the Dread pilots were already positioned in their respective vessels. Deuro and Paiway already have the medical bay all prepared and ready for action, while Parfet and her crew tensed inside the Paeksis Plagma's main room. They were already prepared to face anything that may come their way. Anything, but what they were about to see...

"We have arrived in our home world." BC announced loudly as she scanned all communication frequencies. Then a loud gasp went out her lips as she stared at the nightmare come true on the screen. Noticing their sub commander's sudden lapse to silence, the bridge crew followed her gaze and blanched as they saw the trio of motherships that were poised on the other side of the space, ready and probably charged to start their slaughter. On another side, battleships coming from both Talark and Mejer were assembled, but separate from one another, as the stalemate continued in the middle of space.

"There are a lot of motherships of bad aliens!" Dita commented loudly as she stared on her Dread's screen hard.

"It is weird though." Duero reported as he looked intently at the screen.

Magno narrowed her eyes at the sight. She said, "Where are the reinforcements! Why are our home worlds not protecting themselves...? Oh kami..." her voice trailed off as she suddenly realized something.

"Your so-called leaders chose to accept their fates and die..." Ranma idly noted as he stood on one side, with Vanilla, Emeralda, Lea, Raven and Washuu around him. Rin-Ohki lay contentedly on Ranma's head once again, but this time the cabbit was currently wide awake. She surveyed the area of space in front of the Nirvana with her own sensors and hissed rather audibly as she detected the already familiar electronic signatures of the Harvester drones.

Everyone quickly turned their hard gazes on him, which he pointedly ignored. Having been around women most of his time in the future, which for some reason he noticed that most were tomboys and such, made his resistance to those looks much more profound than before. The only ones not looking at him in irritation were Vanilla, Lea, Raven, Emeralda, Washuu themselves.

"Transmission coming from Planet Mejer, captain!" Someone from the communications console called out as she filtered the necessary information from the calling party and displayed it on the screen.

Nodding, Magno turned to the female and said, "Patch it through."

The holographic screen whirred into life as it showed a trio of hooded women. Two of them stood on the sides in between a third one, who has different clothes apart from the other two. She seemed important, since she was flanked by two other.

("Ahh... Magno... the leader of the Mejer Space Pirates. It would seem you have just returned from your... quest.") The old woman in the middle of the entourage rasped roughly.

"Grandma." Magno acknowledged with a nod, causing gasps from all those around them.

("I order you...") The leader of the Mejer planet intoned direct to the point, ("... not to do anything and surrender the Ikazuchi. You are to do NOTHING.")

"WHAT!" Everyone in the Nirvana, formerly known as the colony ship 'Ikazuchi', shouted in defiance as they turned a stare of disbelief at their highly respected (until now, that is) planetary leader.

"What about the enemy forces! Are we just going to sit back and watch them destroy us? You haven't even started to mobilize your defense forces!" Jura said in exasperation as she did nothing to hide her contempt at the formal declaration.

When silence answered Jura's words, everyone whispered amongst themselves.

Someone said her own thoughts out loud though. "So... Ranma was right all along." Meia's soft but firm voice echoed across the hushed whispers around the bridge. "So that means... the information we sent over a few months ago was probably destroyed. And you probably didn't even inform the rest of the planet about this."

Hibiki's face suddenly appeared on the viewscreen, his face screwed in an expression of disgust, ("At least Talark isn't like Mejer.")

"Don't be too sure." Everyone turned to Ranma as he stepped forward a bit, his glasses-covered eyes boring holes towards the Mejer leader. "I think both the planets' leaders are in this together."

Hibiki was outraged. ("NO WAY! How dare you associate us men with those---")

"Stop what you're about to say, moron." Ranma chided roughly as he glared at the small boy on the viewscreen, who tried to glare back but finally cowered when he saw Ranma's pupils glow under the blackness of the hybrid's glasses. It didn't help that Ranma's gems on his forehead flared in response.

Ranma continued as he looked intently towards the screen, "Hibiki... you've been in this ship for nearly a year. You should've known that they're not what you were taught back in your planet. And that goes the same with the women." Pointing towards the screen, Ranma sneered, "I think you have something to explain to them, woman!"

("Silence, you insolent male!") The help from the old woman's right side shouted back at him, but then flinched when Ranma's gaze snapped towards her.

Help for the old woman came from an unexpected source as the screen split into two, revealing another person in white robes, but the area around the person was bleaker than the women's side of the screen.

"Grandpa?" BC asked in surprise as she stared at the apparition of her, rather, his leader. It has been so long ago that BC has been ordered to blend in with the women to spy on them, even going to the farthest extents to alter her body to transform her into a woman, at least her upper body and her curves that is. Her reproductive organs were intact, however. The years have passed, and she came into contact with these pirates and got under the command of Magno. BC's views about women wavered as she spent time with them. Now, her confusion was evident as to who she was, but somehow, somewhere deep inside her heart, she knew she could never go back to being a man.

'Grandpa' turned slightly to BC, who stifled a shudder as she looked away from the screen. ("So... we meet again, commander.") Grandpa's old voice grated into the communications speaker. ("I understand you have finished your assignment. You are free to return. Leave the Ikazuchi and take your place among us again. We welcome you back as a hero.")

For a moment, silence reigned over the bridge after Grandpa revealed BC's true gender. The women around the bridge were surprised at the information, all except Magno and Ranma themselves. Duero, Hibiki and Bart in the pilot cubicle all gaped at BC, who sat at her post in silence after the secret was blown.

"S-Subcommander?" Dita asked through the comms nervously as she tried to get the grips as to what was being revealed to her as of late. Most of what she believed in were lies and half-truths.

"It's true..." BC sighed as she slowly stood up, her voice barely audible in their ears. But because of the pounding silence, the small voice was crystal clear. "I'm a highly-ranked commander from the Talark intelligence, whose job was to infiltrate the women's ranks and gather valuable information from them. At first it was all about the job, but now... I..."

"You've seen how they're really not what they've been described to you by your superiors, right?" Lea said offhandedly as she shook her head while she joined staring at the two highest leaders of the planets with Ranma and the rest of the crew.

Ranma's own emotions on the matter were evident from the way the gems on his forehead glowed brightly. His emotions ran rampant at this point all over his body.

Not waiting for a response from BC, Lea continued, "The women shouldn't be too angry at her. You people are at odds with one another because you've been manipulated into it. You've been isolated from each other on purpose. Isn't that right, old man, old woman?"

("How dare you...") The old man started speaking, but was silenced when Ranma cut into the conversation as he waved a hand in the air sharply.

When silence ruled the whole area once again, Ranma spoke, "You old folks hid vital information from your people... for what?" Turning to Magno, he asked, "Were you part of this? I know... I can feel your age somehow... it matches those from the records..."

Magno's 'deer caught in the spotlights' look didn't help her case as she sat on her chair. She couldn't believe how the shameful secret was revealed, and how someone as dense as Ranma could figure it all out.

"So..." Duero added, drawing the attention to himself, "The captain must be from this same colony ship, along with Hibiki and the first generation of humans in this system. Hibiki was put into stasis before the colony ship gave out, and the survivors tried to survive. Afterwards, they collected the discarded stasis pods once again. Years passed... Magno and the others grew old and Hibiki was awakened by his grandfather from his stasis. And... here we all are. The question now is... why all these? Why the lies about the gender issues regarding men and women?"

("It's for the good of everyone.") Grandpa said tiredly. Years of hiding the shameful secret regarding their heritage slowly came back to haunt them.

Hibiki growled, his bangs covering his eyes as he spoke in firm tones, ("'For the good of everyone'? Is that all you can say after you taught us how to hate each other! And for what! Tell us that, 'Grandpa', 'Grandma'!")

Dita shook as she pressed her hand over her chest. "I knew... there was something wrong with what we were taught. Mister Alien and the other men were not who we perceived them to be. Sure, there was fighting, but that is normal, right?"

"That's why I'm in this ship... that's why I'm with the pirates." Gascogne said lightly, leaning on the far corner of the bridge as she took stock of everyone looking at her. "If you can remember, I was supposed to be in the military, and yet I chose to join this crew. Being in that planet only hindered the hindsight of perception. They were taught to hate men for some reason, and I didn't know why. I sought to find out, so I joined up with the captain. Imagine my surprise when I found other civilizations with men and women living together during our travels."

("What you think is irrelevant to our reasons.") Grandma interjected, ("We did this so that our people could be preserved one way or another...") her voice trailed off.

("I think I now get it.") Parfet face appeared on the viewscreen as well, which caught everyone's attention, ("You kept our people 'pure' for the Harvest. You knew about it all along.") Her brows raised higher than the upper rim of her round glasses. ("By the kami... we're being set up! We never had a chance from the start!")

Raven snorted loudly, "You're probably right. As far as I could conclude from how the rest of the crew told me of this trip, I think your leaders kept males and females far apart from each other to keep your organs pure for those body parts collectors. You've been branded dead ever since your births."

A loud chatter broke into the bridge of the Nirvana. The whole conversation was being broadcasted live all over the channels of the mothership. Nearly everyone was panicking, trying to babble their denials as to what was happening to them.

The pigtailed hybrid stepped to Magno's console and reached over the buttons to press the open channel broadcast feature of the ship. It allowed the Nirvana to transmit its current proceedings everywhere on both planet Mejer and Talark's various TV and radio stations.

"So, Hibiki..." Ranma began casually, as he winked slyly towards the bemused Magno and walked towards the front part of the bridge, "What do you wanna say? Don't you have any thoughts about this? I mean, you just found out that you're one of the original first generation settlers, and I personally think that you've got a lot of say in this debate."

All over in front of the television stations and radio towers in the Mejer and Talark territories, millions of women and men from their respective planets watched and listened in slight curiosity as their regularly scheduled programs were unceremoniously replaced by this weird broadcast.

The various viewscreens showed a picture of a young boy with roguish raven hair, his eyes closed in contemplation as he sat upon something spacey. He had his arms across his chest, which showed off the colorful bluish scarf he had wrapped around his arm. It seemed to be important to the boy. At the backdrop on the sides and top of the boy's image were the smaller images of the grand ruler of Talark known as Grandpa, the grand ruler of Mejer called Grandma, and the smirking face of one pigtailed young male who has a trio of gold, silver and dark purple or black gems in an inverted triangle on his forehead. A pair of dark-tinted eyeglasses covered his eyes effectively. The males of planet Talark were quite confused as to why they felt a bit of wariness and nervousness when they tried to look at the pigtailed male's image, while the women of Mejer felt something stir within their chests that seemed to spread like wildfire all over their bodies.

The main focus of the moment, Hibiki Tokai, sat with his arms across his chest as he contemplated upon what has been revealed to him with Ranma and the Nirvana Crew's help. It was only now that he realized how his own grandfather, the one who raised him when he got out of that cryogenic sleep, and taught him everything he knows. Hibiki remembered nothing of his guardian's when it came to women, nor did his guardian ever badmouth them. He learned these customs through peers and the other males in Talark. And now...

Apparently, it was revealed that Hibiki was part of the original migrating refugees from the dying planet of origin called Earth. He would've been a bit younger than Captain Magno of the Mejer Space Pirates, if he weren't shoved into a cryo-pod by his own real parents. Since his experience in the last planet he has fallen into earlier, his long forgotten memories resurfaced to the fore, even his childhood memories of his parents and their love for him. While Hibiki never really thought much about it because of his young age at the time, he still felt the loss in his heart.

While Hibiki contemplated on his own past and future, the rest of both worlds watched in rapt attention.

Grandma, the leader of the Mejer planet, gasped slightly as part of the revelation finally dawned to her. ("Hibiki?") She asked hesitantly, eyeing the boy displayed on her viewscreen, ("My Hibiki...?")

On the planet Talark, an assembly of the world's leaders took place. Grandpa heard his counterpart's longing whisper as his eyes widened in shock. "Hibiki!" he asked the man standing in front of him urgently.

The slightly younger, but still old man stared at Grandpa as he stood just a few feet away from the grand ruler of Talark. He has come into the room a bit earlier when Ranma's revelations slowly unfurled the mysteries of both races, and he opted to stand back and watch the proceedings with a careful eye.

This man was Grandpa's younger brother, and the same man who took care of Hibiki when the young boy got out of the cold sleep. He took care of the newly awakened boy and took him out of the public's eye for a while, away from Grandpa's eyes. He wasn't about to let his older brother poison this young boy's mind with all these nonsense, since the feud between men and women was really quite stupid.

Now, he stood in front of his bewildered brother. He heard Grandpa gasp as he realized the truth in front of him. He raised an eyebrow as he pushed his glasses back up the ridge of his nose, when Grandpa graced him with a questioning look on his face. He could see the longing and anticipation in both of Grandpa and Grandma's eyes. He nodded at Grandpa's look, which rewarded him with another deep breath from the older man.

"Yes, brother... that is Hibiki, your son..." He confirmed Grandpa's conclusion, as well as Grandma's, "Can you see him, Jin? He's grown up, hasn't he?"

"B-But how?" Grandpa stuttered a bit. The council of men around him whispered amongst themselves, curious as to why their normally infallible leader was being jittery for the moment, "I though he was still in cryogenic sleep?"

"Heh..." was all the old man got out when everyone heard Hibiki took a deep breath within the comms. Everyone's attention turned to the contemplative young man again as they watched in baited breath for his speech.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Hibiki Tokai calmly opened his eyes, eyeing each of the world leaders with a calm gaze. As he was about to say something, a familiar face caught his attention within the Talark's side of the comms. His face suddenly brightened as an old man's smirking face was focused.

"Ojii-chan!" Hibiki gasped in surprise as he leaned towards his face.

The old man, Hibiki's caretaker for how many years, waved proudly as he said, ("Oi, Hibiki-kun! I can see that you're enjoying yourself!")

The short dark-haired boy nodded enthusiastically as he sat back, "Hai! Ojii-chan... I've been to many places! I learned a lot of things! There are lots of things taught to us that were wrong, and..."

("Whoa there, boy!") The old man lifted his hands in a placating manner, ("Relax... you're still so hotheaded. You haven't changed much in my eyes.")

Hibiki bashfully scratched his head, ("Ojii-chan! I've changed...")

("Heh...") The old man scoffed at him playfully, ("So boy... what DID you learn in your travels?")

Hibiki's face slowly melted into a serious and thoughtful look. "Ojii-chan... women weren't as evil as they taught in Talark. They didn't eat men's livers, or were bad-looking. They were... they're women. The teachings of our planet were mostly lies."

The young boy saw his caretaker nodding his head in agreement.

"There are a lot of other worlds out there..." Hibiki's thoughts focused on the men and women of Melanos, "And they're humans too! They were part of the same migration as we were! And they've fought against the Harvesters... at least some of them... so why can't we?"

Hibiki didn't wait for any response as he continued, "I saw worlds where men and women lived together..." His thoughts strayed to the memory of the girl who owned the blue scarf tied around his arm. Hibiki did not hear any of the gasps emanating from the men and women from the planets Talark and Mejer who, unknown to him, were also tuned into the conversation in the comms.

("Hibiki-kun...") The old man was proud of the boy, even if Hibiki wasn't his real son. For him, Hibiki was his son, his pride and joy. The old man knew that the boy will someday become a great person, and that he was the instrument of the huge change that was supposed to happen in both Talark and Mejer's worlds years ago.

"It's been a long road for us, Ojii-chan..." Hibiki continued, as he refocused himself on the conversation at hand, "We saw a lot in our travels. I just wished everyone would've seen it too. I think we were living the wrong way. Why do we separate men and women in the first place, while other worlds have both on their worlds?"

The white-haired mustached man on the screen smirked. ("You sound so grown up, you matured somehow. But you're still a kid, you know.")

"Ojii-chan!" Hibiki pouted in irritation as he his glare failed to faze his former caretaker. The old man continued to smirk at him.

"I've decided to fight, ojii-chan." The wild-haired boy turned serious once again, "I will defend our worlds. Not only for the men, but for the women as well. I don't think we can afford to fight with one another anymore."

("Hibiki-san is right!") The red haired Dita's face suddenly popped up on the screen, nearly overshadowing the multitudes of multitasked screens already firmed in place, ("Our real enemy are those really bad aliens!")

And just to prove a point, the Vanguard and the Dread spun towards one another, until a bright light enveloped them. As the light faded, the Blue giant of the Dita Vandread emerged once again. The vid screen showed a little bit of how Dita and Hibiki were fitted into the cockpit of the Vandread, which caused the 'uneducated' ones to gasp at the sight of it.

Jura's face also popped out of woodwork. ("Heeeeh... this looks like a fun party. Don't count me out of it.")

("We can win if we band together.") Meia's serious face appeared in the screen as well.

Other members of the Dread Team quickly assembled around the Nirvana, which were led by Hibiki, Dita, Jura and Meia.

("Hey Captain Magno!") A female voice cackled in the comms, ("You're late! Where were you guys! Sub commander BC... have you been taking care of things?")

Meia snorted in her Dread with amusement. ("You've got no idea...")

Dita squealed in excitement, which caused Hibiki to shiver slightly in his seat, ("It's the other Mejer pirates we left back in the base! They've come to join us!")

("Permission to join the party, old Captain?") The same female voiced out as a large group of Dreads congregated around the Nirvana.

Inside the Nirvana, Magno looked at the smirking pirate commander in stride. ("Young idiot...") she said affectionately, ("You're welcome to join us and your companions...")

Another broadcast was heard in the comms without the video feed, which came form the Mejer fleet in the area. ("This is the Mejer Border Fleet... we will join the battle alongside the Nirvana.") A large group of Mejer Dread ships swarmed and joined with the Nirvana's own Dread group, just behind where Hibiki's Vanguard, Dita's Dread, Jura's Dread and Meia's Dread were located.

("As do the Talark Forces...") A slightly peeved captain of the Talark Military grunted into the comms as the ships that belonged to the males lined up alongside the Nirvana as well. The Vanguard Corps assembled just a little ahead of the other defending forces in front of the assortment of battleships, prepared to defend the battle lines with their lives if needed.

The face of the Vanguard group's leader appeared, showing a big-faced man with dark mustache and beard. His hard features showed a veteran fighter to anyone who can see him. ("Our Vanguard Force will engage the enemy first! We will show them the power of our spirit!")

"Typical male..." Most of the women in the Nirvana groaned out loud in dismay.

Suddenly, their assembly was interrupted when alarms blared all over the place. The brown haired girl handling the Nirvana's communications traffic reported that several ships came out of warp and managed to enter the intervening space. Two new groups appeared to have joined the frenzy.

Hibiki and the rest of the now United Alliance of the two worlds were skeptical at the new arrivals, until a transmission revealed one of the newcomers was from a planet called Melanos.

The Melanos people was close to Hibiki's heart. They were the ones the Harvesters attacked for their skins. He remembered the time when he was almost killed during that one instant he tried to flee from Nirvana a long long time ago. It was a particularly trying day, and it was the same day Barnette decided to rouse the rest of the crew into throwing the men out of the ship. Hibiki decided to leave them behind and launched into space within his Vanguard. He encountered a relatively small group of Harvesters, but was pummeled because he wasn't concentrating on the battle too well.

The second group of ships that arrived were a much more recent bunch Hibiki met. The telepathic natives of the colonized planet Rakuen were the ones who helped him get over his angst about his whole situation. This particular group was led by the ever-mysterious Rabbat, with his trusty 'friend' Utan. Together with a few ships of their own, they managed to make the whole situation a bit easier for them.

The encouraging smile the Elder of Rakuen gave Hibiki on the vid screen brought a warm feeling in Hibiki's heart.

"The two new groups are requesting to form alongside our battle fleet, Captain!" The Nirvana's comm officer informed her commander.

Up in her comfy chair the old woman suddenly lurched forward, clutching at her chest with a grimace in her face. With all the willpower in her body, she ignored the pain, and said, "Let... let them join! Tell them... tell them we are all humans. And as humans... we are to fight as one!"

Magno was thankful that no one noticed her predicament, as she slowly straightened herself up on her seat. One saw and understood, though, but let it pass.

Ranma was quite impressed at sudden hype of morale the entire Nirvana was experiencing for the moment. He spied upon Magno clutching at her chest a while ago. He was inclined to help, but understood that Magno needed to show her subordinates that even she will not give in to any bad situation, even a sickness, and it will serve as a good boost of confidence for everyone seeing their captain well. Ranma did decide to watch out for the old woman, though.

The young alien hybrid then turned to the screen that showed the enemy fleet. Thousands of drones flitted along the mothership, as a few hundred more were currently being deployed. Their metal graspers slithered all of over the place, in preparation for the upcoming battle. He slowly frowned as the situation finally settled in.

"You've noticed it too." The purple haired sorceress called Raven commented at his side, also watching the preparations being shown on the screen. Ranma glanced towards her for a moment in recognition of her presence, but then he turned his face back towards watching the screen.

"It's gonna be a tough battle for them..." Ranma said grimly, his frown deepening dangerously.

A tall, teal-haired woman walked to Ranma's other side, also watching the video intently. "This does not bode well, Ranma-sama."

The pigtailed young man nodded.

"You can help them, you know..." Raven suggested, gesturing towards the ever-growing army of the Harvesters, "These things needed to be stopped. According to what I've been told, they hunt these people to take their organs."

"I wonder if it's all right for me to interfere after all..." Ranma mused loudly to himself. Footsteps coming from behind let Ranma know the approach of Vanilla and Emeralda. The two were helping in the sick bay preparations as well as some mundane jobs a while ago.

"It is not of consequence that you do not belong in this dimension, Ranma-sama..." Vanilla intoned from behind him, "You know you can do some things for these people, and it is all up to you to do so."

"All up to you..." Emeralda parroted as she nodded.

The emerald haired girl with dark skin and the pale-skinned red-eyed girl hugged Ranma around his neck and around his waist simultaneously. Lea and surprisingly, Raven, clutched at Ranma's arms as well.

Ranma sighed as he felt a huge amount of support coming from the girls. His face cast a serious look, as he gazed at the Harvester group impassively.

He will protect these girls, as well as the Nirvana and the other races who wanted to be free from the threat of these... Harvesters.

Everyone's ruminations were interrupted when the speakers blared again, but this time the voices and the signals were not of their respective home worlds.

("We are from your initial planet Earth. We sent you into space to thrive and one day be able to return the generosity we showed you by allowing you to live. We let you survive from being wiped out on Earth, and now we need your help. Your sole existence is for mother Earth to thrive once again.")

The transmission came from the Earth Harvest fleet. The voice was deep and mildly hypnotic, and it is somehow pushing the listeners into siding with the Earth force's logic.

Ranma growled under his breath, causing the Mejer women to cringe a bit in fright away from him. Even with his glasses on, Ranma's unearthly eyes were glowing behind them.

("Resistance is really futile against us. We let you survive long enough for you to develop our species. Now, we need the fruits of the time and labor we spent on you back. After we assimilate you, you will be part of history in the making, saving our planet Earth and its inhabitants from destruction. After your heroic sacrifice to us, we will become gods.") The transmission continued.

Magno turned to Hibiki and Dita's screen and said, "Boy, get ready to fight for your lives. It looks like the Harvest is going to start soon. The rest of the pilots, get into your Dreads and form a defensive line. We will fight against them."

The bridge spun into life even as the Harvest group's transmission droned on the speakers.

As the Nirvana's pilot crew scrambled, Ranma still hasn't moved from where he was standing, still gazing at the darkened visual transmission coming from the main Harvester ship. Emeralda was looking at him worriedly with Vanilla on her side. Washuu took off to the engine room to respond to Parfet's calls about the Paeksis going into fits again.

"Ranma, what about you?" Magno asked the pigtailed young man, but her question was ignored as Ranma trained his eyes into the screen.

After a pregnant pause, Ranma finally spoke to the figure behind the Harvest in this sector, "Where is Ryoko?"

The shadowed figure in the monitor visibly straightened on its seat, seemingly interested in the sudden shift from the one-sided transmission it has been broadcaster for the past fifteen minutes. With the same deep resonating voice, the figure asked, ("How did you know of this... Ryoko?")

"Stop antagonizing me, idiot, and tell me NOW!" Ranma growled out the last words very loudly, causing those near him jumping in surprise.

("Who is this you upstart that has the gall to insult me, so that I may know just who you were before I have you destroyed?") The figure asked mockingly.

Ranma sneered, "Ranma Saotome... and I am not the one who's gonna be destroyed. I will CRUSH you for what you did to Yosho, Tenchi and the others... and especially to Ryoko!"

The figure paused, as if thinking of what Ranma had said. After a few tense moments, it replied, ("I see... so you were the one that woman has been screaming for right before we took her and transformed into this energy core.")

Ranma's fist balled tightly, causing his bones to crackle as he stared hatefully at the screen. "You will pay... for everyone's lives you took... KAGATO!"

("Heh... a forlorn and lonely traveler... which makes me wonder. How DID you get in this time anyway? Your aging must've been a lot slower than mine, or are you ageless?") A pale-faced young boy emerged from the shadows bathing the area beyond the viewscreen. His ashen face accented his luminescent red pupils for eyes, his eyebrow cocked in amusement.

("No matter...") The Harvester Lord snorted, not waiting for a response, ("Ryoko has been pining for you for years. Had herself locked in stasis until you were found. By the way... did you know that she has someone else to keep her company in there when she went into that stasis chamber?")

Ranma glared at the pale skinned brat smirking across the viewscreen. Behind him, Raven, Emeralda, Vanilla, and Lea watched in trepidation as they felt the male's anger. This was especially true with Raven, who has a bond with Ranma.

The Harvester Lord's eyes widened in glee. ("You mean, you didn't know? Poor little you, left in the dark I see. Well... didn't you know that your precious Ryoko... bore YOUR female brat? I found a two to three Earth years old female brat sleeping beside her, one that resembles my greatest enemy! I assumed it's yours, since you're the only one who could've done 'it' with her since I knew of Ryoko's virginity before...

But the rest of the explanation coming from the Kagato-clone was ignored as Ranma went into shock.

Seeing the expression on Ranma's face, the pale faced child on the other side of the virtual connection laughed mercilessly. ("I'll leave you to your thoughts, boy. Watch while I destroy this sector of the universe!")

The screen switched into static with finality.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The space outside the Nirvana erupted in a gruesome war as the two opposing forces finally clashed with all their might. Dreads, Vanguards, Melanos ships, Rakuen light fighters, Harvester drones and other instruments of war blasted one another without any mercy.

Meanwhile, inside the Nirvana, it was dreadfully quiet. After the sudden revelation of Ranma's small but very significant past, they opted on keeping silent and watching Ranma's reaction carefully. Twenty minutes after the battle started, the pigtailed hybrid hasn't made a move yet. Nobody dared to approach him for the moment, since even the cabbit perched on top of his head has an expression of deep hatred etched on its face.

Suddenly, Ranma's posture straightened. Everyone waited with baited breath as Ranma raised an arm and lifted Rin-Ohki off his head. He brought the determined cabbit in front of his face.

"Rin-Ohki... prepare for transformation..." Ranma declared softly, but loud enough to be heard all over the silent bridge, "Today, we go to WAR. And for once, we will NOT hold anything back."

Rin-Ohki smirked as best as she could, which made the other members of the crew shiver in fright, "MIYAHHH!" she screeched as she dematerialized from Ranma's hold.

Without turning, Ranma said, "Emeralda, Vanilla... you help tend to those who will get injured in the Medical Room. Raven, Lea... if you can, help the Nirvana's shield to deflect as much of the stray shots as possible."

Emeralda and Vanilla quickly nodded and complied, scurrying towards their designated responsibilities after mumbling some good lucks towards Ranma. Lea followed them in a dignified manner, but her face reflected the worry she felt for the young man she loved.

Raven was about to follow them as well, but she paused just before exiting the bridge. "Ranma..." she called out, her back still turned, "Don't get yourself killed..."

The pigtailed hybrid snorted in response. "I'm not the one who's gonna die, Raven. You can be assured of that."

The dark gothic former super heroine nodded as she continued on her way.

Magno was impressed. She heard the authority in his voice, yet it was full of compassion. She was about to ask something, when her comms officer suddenly blurted, "C-Captain! Look outside! There... there's..."

"What is it?" Magno asked empathically as she DID look outside, only to fall in silence as she witnessed something very scary.

Rin-Ohki's transformation into the Anima Seraphim.

Ranma smiled grimly. "It is a good day for chaos..." he said as he faded from sight. The last thing the Nirvana crew saw of him was the glow of the gems on Ranma's forehead.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The huge battle was well underway, as explosions rocked the entire area with a vengeance.

Inside the Harvester Mothership, the child form known as Kagato glowered in his 'throne'. It has been a long way since he was almost killed back then by that punk Tenchi.

More than five millennia have passed since he came to Earth following the reports of the Galaxy Police. He has heard that sightings of Yosho following Ryoko were made in the area several hundred years back, and he came to investigate. He did arrive on Earth, and was a bit surprised to find Yosho had become a family man. Even the Jurai brat Ayeka and her sister Sasami has come to the blue planet as well.

But no Ryoko.

Undaunted by his plans for capturing the Juraians, he attacked immediately without warning, but Kagato overestimated his own strength. Yosho might be out of practice, but he was able to hold Kagato off long enough for Yosho's grandson to decide to fight.

Yes, Yosho had a grandson, a half-breed Juraian named Tenchi.

Thrice damned the boy, Kagato really underestimated him. Kagato thought that Tenchi will be a whole lot weaker than him, simply because of heritage and genealogy. But alas, he was proven wrong, as the boy manifested at least three Light Hawk Wings. Kagato had no defense as he was slashed a mortal blow...

But he persevered. He managed to teleport fast enough before everything went boom. His teleport brought him to the Earth's natural satellite's surface. No air and little gravity, but a little bit of application of his own power managed to keep him alive. He directed the last of his energies into fixing his body up. It took him months to be able to close the mortal wound the Masaki brat gave him.

He teleported on the Earth's surface, and he finally assented the extent of the damage done to him by the battle. He lost most of his power, as well as his slow aging. In fact, he aged so much after healing his extensive injuries.

Due to his weakened body, Kagato decided to hold back his revenge on the Masaki family for a while. Instead, he used his acquired knowledge in science and technology to gain quite a bit of a foothold many of the planet's independent governments.

And then... Second Impact occurred. Kagato just knew there was something significant about the phenomenon, so he decided to have himself 'join' the Katsuragi Expedition as one of the researchers. It was there that he discovered the hidden well of vast power that came from such a sample left of Adam, the alien that crash landed with the meteor. Kagato was quite amused as to how easily these Earthians easily connected this phenomenon to religion. Although... the meteor DID kill more than three fourths of the world population.

He caused a fatal accident during the expedition, which killed all of the other researchers except himself. Kagato then renamed himself as Lorenz Khil, and founded the SEELE.

Kagato as Lorenz Khil presented to the world a copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which was in fact a forged copy he created. He discovered humanity's greatest weakness: religion. He then claimed of the prophecy wherein Angels from heaven will be sent into Earth to test Humanity. He funded the formation of a research and development group called NERV, and released a copy of the research notes from the Katsuragi Expedition to one Gendo Robunkugi.

Khil has his own project though. Using some of the samples taken from the meteor crash of the Second Impact, he created himself a body. A cloned child from Adam's DNA and his own. This was his trump card, an escape when his current body gave up and died. But this body was incomplete.

Still under the guise of Lorenz Khil, Kagato continued to fund and 'aid' humanity through the man-made anti-Angel defense mecha called Evangelions. Unknown to anyone, Khil used the data gathered in every battle as well as from the Evangelions to aid his own projects.

While the battle with Angels wore on, Khil started his assault on the Masaki Shrine as well. Using his connections to the government, he easily subdued the Masaki family, but not without casualties. Still, the capture went on smoothly, especially with no Ryoko around.

Khil pushed his revenge by sucking out the Juraian energies from Tenchi, Yosho and Ayeka, which caused their deaths. It was too bad that Sasami was able to escape, it would've been such a sweet victory for Khil. But such is life, and he knew that he has to make do what he has at the moment.

Eventually, his body as Khil died, betrayed by his own pawn named Gendo Ikari. The end of the Evangelion Wars caused his old body's gruesome death, but its purpose was completed. From the ashes of his death, Kagato's other body, the child, was awakened.

Kagato was able to download his memories, as well as his legacy into the child body from Khil without any problems. Even without his old body, he was still able to complete his experiments. With his contacts that he built up as Khil, he was able to attract countless corrupt politicians and government officials who wanted to have a small part of immortality as well. His cloning process, albeit crude and quite outdated according to his standards, were still effective for luring these individuals into siding with him.

In this new child body, whom he has christened as 'Kagato' anyway, watched as the Earth was engulfed in a wave of LCL. He was safe inside a reconstructed spacecraft of his own design, suited to comply with the materials he had at hand. He was vastly interested in the amount of energy the large goop was emitting as of the moment, and he decided to wait it out.

Kagato watched as humans slowly started to come out of the LCL, as he was also continuing his own experiments. But with the lack of technology at hand, he can only go so far. He has to wait some more...

With the lack of equipment and the boredom, Kagato decided to sleep. Not just any sleep, but long, cold sleep. He cast himself into the cold sleep chamber he developed, and rested.

Four thousand years have passed...

When Kagato woke up again, he was quite amazed at the technological advancement humanity has garnered while he was asleep. He later found that the Earth was unified in one government, and those who decided to set up their residency in space within the space colonies located around were separated from one another. And this caused a war to erupt between them. Using various mecha as their weapons, they waged battle amongst one another, almost destroying each other in an attempt to conquer the planetary system.

Kagato had to step in once again, and viciously separated both factions by force. Using his more technologically advanced weapons, he managed to do so.

Adding the arsenal of newly developed technology from the Terrans, Kagato managed to continue his plans of absolute power. But first, he knew he had to establish a main base of operations first. And since he was already in the place, his first conquest was clearly the Sol System.

He reinstated his power over Earth again by using force, and was quite successful. Because of the lack of manpower and equipment due to the recent war, the Earth was defenseless against Kagato's assault. Kagato then began to surround the Earth in a large spheroid metal shielding, as a sign of power over the people of the planet.

While his hold on Earth began to take shape, Kagato began his other project. His actual first target: to acquire the most power in the universe. He pulled out his first experiments, the Juraian energies he managed to collect back when he was awake.

Using the designs made for Juraian battleships, he created his first experimental weapon, DEUS, an interplanetary weapon. Sadly, it was a failure when the refugees he sent to test out his weapon seemed to have run off with it. Damn him for relying on incompetent fools! He would hunt them down and kill them all!

He turned his anger towards those left on the Earth's surface. He used the orbital shield he had created and enclosed Earth off completely. It took at least six weeks before he finally closed the entire thing off, and some of the bolder Terrans managed to escape using Colony Ships they have developed. He was slightly impressed at the tenacity of these humans, who defied him 'til the bitter end. He destroyed as much of the fleeing ships as he could, but he let the others go anyway.

Kagato returned to his research and started his second project, the Paeksis Plagma core. A super concentrated sphere of plasma energy which generated power several times the power of a star. He used the remaining Juraian essence left in his hands and fashioned it after the Juraian Flagships that once went after him in the old days. And to think, he had Yosho, Tenchi and Ayeka's essences within the sphere... near equivalent to three fully powered Juraian Flagships! He wanted to make sure THIS time, and wanted to install this Paeksis Plagma into his own Flagship. But alas, another hassle cramped his project...

It would seem that he has severely underestimated Washuu's ability to annoy him. His former mentor gathered her own information and enough political standing to allow her access to many files concerning his projects. After more than five thousand years of sleep, Kagato's security protocols have been lax lately. Washuu managed to infiltrate his flagship while the Paeksis Plagma was being mounted, and spirited the ball of energy away with her and disappeared. He later found out that the Paeksis Plagma was later on installed by Washuu in one of the last colony ships that escaped the Sol System, Ikazuchi, while it was being prepped in planet Pluto.

Kagato was left with nothing, and while fuming with anger, he descended into Earth and inspected the ruins of the Masaki household for any more loose ends. His search were almost futile, until one of the octopi drones that accompanied him managed to detect something deep within a cave near the shrine proper.

Curiosity led him to excavate the entire area, and to his utter glee, he discovered something significant. A cryogenic chamber was left within the confines of the cave. Washuu probably thought he wouldn't think of looking for it in the Masaki shrine after it was destroyed. The cryogenic chamber which held Ryoko Hakubi herself within. It surprised him though, that inside the cryogenic chamber was a Washuu-look-alike, tucked into Ryoko's body. The cyan-haired woman's own arm was embracing the seemingly four-year-old babe into her chest.

Nevertheless, it was a magnificent find for Kagato. To find Ryoko intact once again was a great boon for him. But he had other plans for his new find, though. Instead of sucking the energy out of Ryoko to power up a new Paeksis Plagma, why not use Ryoko herself intact as the power core of the Plagma itself? He could probably create a lot more Paeksis Plagma with this idea of his...

It was then that he discovered something very unfortunate. His body was not aging. In fact, it was incomplete, power-wise and some organs decayed far too quickly. He used transplanted organs from... 'donors'... and constantly undergoing self-operation to keep himself alive. Even those organs he acquired were not enough to sustain him permanently. He discovered that he needed the untarnished organs of those who managed to escape the Sol System. It would seem that when he closed off Earth, a plague resulted on the planet's surface. All of those left on Earth, as well as those in scattered space colonies, were tainted with the plague.

Kagato will have to go after those cretins who managed to escape his clutches all those years ago...

And that's how the Harvest of Earth began.

Shaking himself out of the reminiscing mood he fell into, Kagato quickly focused his attention into the battle once more. He frowned when a large group of his octopi drones have been annihilated in quadrant four, the area where that strange mecha appeared after the Vanguard and the Dread have combined into one. According to the data returned by his fallen drones months ago, the mecha can actually shift forms and cycle them around as they see fit. Not even the 'copies' created by Kagato's own Paeksis Plagma can match it.

Again, the 'human factor' remained a much bigger advantage for the humans that he anticipated. Kagato growled out as the drones in quadrant four were completely wiped out. Gesturing with his hand, Kagato has sent another large group of drones to keep the meddlers busy as he prepares his final solution. He would take this whole system hostage, using a special weapon that he knew his Paeksis could create.

As he was about to continue on monitoring the progress of his plan, Kagato's main battleship's alarms suddenly blared mercilessly, which startled the cloned villain out of his work. Quadrants two and four were reportedly annihilated completely, though Kagato could've sworn he still saw quite a numerous amount of drones stationed in those areas. As he looked into the monitors, he saw... IT.

The dark blue knight-like humanoid robot larger than the first one he saw a while ago seemed to have emerged from the chaos of the battle, calmly floating amongst the debris of the octopi it must have destroyed. As another group of drones approached it, the mecha calmly raised its palm towards the approaching enemy group and fired off a silvery ray of light, which engulfed the enemy battalion completely. When the light went out, only broken pieces of the group remained.

Kagato's ire grew as the new threat seemed to be approaching his main ship slowly but surely, calmly destroying the drones that would try to get in its way towards him.

Another problem for Kagato arose as the Super Vandread made its appearance. The three Dreads plus the special Vanguard all combined into one big mecha, which now approached his ship at very high speeds.

The pale child form of Kagato snorted. He was prepared for this Super Vandread's appearance. He quickly pressed a few buttons off to the side of his Throne and watched as his own Paeksis Plagma shot off a huge beam of red light. Although it was mostly shrugged off by the Super Vandread, its allies suffered great losses from it, which created a big chance for Kagato's own forces to retaliate.

Outside in space...

Super Vandread surged on towards the main Harvester ship, but it was stopped by a red sphere of energy surrounding the antagonist, one that successfully separated its combination back into the three Dreads and Vanguard and were captured by tendrils of red energy. The same red energy that came formed the Harvest Master's Paeksis Plagma.

To the Nirvana crew's horror, Hibiki Tokai was sucked into the Harvest Master's ship without delay, further crippling their attack force. Dita, Meia and Jura, still in their Dreads, were imprisoned in red spheres of force as they watched their friend disappear from their view. The Nirvana and their allies, though, somehow managed to hold on to the fight as they wait for their companions to escape. No one noticed a slight ripple in the space near the hull of the Harvest mothership.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Inside the mothership, Kagato stood imperiously over the struggling form of Hibiki. Earlier, Kagato became quite irritated at the constant babbling of the young upstart. To silence the impertinence of the brat, he drastically increased the gravity on the floors in front of him five times its normal strength. To add insult to the injury, he even brought up a broadcast screen to televise the event.

"Dammit, lemme... go!" Hibiki struggled to stand, but his face pressed harder into the cold steel floor as Kagato loomed over him.

The pale child cocked his head to one side and said, "Now, why would I do that? You've been most... disobedient. Why do you not submit?"

Dita, whose face was shown on the screens, replied, ("We won't give up! We can't let the bad aliens win!")

"Little girl..." Kagato raised an eyebrow as he gazed at the red haired girl's face, "It is destiny for you to give yourself up for Earth. Can't you see?"

("We... have the right to live our... own lives!") Jura's face appeared right next to Dita's, ("I still haven't gotten a baby yet, dammit!")

("We are not beaten YET!") Meia growled out as her face appeared as well.

"That's right..." Hibiki growled out, once again trying to stand up, but failing nonetheless, "We... we will not give up!"

"So you say..." Kagato said lightly, "But here you all are, helpless in front of me. What a pitiful sight. Why not just give yourselves a break and allow your fellow Earthlings to ascend into a higher state? Why do you deny us this opportunity? After all we've done just to save humanity from extinction, to be denied of evolution because their fellows are afraid of sacrifice for the common good!"

The feed was still broadcasted in an open channel.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Nirvana, the rest of the crew were still watching the feed coming from the Harvester mothership.

"Arrogant bastard..." Magno scoffed as she glared at the bane of their existence. But her anger momentarily evaporated when she heard what some of her crew has been saying...

"It's... it's for the Earth, right? Isn't that... good?"

"That's quite true... if it helps us to live on, why not?"

"After all... progress should have sacrifices..."

The sub commander BC, however, was unaffected by the 'charismatic' broadcast being shown in the video screen. The dark-skinned sub-leader of the Mejer pirates glanced around her, and saw her crewmates actually buying the crap being spouted by the Earthling brat.

"What the hell is going on..." she muttered to herself.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the Harvester Mothership, Kagato frowned upon his captive, who was still trying to stand up in futility.

"For Earth... you say?" Hibiki ground out as he finally managed to lift himself up with both of his arms. He lifted his chin up to the child form of Kagato and continued, "Don't we have the right to decide? We have the right to live too! Why do we have to sacrifice ourselves to you!"

"Shut up..." Kagato said simply as he increased the gravity once again. It caused Hibiki's arms to give up, as a resounding crack echoed across the lonely hall of the ship's bridge. Hibiki's scream pierced the silence of space, which were joined by Dita, Jura and Meia's shout of dismay and worry.

Hibiki clenched his teeth in pain. His arm was twisted at an odd angle, and he can now only barely lift himself with his other arm. Still, he managed a grim smile to grace his face through the burning feeling he has running all over his ruined arm.

"Heh... you sound so proud and sure of yourself... but the truth is that... you're afraid." Hibiki accused as he finally managed to find his center of gravity with his remaining arm, "Afraid... you're afraid to be all alone... you're lonesome... because everyone left Earth. You're scared!"

Kagato blinked, inwardly he contemplated on how stupid that statement was. Such was expected from these simple minded fools. Lonely, indeed.

("We have lots of friends to help us!") Dita piped up, as she stared at Hibiki's prone form with tears in her eyes, ("But you have no one to make you feel good when you're lonely!")

Before Kagato could retort though, a deep baritone voice answered Dita's statement, "You're looking into this too deeply. This... creature isn't lonely or anything like that. That I can assure you..."

The pale faced, white haired boy with red eyes suddenly grinned and spread his arms apart widely. "I'm glad you could join us, boy! How do you like the party so far?"

"It stinks." The intruder said simply as he appeared out of the shadows from one corner of the hallway. As he stepped into the light, Dita, Jura, Meia and the rest of those still fighting outside were surprised. Instead of his casual and bored look, Ranma had a determined look in his eyes. Another thing, his glasses weren't covering his eyes for the moment, and it was clear to everyone how inhuman his eyes really were. His body armor was fully equipped, from the helmet down to his boots. His trademark pigtail fluttered against an imaginary wind as he walked calmly towards Kagato.

Dead silence met the entire conflict as the two powerful individuals glared at one another, neither one hiding the hostility they felt towards the other.

"How impertinent of you to come here alone, monkey..." Kagato sneered as he took note of the reddish tail that wriggled after Ranma's back, "Now that you're here, what do you plan on doing?"

The pigtailed hybrid shrugged, "I don't think you're going to free Hibiki at my request, right? So why don't we cut the chatter and fight?" And with that, he disappeared from view once again.

Kagato snorted and smiled nastily when his defense barrier, something he discovered years back when he activated this small body, was hit by something. A red hexagonal shaped 'fence' appeared around him. Like a fly caught in a bug zapper, Ranma appeared as he was caught by the shield in mid-air, zapped by an unbelievingly large amounts of power that he still hadn't figured out what. It stunned him long enough for Kagato to order the Paeksis core to send out red tendrils of crystalline energy and subdue Ranma.

Ranma shook himself out of the funk he was in, only to find out that he was being held by red crystals that covered his whole body. Like an iceberg, he was held in place by the crystal without much problems, much to his irritation.

("Mister Alien! Mister Alien! Are you okay!") He idly heard Dita breathlessly asking him if he was all right, to which he nodded wearily. He has been too rash, he knew now, but that won't help them escape this predicament they're in.

"Well, some savior you are." Hibiki sniffed as he struggled into lying on his back. The gravity on the floor under him was still quite high.

Ranma gave Hibiki a baleful glare, one which made him satisfied when he saw the younger boy shiver in terror. "If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all, kid. Besides, if he decides to torture us, you're gonna die first, since I'm a whole lotta tougher than you. I just want to remind you of that."

Hibiki grunted, "Who the hell is this guy? He's... he's a maniac!"

Ranma chuckled, "Heh... something like that. He's a psychopath."

Meia's screen was still active, and she was the one who asked, ("You know of him?")

The pigtailed hybrid shrugged as best as he could while being trapped in the red crystal, "Not directly. But I heard some bad things about him. He's bad to the bone."

Their conversation was broken when the pale skinned boy who was currently the most hated person in that sector of the universe made his presence known once again, "Finally got your bearings together? Good. Now that I have you, your glorious power will add to my arsenal of might!"

Ranma eyed the crazy child curiously as he gingerly sat atop his 'throne' once again, and pressed a few buttons from its armrest. Ranma had no warning when a massive jolt of electricity traveled into the crystal chamber he was imprisoned in.

The last vision he had was Kagato's smirk of triumph as things started to blur around him...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Somewhere...

When Ranma opened his eyes, he saw red. Literally. But it's not because he's angry or something of the sort. Everywhere around him was coated with a red hue.

"Well, this is new..." Ranma mumbled to himself as he floated along the red-tinted atmosphere. His sharp hearing brought to him a sound he didn't want to hear: a woman crying.

The pigtailed hybrid flew into the sound's direction. After a few moments of floating in one direction, he finally came upon a small clearing of some sorts with a dark red spherical force field in the middle. Tendrils of red crystal seemed to be jutting out of its position. But the most noticeable thing Ranma saw out of all these was the inside of the bubble.

There was someone sitting inside the sphere, and was clutched at what it seemed to be like a small child. Her spiky teal hair covered most of her eyes as she cried, and she wore her black and red body suit that covered most of her body. Her light skin was quite a contrast to the reddish environment they were in.

The baby she was holding unto has red hair, and has her own body suit covering her whole body. As much as Ranma could tell from the view, the girl also has a dark brown tail protruding from her backside.

But the woman seemed familiar to him... wait... Ryoko... RYOKO!

"RYOKO!" Ranma frantically called out as he swiftly went to the red sphere's side, as he banged upon its surface with his fists, "RYOKO!"

"That... that voice..." The crying teal-haired woman croaked before she unfolded herself from her crouch. She gently had the child in her arms seated beside her as she looked around herself. Aside from the usual red bubble that she can't seem to break, she can't see anything that... was that a pigtailed man looking through the shielding?

Pigtail... Ranma?

"RANMA!" Ryoko suddenly stood, startling the child beside her and caused the toddler to topple over comically. Ryoko quickly bent down and muttered apologies to the small girl and lifted her up in her arms. She quickly floated over to where Ranma was pressed up in her prison. "RANMA!" she shouted happily as tears fell down her cheeks, "B-But... but how? HOW!"

Ranma shook his head, his own unearthly eyes glowing slightly as he felt unshed tears pooling around them, "I don't know... but... I don't really care. Ryoko... I'm... I'm so happy I found you..."

Ryoko nodded joyfully, "I looked for you all over Earth, but mother just told me you might be off-world, or even worse, in another dimension."

"She's pretty close..." Ranma hiccupped slightly, chuckling at the sight in front of him, "I got trapped in limbo for more than five thousand years with Rin-Ohki... Ryoko... who...?"

The teal haired woman blinked as she looked down to the child in her arms, who looked back at her with those slitted blue eyes with curiosity. "I forgot to tell you..." she almost whispered, "You... we... the last time we... we did... IT... I got... well, PREGNANT... and..."

"A daughter..." Ranma breathed as he took sight of the small girl in Ryoko's arms, which favored the new face a look of wonder. She has flaming red hair, and blue eyes like his curse form. But her hair was spiky like her mother's as it spread like angel wings just behind her ears, and her eyes were slitted. The brown tail waved imperiously down her backside.

Probably by instinct, the girl recognized her father easily and reached out towards him. The little cherub giggled and smiled as she lifted her little arms into Ranma's direction. The sight made Ranma and Ryoko sob in happiness.

Especially when the little child squeaked, "Papa!" to Ranma.

"Her name's Ranko..." Ryoko declared proudly, "No connection to your female form though. I just thought of mixing RAN-ma and Ryo-KO into her name. I hope you don't mind..."

Ranma shook his head vehemently as his gaze rose to meet those golden orbs of Ryoko's eyes, "It's a wonderful name. It suits her well."

"But we're trapped here..." Ryoko suddenly changed topics, "We can't get out. Somehow, some force manages to drain us of our powers enough to keep us weak enough. We cannot break through..."

"We don't know what will happen if we do so..." Ranma stated, "So it's probably best that you haven't broken the barrier yet. But don't worry, I'll do something about it from the outside."

Ryoko adopted a confused look. "Outside? Wait... where are we? What's going on?"

Ranma blinked. "You mean, you don't know? Years after you locked yourself in stasis, Kagato found your pod and was now using you as his batteries for his pet project."

Ryoko snarled loudly, which caused the child in her arms to squirm in discomfort, "KAGATO! So... that bastard's still alive!" Then her expression turned into one of fright as she asked hesitantly, "Wait... what happened... to the others?"

The pigtailed hybrid grimaced as he bowed his head, "Dead... by Kagato's hand as well. His first experiments... he killed them for their Juraian energies..."

Ryoko fell to her knees as she clutched at their baby, "Dead... Yosho... the shrine... oh no... it's... it's all my fault... if I didn't put myself in stasis..."

"Don't blame yourself for this, Ryoko!" Ranma hissed emotionally, "It would probably make no difference. Kagato was prepared, he got all of them without problems! If you were there, he would've killed you too, as well as Ranko!"

Ranma slid down the shield's surface into a sitting position, "Don't worry... we'll avenge them... but first. You have to gain control of this prison. I know you can do it. You're stronger than this!"

"I can't!" Ryoko cried out, "This is Kagato we're talking about! He already took control of me once... it would be easy for him to do it again!"

"RYOKO!" Ranma caught the woman's attention back from her ranting, "Listen to me! This prison you're in, it's you! It's inside you... the only way you can take back control is if you wanted to! Do it for those who died... do it for Ranko... do it... for me... for yourself... for US!"

"For us..." Ryoko mumbled, before her voice started to gain its intensity, "For US! YES!" she shouted as she stood, twirling the little girl in her arms.

"Good girl..." Ranma sighed. He could feel his existence in this world slowly fading, so he has to make this quick, "Ryoko... remember... take control of the Paeksis. Kagato connected you to it. So in some weird and fanatical way of thinking, it's part of you. I know you can do this."

Ryoko nodded. "I will. Ranma... I'm so happy to see you."

Ranma smiled tiredly. "Same here. I'm going to be seeing you soon in person, if... no... WHEN we pull a miracle in this situation." He grunted, and it was noticed by Ryoko. The pigtailed hybrid waved her worries away.

"By the way... where's Ryo-Ohki?" Ranma asked curiously, as he looked around the bleak surroundings.

The mother of Ranma's first child shuddered. "She... she put herself in hibernation mode... and put up this shield that protects Ranko and my consciousness from total corruption."

Ranma nodded grimly. "That's good... she did her best to protect the both of you... now it's our turn to return the favor." He grimaced for a moment, as he sensed his essence slowly fading away.

"I need to wake up soon... so that I can begin my side of the plan..." Ranma explained as he slowly faded, "Ryoko... I know we have a link... I can feel it at the back of my mind... we are mind linked..."

Ryoko graced Ranma with a beautiful smile, "Yes... and it's what's kept me thinking you're still alive. I felt you, no matter how faint, it's still there."

The fading form of Ranma chuckled loudly, "Such a resourceful woman... remind me to tell you about the other girls you might have to share me with..." and with that he totally vanished from Ryoko's sight.

The teal-haired woman blinked, before exclaiming, "OTHER GIRLS!"

The red haired toddler girl in her arms just gurgled in amusement at seeing her mother's face contort into funny shapes.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the real world, Ranma's eyes slowly opened. Sure enough, he still found himself within the red crystal prison he was in earlier before he lost consciousness. But somehow, something was different. Whereas the crystal was cold before, now it emitted a warmth that soothed his frazzled nerves. Ranma idly noticed off to the side that Hibiki was nowhere to be found.

Ranma found himself just near the Throne in the Harvester Ship's bridge now. He spied upon Kagato's child form sitting on the throne, an intense look of concentration etched on his face. A quick look towards the viewscreen proved that somehow, in some way, Hibiki managed to escape. This was proven by the appearance of the combined Super Vandread, the culmination of all four Paeksis-infected machines from the Nirvana.

The Super Vandread successfully destroyed almost three quarters of the drone ships, and Kagato's displeasure on the fact was evident.

It was then at that moment that Ranma opted to make his presence known to the irate Harvest Master. "Seems to me like you're losing big-time, Kagato."

The diabolical master turned his head sharply to the side and saw the infuriating grin on Ranma's face. "Hmph. I haven't even shown them the secret of this ship. Observe, the true power of the Paeksis Core!" he declared as he pressed a big square button on his seat.

The Harvester Mothership shuddered ominously, and Ranma knew it wasn't good. He had to act soon, and thankfully he could feel the crystal's hold on his body slowly melting away. Not waiting to waste any more time, Ranma let out some of power. A bright corona of silver energy erupted from his body, which caused Kagato to be distracted from the spectacle of his ship's preparation for its final attack.

"What's this!" Kagato grunted as he felt the enormous amount of energy being emitted by the red-tailed hybrid he got trapped beside him. Kagato quickly stood from his seat and backed away, shielding his eyes from the harsh glare of Ranma's aura.

"Heh... it's time to end this..." Ranma chuckled as the red crystal surrounding his body exploded, freeing him from his worthwhile prison. Ranma's raven black hair turned red as his power continued to rise.

Kagato gaped as his former prisoner's demeanor became a lot more menacing, with an aura that created a crater from where he stood. He quickly banished the terror he felt and glared at the now red haired Ranma, "Damn you... how did you..."

Ranma brushed off the red dust that lingered on his chest armor and said, "Do you really think that Ryoko will allow you to go on doing what you want at her expense?"

"That bitch!" Kagato spat, "I changed my mind about you... I have to kill you now!" He lumbered to his Throne and pressed a switch that caused the gravity around Ranma's location to increase up to three hundred times that of Earth's.

Ranma didn't even flinch. He raised his hand and fired off a ki blast, which was stopped by Kagato's AT Field. Nonplussed, Ranma continued firing off shot after shot, but it was still not enough to breach Kagato's barrier.

The pale child quickly summoned whatever control of the Paeksis he had left to create red lances in mid air, and sent it straight for Ranma. The pigtailed hybrid twisted and twirled as he leapt into the air as well, firing off two ki blasts that destroyed a few errant crystal lances sent to impale him.

"You can't defeat me in my own turf!" Kagato crowed as he summoned more crystals, which were in turn destroyed by Ranma's ki blasts. "My new combined power, this field and my own Juraian powers, cannot be penetrated by mortal attacks!"

Heh, he might have a point there... Ranma thought, If that's the case then... He landed on the far side of the bridge opposite where Kagato was, and concentrated upon his power once more. If I can't breach it with ki only, then...

Kagato's eyes widened as his nemesis suddenly sprouted wings. Not just any normal wings, "The Light Hawk Wings!" he screamed, "But... how! Not only can you summon one, but EIGHT! WHO ARE YOU!"

Ranma shrugged as he flapped his massive translucent silver wings, "What can I say? I am my mother's son after all..." and with that, Ranma's reshaped Light Hawk Wings burst outward and broke into thousands of feathers, which remained hovering in mid air. With a smirk, Ranma gestured towards the immobilized Kagato and said, "Chaotic Symphony!"

Kagato had no time to scream when the Light Hawk feathers ripped his barrier apart, the unhindered ones exploded upon contact with his body. He coughed out blood as his battered body smashed against the wall of his ship.

The floating form of Ranma glowed bright silver once more as he stretched his right hand to his side. Several points all over his body glowed deep purple and flowed out of his outstretched hand. The purple motes of light reshaped themselves into a weapon Ranma had just reacquired.

"Masamune..." Ranma breathed calmly as he brought the extremely long katana near his face. He tasted the chaotic aura swirling madly all over the sword, and it made him feel good.

Ranma nodded to himself when he was satisfied with his scrutiny. "Let's go, Masamune..." he said as he slashed his weapon to the bridge's Throne.

The last vision Kagato had before he brought up his shield up once more was his beloved Throne decapitated by the longest and strangest looking sword he has ever seen.

And then, everything went white...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Everything lay still as they awaited for the outcome. Hibiki, Dita, Jura and Meia all held their breaths as they watched the clouds of hydro-induced fire flare against the darkness of space. The Super Vandread floated ways off from the explosion, almost getting caught in that wildfire that might've destroyed their already damaged robot.

They were deep in their fight with those duploids of their lower level combination outcomes when the Harvest Ship suddenly acted very strangely. At first, they all thought it was about to unleash something horrifying when it opened its front area to reveal the red Paeksis Plagma in all its glory, but then all of the sudden the movements died down.

It was silent for a few more minutes before a loud explosion rocked the Mothership, and nobody was really sure what caused it. The front area that opened a while ago blew up, and was now part of the debris that floated in space.

When the explosions veered off, the area cleared up and exposed some chunks of metal that was used to be the outer hull of the Earth Harvest main ship. Their hopeful looks died when the smoke disappeared completely, which exposed the badly damaged but still functional inner part of the ship. The dying hope in their faces turned fearful as red sphere of light flashed angrily from the broken down ship.

Ranma and Rin-Ohki were nowhere to be found.

("You... stupid... INSECTS!") Various communication speakers blared as the red light grew in volume.

"No..." Dita whispered in tears as she gazed at the miniature red death star in front of them. "He's still alive... and Mister Alien... he's gone..."

Meia suddenly turned from her seat, surprising the heck out of Dita, Hibiki and Jura. They were more surprised when they saw a handful of tears flowing down the face of the normally stoic leader of the Dread team. "Ranma is not dead!" She cried out vehemently, "Ranma can't die! He... he..."

Whatever she was going to say was halted when the screen blared again, showing the blurry image of a young boy struggling to sit up on his ruined Throne. It was the Earth Harvest Force leader. He was bleeding a bit on various lacerations all over his face, but the childish innocence usually found on children was lost to him as he sneered madly.

"It seems that I have to use it..." The spawn of Kagato snorted as his eyes gleamed red a moment before it returned to normal once again. "Obviously since you had the gall to go against me, instead of harvesting you, I will destroy you and your pitiful planets altogether! My Paeksis will swallow everything in this sector!"

Sure enough, the huge red ball that was exposed in the middle of the Harvest ship wreckage started to light up brighter, but everyone was quite surprised when it sputtered and slowly died down into a soft red glow. On the screen, the once smug face of leader of the Harvest slowly melted into a confused look as he saw his precious Paeksis lower its power levels, which was against his orders.

"What the hell is happening?" The pale young boy asked more to himself as he gazed at something on his seat.

A loud crackle echoed across the communications microwave. The noise was curiously ominous, which silenced most of the combatants on the field once again. The noises slowly gained coherence, and the cackles turned into a familiar voice.

("I will... ask you again... Kagato... you... you really think that... Ryoko will go with this... for so long?") The voice from the communications spouted. It was high-pitched, which caused a lot of activity in various space vessels that came to help the Nirvana fight off the Harvesters.

Washuu smirked at her place near the huge screen. The other women around her, save Vanilla and Emeralda were appalled a bit earlier by the redhead's seemingly nonchalant attitude when Ranma was caught in the explosion. The redhead spoke, her smile still plastered on her face, "Good to hear from you, Ranma-chan. I was a tad worried that you were too injured. You turned to female automatically?"

Another screen exposed itself on the already crowded main screen of the bridge, displaying the static covered feed from Rin-Ohki's smoking cockpit. A red haired Ranma with definite feminine assets emerged.

("Feh!") The other redhead snorted, her face distorted in a small grimace as red blood flowed down her forehead. Various cuts were visible all over her face, which were healing quite rapidly right before their very eyes. She said, ("As you can see... I turned female. Seems I misjudged the backlash of power that exploded when I destroyed the kid's throne. My fault entirely...")

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma..." Washuu shook her head in amusement. "Still having trouble with science? Let me explain it to you in simple terms then. We all know that the body would automatically shut itself down when injured to recover itself. That's what fainting and comas are for. The body shifts to reserve and bolster its energies to heal itself. But in your case, the body has found a loophole. Since you have an option of having a body with smaller mass that requires lesser energy, your body shifted to it and allow the excess energy from your being male to heal your body. Do you understand, Ranma-chan?"

Onna-Ranma rolled her eyes up her head cutely, an action that caused Vanilla and Emeralda to giggle. ("Alright, alright... not that it matters to me anymore anyway.")

"R-Ranma?" Magno asked tentatively, her eyes wide in surprise as she stared at the shocked face of the Harvest leader, who was gaping like a fish out of water as of the moment. It was shocking, yes, to find Ranma still alive after a huge HUGE explosion like that. "You're alive!" she finally asked what she wanted to know.

("Hello to you, too...") Onna-Ranma rasped as she slowly shifted back to male, not that he noticed himself changing back at will. Instead, his attention was riveted to the growing black hole that was caused by the remnants of the Paeksis that was still in Kagato's control. ("That doesn't look promising.")

"An understatement, Ranma-chan..." Washuu said wryly, "The Paeksis-induced black hole is gaining size by minutes, and probably within the next twenty-three minutes, the size and mass will be enough for it to engulf this entire system. And... what the... there's something charging up within the destroyed Mothership. It seems that she still has a lot of kick left in her before she croaks..."

Inside the cockpit of the Anima Seraphim, Ranma just has to sigh. He just had to many weird things going on around him right now to think about anything else. Especially that strange power up that seemed to be the mothership's final attack before it blows up. He could see the damaged Super Vandread that positioned itself between the destroyed Harvest ship and the Nirvana, in a vain attempt to shield everyone with its barrier again. But with the amount of hits it took earlier, it might not be enough to hold off the beam, and would probably end up killing everyone.

Ranma had no time to ponder some more because Rin-Ohki just meowed loudly in warning. The large cannon that seemed to have survived the destruction suddenly flared to life and fired off one last massive red beam. It was wide enough to engulf two thirds of the allied forces who fought against the Harvest fleet. The cannon finally collapsed into itself, but the beam has already been fired off.

Everything went in slow motion for the pigtailed hybrid as he assessed the situation in near light speed. His mind quickly filtered through the information pounded into him by everything he has gone through in his lifetime. As he saw it, there were two situations he needed to remedy.

One was taking care of the huge beam that would decimate most of the Talark, Mejer, and others' fleets, including Hibiki, Dita and their companions inside the Super Vandread. Second, he needed to go and stop the black hole generated by the last visages of control Kagato had on the red Paeksis Plagma.

"Rin-Ohki..." Ranma said in an urgent tone as he got his cabbit's attention. The silver-furred cabbit's face appeared on the viewscreen of his mech, with an inquiring look in her eyes.

"I need someone to generate a large enough shield to protect everyone in the fleet..." The pigtailed boy's eyes glowed as he spoke, which caused the cabbit to panic a bit, "There's no point in arguing! The only one I can trust to do this is YOU! Remember! There're still the others in the Nirvana! Vanilla-chan... Emeralda-chan... Lea-chan... Raven-chan... you need to protect them!"

"MIYAH! Miyah-mi-miyah!" The cabbit answered.

"I need to go and destroy that black hole, Rin-chan... and shut down this Paeksis, a mockery of Ryoko's power, for good as well..." Ranma said sadly as he tugged upon something within Rin-Ohki's systems. While Rin-Ohki has access to most of Ranma's mind, it worked in vice versa. Ranma knew Rin-Ohki inside out, since some of her was part of him, after all. As he tugged upon the strand he needed within Rin-Ohki's system, the cabbit yowled in shock as her consciousness was thrown back from the mech she used to wear as an armor. Her existence formed into a light blue ball, and was ejected from the mech towards the Nirvana. In effect, the Anima Seraphim's wings retracted into its back.

Ranma could feel the headache coming to him as he felt Rin-Ohki's angry yowls of protest in his head. "((I'm sorry, Rin-chan...))" He mentally sent to his partner, "((You haven't fully 'digested' the mech yet into yourself, so it's still separate from you. Pulling you two apart was easy... but I'm sorry that I betrayed your trust. It has to be done...))"

"((Now, Rin-Ohki... raise your barrier and block that beam with everything you've got! Help the Super Vandread to protect that fleet, do you understand!))" A soft mew was his answer, but it satisfied him, "((Good... now... to do my part. You can get angry at me later...))" and with those words, he manually piloted the Anima Seraphim.

The Anima Seraphim really hasn't changed much, even if Rin-Ohki haven't fully assimilated it, the change was profound enough for its systems to be upgraded to a very high degree. It has evolved from the meager Alpha Weltall form it initially has before assimilation into this behemoth. Yet for some reason, Ranma has no problems dealing with the piloting without Rin-Ohki. The mecha moved like it was his own body...

He shook off those thoughts for now, since his target was to nullify the Black Hole. Another reason why Ranma broke Rin-Ohki off from the Anime Seraphim was because there was a great chance that he may suffer a lot of injuries and damages from this maneuver. His plan was simple: to nullify the black hole, he has to fire another black hole into it. But in turn, he might get sucked into it...

But it was no time to contemplate of a new tactic. Already, the escape ship he saw Kagato used to flee was now nearing the location where the red Paeksis power core was located. It was miraculously spared from the destruction of the rest of the mothership, probably because it was the most fortified part of the ship.

Ranma saw into Kagato's plans. He wanted to flee with Ryoko's pod once again and hide to recover his strength. With Ryoko still with him, he could create a few hundred more Paeksis Plagma to use, and Ranma wasn't about to allow that anymore.

He willed the Anima Seraphim's arm to extend, its forearm armor snapped open to reveal twin gun nozzles. He fired off a few shots and hit Kagato's escape ship successfully. Ranma managed to knock Kagato's ship off course, right towards the black hole's direction.

Kagato's escape ship reversed its course in an attempt to flee, but it was too late. His ship was already caught in the black hole's Event Horizon.

"Heh... what an irony..." Ranma eyed the hapless ship as it swirled into the black hole's darkness. He sighed as he concentrated his power into the Anima Seraphim's systems, his red hair exploded from its pigtail as it elongated once again. The Light Hawk Wings made its appearance once again, but this time it extended on the outside of the mecha. Now, it seemed that the Anima Seraphim had eight gigantic spikes that jutted out of its back as wings.

"Fight fire with fire, huh..." The now red-haired hybrid mused to himself as he willed the Anima Seraphim's chest cavity to open.

"Black Hole Cluster... FIRE!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Magno Vivan of the Mejer Space Pirates has lived for at least a hundred years, but never in her long life has she seen something like this. The huge red beam that would've surely ended her life and her crew's has been blocked by Ranma's pet, who was now perched at the nose of her ship.

Before she even knew what was going on, everything has happened so quickly. After the beam has been deflected, she saw that the mecha Ranma has donned has started moving towards the source of the black hole. But she was confused, wasn't the little rabbit thing and that huge thing out there one and the same? But judging from how the scientist Washuu has been hopping up and down in her glee, it must've been something new.

When the Anima Seraphim sported new wings, Magno has been very sure she would die of heart attack. But she still hasn't, so she bore witness how the dark blue robot fired off another black hole into the first one.

The shockwave of the collision was the worst. It fried almost all of the Nirvana's system, and Magno was pretty certain the computer systems of her allies as well. Only Washuu's weird computer has survived the onslaught...

Right now the rest of Ranma's companions, Vanilla, Lea, Raven and Emeralda were gathered around the red haired scientist. Magno saw they were quite distressed, probably about Ranma, but right now she was quite worried about her own crew members, as well as Dita and the rest who were fighting outside.

Imagine her surprise when she saw that blue tendrils of crystal has burst forth from her own ship, the Nirvana, and was now 'holding' the battered Super Vandread and the small cabbit Rin-Ohki in separate blue spheres. It would seem that the Nirvana has protected them from the shockwave that would've destroyed them, especially with the Super Vandread's condition.

Magno sighed as she leaned on her seat. All she can do now was wait for communications to return...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

When Ranma opened his eyes, he hasn't really expected to have a perfect view of the Event Horizon up close, but he did. The dying black hole spun faster as it slowly dissolved into itself, but it was now taking him within it. He also took note that he was now in his child form, male though, and was hurting like hell.

Typical. Feh.

Ranma tried to establish contact with the Nirvana, but it would seem that communications from his position was impossible. Although...

He gestured to the air and summoned his translucent computer, a culmination of Washuu's genius passed down unto him, and activated it. His gamble has been rewarded when his computer has detected a certain distinct signal unique of Washuu's terminal trying to contact his own.

Contact was made.

("RANMA-SAMA!") Lea's distressed voice echoed within the cockpit. Ranma had to wince from the tone. He knew he was in bad shape, from summoning so much power within the short span of time then pulling this off, his power was almost depleted. He barely has enough to keep himself from keeling over.

("Move over!") Ranma recognized Washuu's commanding voice as Lea's face was shoved off the screen. She quickly took stock of Ranma's situation, ("How are you? Are you all right?")

Ranma chuckled painfully and blood trailed down the side of his mouth. "Maybe. Dunno. Ask me tomorrow." He shifted in his seat. "Truthfully, I can barely move."

("Ranma-chan...") Washuu sighed, ("How, no, WHY did you separate Rin-Ohki from your mecha?")

Ranma smirked slightly, "No way in hell am I gonna let her get involved in this crazy plan of mine. Besides, you need her to find me..."

Washuu's face adopted a lost look, a first in Ranma's eyes. ("Find you? Ranma-chan... what are you...")

"Washuu..." Ranma intoned seriously, "I don't think... no, I'm sure... I can't go back. I can't escape the event horizon."

("NOOO!") Ranma grimaced when Raven, who was currently in her angelic form, shoved Washuu from the screen, ("I think I can save you! I'll just teleport you here... then... then...!")

Ranma shook his head slowly. "No... I of all people know of your limitations, Raven. The distance is too great, and if you come near my position, you'll be sucked in too. Thanks for the offer but no, don't even think of trying it."

When Raven turned dejectedly from the screen, Vanilla's formerly impassive face appeared in its place, and was now wrenched in worry. An expression that brought Ranma a lot of pain in his heart, for it looked so foreign upon the pale-skinned red-eyed girl's face.

("Ranma-sama... I...") The light blue-green haired girl began, but she faltered.

"Vanilla..." Ranma took charge of the conversation, "Keep the other girls together for me, will you? Keep them from fighting one another too much... and also, find me soon, okay? I might get lonely... heh..."

Vanilla nodded curtly, her red eyes grew moist as she stared at him longingly. She quickly turned and vanished from the screen, which was now occupied by a young woman with dark skin and light green hair.

"Emeralda..." Ranma whispered.

Emeralda reached towards the screen, as if to caress his face, ("I believe Ranma-sama will not die from a black hole. I will believe...")

Ranma inclined his head, "Well, that's good, coz I'm NOT gonna die from this black hole."

When Lea's face appeared on the screen, the burden in Ranma's heart grew heavier. Her usually casual and calm face was now flooded with tears, all because of his bull-headedness once again. But Ranma knew he had to do it, or everyone will die from that black hole.

("Damn you, you stupid, arrogant, selfish...") Lea couldn't finish as more tears spilled from her eyes.

"I'm... I'm sorry Lea, everyone..." Ranma said softly, his own eyes burned with tears, "I... I really don't know how to act in this situation. I'm not really good at emotions. I'm selfish... I'm arrogant... I'm stupid... I'm a horrible person, for making you cry like this."

("R-Ranma-sama...")

"It's probably the first time I'm put in this situation..." Ranma continued, as his gaze focused on the black miasma that was slowly, but surely devouring him, "I usually end up having to save other people. I... when I'm put in a situation where I have to be saved, I'm not sure how to act. I'm sorry for this..."

("You will not die...") Lea said in a badly shaken voice, ("We will find you again... I swear...")

Ranma huffed, "I trust you'll do just that. And in return, I'll promise I won't let myself die in this stupid vortex. I... lemme say this just once, everyone... please... save me soon..."

("Hai... Ranma-sama...")

The pigtailed hybrid nodded just as Lea's face was replaced by Washuu's again.

"Washuu... Ryoko... find Ryoko's cryo-pod..." Ranma's statement drew a surprised look from Washuu, nonetheless Ranma continued, "I can feel her at the back of my head, floating somewhere in the debris. Kagato didn't kill her for her power, rather he used her as a battery."

("Little Ryoko... she's alive...") Washuu breathed, then her expression changed into apprehension as she looked hesitantly towards him, ("Uhm, Ranma-chan...")

Ranma grinned as he said, "Saw my daughter... Ranko... heh heh... so pretty..." his eyes slowly closed, as his connection with Washuu slowly got weaker and weaker until finally... only static remained. His hand fell limp to his side...

Several female screams can be heard all over the Nirvana as the communication line was cut.

It was then that the Anima Seraphim was completely devoured by the dying black hole as it closed into itself.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Nifelheim...

In the office of the Lord of Nightmares, Hild was currently typing in her computer. Rather, erasing certain files...

"Finally free..." Hild breathed to herself as she finally shut down her terminal, for good.

The realm of Nifelheim suffered a bit of a power surge for a few seconds, before it stabilized once again. Most of those who took residency in the place ignored it.

A knock on her office's door disturbed her from the task she was doing. She looked up from observing her terminal and stated, "Come in."

The door slowly opened, and a young woman entered her domain. A familiar blonde haired woman with slash marks on her face and cheeks. Her skin was dark tanned, and wore an outfit considered indecent in mortal society.

"What is it, Mara-chan?" Hild asked curiously. She hasn't recalled calling for the demoness to her office lately, especially at this time.

The demoness named Mara swallowed noisily as she asked, "Hild-sama... what... what's happening?"

The Lord of Nightmares quirked an eyebrow. "Why do you think something is going on?"

"The energy surge a few minutes ago..." Mara explained cautiously, "Normal citizens of Nifelheim will just ignore that. We demons with special designation will wonder though, since that only happens when there's a big virus in the System, or..."

"Or... I myself did something with it?" Hild asked cheerfully. When she saw Mara nod, she smirked, "Very astute observation, Mara-chan. So what if I DID do something with the stupid System? What will you do?"

"Bu-But Hild-sama!" Mara asked desperately, "I do not understand! We NEED that System! It keeps Nifelheim running smoothly..." her face scrunched up into a frown, "... and also Heaven!"

Hild nodded. "And that's exactly the problem. Too mundane. Too predictable. Bah... in the old days, no such Systems exist. The beings scattered in the Universe had to live according to what they perceive is right. Don't you think that's the correct way to exist, Mara-chan? Instead of being... subjected by a higher being in a path paved for them?"

"What about us?" Mara stared at her 'boss' intently, "What... what will happen to us when the System is gone someday?"

The Lord of Nightmares pouted and shrugged. "Learn to stand up on your own." With a swift chop, she smashed her computer terminal into pieces. Hild then threw a flying kiss towards the catatonic Mara, who gazed at her in horror.

"Time to go, Mara-chan..." Hild stood up and patted her body suit down, "I'm off to meet my husband. I'm off to meet my Chaos."

Hild was already long gone when the other demons found Mara inside the office, still rooted in her place ever since.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In an unidentified universe...

There was a version of Earth where mutated wildlife was found. Various plants, animals and such gained particular powers, and were eventually used as pawns in gaming purposes.

They were cute. They were powerful. They were known as... Pokemon.

In short of the word Pocket Monsters, these creatures can be 'captured' using specialized balls that transports the pokemons in a temporary subspace within the ball itself. A scientific breakthrough for humans, but a pain for the evolved wildlife...

In a particular day, a couple of these Pokemons were currently on the run from a lot of Pokemon hunters in their world. The reason was they were two of the most valuable and prized pokemons in their world.

One of the pokemons was cat-like in looks, and has the power of levitation at hand. It can also make itself invisible at will. But these powers weren't even near its limit... it has a mysterious power in the form of telekinesis, as well as psychic powers. It can also mimic every and known attacks of every pokemon in that world. This pink colored cat-like pokemon was the only one of its kind, and was known as the legendary source of the pokemons in their world. It was said that it has all the genes of all pokemon in the world, therefore the prize for its capture was exponentially high. Not only that, but the prestige and recognition it brings to the one who captures it, as well as the power this pokemon possessed will give an utmost advantage to its captor.

Such is the power of the Mew, the Pokemon of Genesis.

Its companion was a green pokemon with pixie-like features. It was said that this pokemon came from the future, and was able to time travel. It was a psychic plant pokemon legendary for its powers of healing. It was said that when this pokemon appears, a good day was sure to come. Not much was known about this pokemon, since it constantly flits from one timeline to another, in search for great pokemon trainers.

Meet the Time Traveling pokemon named Celebi.

The duo of powerful pokemons were currently flying through a thick forest, in hopes of losing their pursuers. But alas, their pursuers were much more persistent that the other hunters that came after them. They were actually foraging for berries along the lake just beyond the Hoenn region of the Earth in that universe, until they were spotted by a few pokemon enthusiasts. When they returned to forage for more food, the hunters were already waiting for their appearance.

Mew was especially reluctant to be caught by any pokemon trainer. The last time she was captured, she was experimented upon by the scientists in that world. Not only that, but they also tried to clone her. The outcome was a tainted clone named Mewtwo, who while powerful became a bit uncontrollable. In the end, Mewtwo escaped, with a vow to create a world for pokemons only.

Celebi suddenly signaled his companion to stop in a small clearing, since he felt the presences of another large group in the direction they were going. Mew also felt it, as well as the two other groups that now surrounded their location.

"((I am not going to be caught again!))" Mew told her companion telepathically. Her previous fears of captivity gave her the paranoia that was quite justified in her situation.

Celebi nodded slightly. "((I know that, but what can we do?))" he sent back.

Mew grunted in disgust. "((The only thing we can do... teleport.))"

The green pixie of a pokemon glanced at Mew, "((But... we don't know how it will affect the teleport! We don't know what will happen if my temporal powers mixed with yours...))"

"((I am not going to allow myself to be captured!))" Mew said mentally in defiance.

When Celebi saw the determined look on his companion's face, he sighed. "((Then... we shall risk it?))"

Mew nodded. "((Better be lost in whatever dimension than be caught by these lunatics again!))"

Celebi sighed morosely, as he started glowing. "((Then... it shall be done...))"

The pink cat-like pokemon snorted as she herself glowed. Lightning began to appear in the area as the sky darkened in the mixture of their powers. When their psychic connection finally synchronized with one another, they shot a burst of combined psychic force into the space in front of them.

The resulting black swirling portal was a blessing to them. Maybe.

"((I do not know where this will lead to...))" Celebi said hesitantly, as he glanced at the doorway in trepidation.

Mew flew towards the portal. "((I will not be caught again.))" was all she said, before she was swallowed by the portal.

Silence reigned in the clearing as Celebi stared at the portal. A small smile appeared on his face as he watched Mew disappear into the portal. "((I expected you to say that, my friend. But I'm sorry, I will not accompany you.))"

The green pokemon shot of another psychic blast towards the portal, which forced it to close abruptly. Celebi nodded to himself in satisfaction, "((I knew this was going to happen. It wasn't a coincidence that we met a while ago. In another timeline, you got caught and was used for more horrifying experiments much worse than you experienced before. But this time... I will let you live and find your own path in life. Such, is free will...))"

Celebi took one glance at where the portal appeared a while ago, before he vanished without noise.

When the hunters reached the clearing, there was no evidence of both pokemons in the area.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In another universe...

Mew squealed as she popped out of the portal she went into a while ago. The interference of her psychic energy created by the portal caused her to lose levitation momentarily. She crashed into the ground, hard.

When she opened her blue eyes and focused on her surroundings, she was terrified when a large black dog-like creature appeared in front of her. Mew wondered where Celebi was, but the thought vanished when the creature growled and leapt to finish her off. Mew tried to will her psychic powers to work, but they were still offline.

Just as the monster was about to make short work of her, a shadow appeared between her and the airborne monster. A slash of a weapon against the wind, followed by a yelp was all she heard, before she saw the creature crash down back on land in two halves. The carcass vanished in a puff of smoke.

The shadow turned out to be a person, a young boy in fact. He was dressed in a dark cloak with an oversized collar, and when he turned towards her she saw that he wore a simple dark blue sleeveless shirt with dark blue pants. His hair was raven black, and was let loose down his back that had it look like a giant porcupine's head because of its spiky features. A black bandanna was tied around his forehead, and dark glasses covered his eyes. His hands were covered in fingerless gloves, and his wrists were clamped with black bracers. In his right hand, the longest curved sword she has ever seen in her existence was seen.

Mew wanted nothing more to do with the human boy, but as he stepped forward, she felt no power in her body. She waited for her to be captured, but instead the boy picked her up with great care.

"Are you all right, little one?" She heard the boy ask. When her eyes made contact with his own through the dark glasses, some of her psychic powers returned. A jolt of a connection was established between the two.

Mew couldn't describe the feeling she got from the boy. Even with his physical looks, his maturity level was beyond staggering. But his mind was a bit damaged, by some accident of some sort.

"Mew, mew..." she tried to make him understand... but she held no hope of communication. It was understandably surprising for her when she heard her rescuer answer.

"I see... your name's Mew. My name is Zack. Will you let me take care of you? Don't worry... we'll get you fixed up in no time!" The boy smiled at her.

Mew felt her heart pound faster as she gazed at the boy who had her in his arms. She let out a small "Mew..." before she finally fell unconscious.

But Mew already knew... that she was in safe hands.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the universe where Ranma disappeared from...

A few hours after the black hole collapsed into nothing, Washuu has sifted through the Harvest Mothership's debris. She finally found what Ranma has told her all about before he disappeared into the void...

Ryoko's cryo-pod.

It was in near perfect condition, untouched throughout the years...

When Washuu finally broke through the last security program needed to unlock the retrieved escape pod, a loud and long hiss emanated from the chamber as the capsule's surface snapped open. A long silence followed, only the sound of the beeping computers were heard. Suddenly, a gasp pierced the awkward silence that enveloped the scene, as well as a wail of a baby. Washuu quickly reached for the pod, just in time to see a hand which grabbed the side of the chamber.

"RANMAAAAA!" A female's heart-wrenching cry echoed all over the Nirvana's medical room...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Cue Ending Theme Song "AGAPE" from UFO Princess Warukyure

NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:

Heh... where the heck did Ranma go?

Ah! Amnesia!

A meeting with a mild-mannered brown haired girl. What's this? She has gems on her forehead too?

And what's with the pink floating cat?

AUTHOR RANTS:

Ahem. Yes. Here we are. After a long absence, I'm back.

So why did I take so long? Did a few rewrites on past chapters, changed some info to correlate my Tenchi Muyo info into Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki! series.

Also, I had to function along with society one way or another. Meaning, I still had to talk to my friends, work, eat, sleep...

Anyway, the major distraction was the Game Boy Advance games, but they gave me a whole lotta ideas.

Besides, I'm dealing with time travel here, temporal mechanics, alternate worlds, and multiple crossovers. Give me some time to make sure my info is correct.

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Evangelion Cameos - Gundam Cameos - Vandread 2nd Stage - Evil Zone (Ihadurca)  
- Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki!  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Pokemon

Again, someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migraine she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'real time'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the siege of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land) are few of the worlds Ranma encountered in this dimension. And certainly not the last.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

But as time went on, it was revealed that another one who bore the gems of power was Luna Inverse.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	21. Chapter 9a

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... Arc 1's done. Almost. Sorry, cut off point... originally Chapter 9 is one big chapter. But it got TOO big to stay as one.

For rather important keypoints for this chapter, read what I wrote at the bottom. Waaay bottom. The label 'IMPORTANT NOTES' might help.

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

To my significant other, Lady Ayame... this is for us!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

CHAPTER 9A - THE UNIVERSE OF ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, INTRO...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Heaven, Kami-sama's office...

The Lord of All, Deus, was currently nursing his aching head as he stared at the mess known as his computer.

Just a few moments ago, a message came into the Yggdrasil system that went straight to his terminal. It was from Hild's office, and it wasn't a good news. It was one of the worst...

Hild has left Nifelheim completely. She even went as far as shutting down her own terminal and switched Nifelheim into the back-up system from the Yggdrasil network.

As of the moment, the residents that occupied Nifelheim still had no idea what happened. They lived on with their lives, without knowing that their leader has left them.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Darkness...

Somehow this all felt familiar to him, but...

Why was he here? What happened to him? He felt his body lying on a hardened surface, and for some reason he was aching all over. Were his eyes closed? He opened them, and immediately closed them again as the harsh glare from the sun blinded him momentarily.

After a moment he tried again and opened his eyes. Sure enough, this time his eyes quickly adjusted to the light. It seemed that he was out of it for a long time, and who were those people looking at him from that cliff?

Cliff? He blinked when he looked around him. No, not a cliff... he was in the middle of a large crater on the ground. Did he do this? What happened to him? Why was everything in his mind all fuzzy-like? Why can't he remember...?

"A-Are you okay down there?" An elderly woman called out to him from the... surface, ignoring her companions' as they hushed her to silence.

He groaned slightly as he sat up, surprised that his body's pain was already almost gone. The pain he felt earlier was only a faint ache as of the moment. Looking up towards the old woman who asked him the question, he answered, "I'm okay. But can I ask you something?"

"What is it, child?" The elderly woman flashed him a hesitant smile.

((Child?)) He thought to himself as he looked down. ((Well I'll be damned, I am a kid. But why do I think like... anyway, better ignore that for now.)) Looking up once again, he asked, "What happened to me, and where am I?"

The people that circled around the outer ridges of the crater he made looked at him incredulously.

The old woman frowned slightly. "You don't remember? We were quite surprised when a small shooting star suddenly plummeted into the ground without any warning. Imagine our surprise when we saw a little boy in the crater!"

"I don't remember..." The boy sighed sorrowfully, carefully standing up shakily with his weakened legs. He stood up wobbly at first, but after a few moments he got used to it and finally hopped a little to test his feet. Suddenly, his eyes widened when he realized something. "No... I can't even remember my name!"

"Amnesia..." The old woman said loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Oh great. I'm in the middle of nowhere without any memories whatsoever. Just peachy." The boy half-whined as he smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. For some reason, he felt that whining was not... manly. But he mentally shrugged the feeling off as a fluke. "Good thing I still remember how to talk and stuff..." the boy added wryly.

The old woman giggled. "Well child, we could just listen in to any gossip about any lost boys reported from the other towns. Meanwhile, you can stay here as long as you want. The town may not look like much, but you'd definitely be fed here. Of course, you should work as well for your food."

The boy, who's age was about seven years of age, was about to turn down the offer when his stomach growled loudly, causing him to duck his head slightly in embarrassment. With a slightly somber voice, he replied, "I think I'll take you up to that offer, ma'am."

The kindly old woman smiled as she clapped her hands once, but then adopted a contemplating look as she asked, "By the way, what should we call you? We can't call you 'Boy' forever, you know."

The boy snorted. "Of course not. Hmmm... maybe... Zack will do."

"Huh? Why Zack?" A younger man on the other side of the crater asked.

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno... probably because this situation 'sucks'... get it?"

The people around the area groaned in disgust.

"Bad pun, kid... a really bad pun." The old man beside the old woman shook his head.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In short, Zack Gray was taken into the quaint village called Gongaga. He tried to leave a few times earlier, but he eventually relented when he learned that the couple who took care of him were barren and unable to have their own child. Zack stopped trying to run after he learned that small tidbit from the village mayor. He hid his... unusual body appendages, such as the long and thick red furry tail that ended up wrapped around his waist most of the time, and his weird eyes as well. Good thing he found those weird black glasses thingie in the pockets of his tattered clothes.

For the next few years, Zack helped in toiling the ground and planting seeds that would be harvested in the near future as food. He also helped in gathering important stuff that could be scavenged from the nearby junkyard with a large metal satellite dish that was half-buried in the rubble.

There was a time in his life that was so important, his legendary meeting with his 'partner', Mew. Mew was, simply put, a flying pink cat. Although, she doesn't talk really well, since all that she can say was 'Mew' most of the time. Most of the people in the village knew though, that Zack and Mew shared a bond at a telepathic level.

Zack was around ten years of age when he chanced upon an ailing Mew, while he was out hunting in the forest near Gongaga. Mew was being attacked by a large wolf, one that was easily dispatched by Zack. Speaking of fighting, Zack discovered that he was able to pull some things out of nowhere, but one particular item that stuck out from the rest was this freakingishly long katana that was almost three times his height.

He would've looked so cool as he wove the sword expertly, with little signs of difficulty in handling it. For some reason, Zack felt the sword was like a part of him. He managed to pull out Mew from the tight situation with the help of his intimidating weapon. He even thought up of a name for it... Masamune...

After nursing the pink flying kitty back to good health, she stuck with him like glue. She was apparently a telepathic being called Pokemon... not that he knew anything about it. Other than the mewling sound she made when she tried to talk, she made no other noise. Her name came from the sounds she made, Mew, and she was quite talented. Not only can she actually 'talk' with him through his mind, Mew has these weird attacks that she used to defend herself. She can also transform into various forms, such as other animals she has seen, and some other type of forms she has before she came to this world. One of her most valuable powers was her ability to become invisible at will, as to which Zack found to be really cool.

She explained how she came to the predicament she was in when Zack found her, and she has no idea how to go back to her world, nor does she ever wanted to.

Mew was rarely seen by other people, occasionally popping out only to rest her powers or when Zack was out with her hunting in the forest. Otherwise, she remained hidden, as she hung on Zack's back like a baby.

Zack learned later that the Shin-Ra Corporation, a group responsible for scientific research breakthroughs and the advanced technology that was scattered all over the world, had built that tower.

It was when he was physically around nine years of age that his life underwent a whirlwind of change, when a couple of newcomers entered their small and quaint town. They were a pair of worn out travelers, both female. One of which was an adult, while the other was a girl that seemed to be a bit younger than he was.

The elder of Gongaga welcomed the pair wholeheartedly. Such is the pride of the village, whose main principle was to welcome everyone from all walks of life with open arms into the village.

Zack learned that the older woman's name was Elmyra Gainsborough, and the young girl was Aerith Gainsborough. They were offered rooms in the quaint inn the village has inside it, one which Elmyra happily took.

A day after the family of two arrived in the village, they finally managed to settle down into the routine. Elmyra has taken a job of toiling in the fields, as well as washing clothes for the workers of the village. The young girl, Aerith, usually stayed close to her adult companion. The day after though, Elmyra pushed the small girl to play outside, with the other kids from the village.

It was a bit later that Zack learned the true nature of their relationship. Aerith was somewhat an orphan, and was given to Elmyra's care by a dying woman named Ifalna.

Zack and Aerith's first meeting was... a rather very meaningful one for the both of them...

"Look! It's the new girl!" A boy Zack knew pointed at the seemingly jumpy girl who stayed near the garden of the hotel. He and the rest of the children played tag amongst themselves. Zack, however, boredly watched the group of children from his perch on one of the trees in the middle of the town. He glanced towards the direction where the boy pointed.

"Leave her alone... she's kinda weird! She talks to the plants and stuff!" A girl said conspiratorially as she pulled the rest of her companions into the game.

Zack snorted as he leapt down the tree he was on. He quickly shot down the kids' invitation to their game. He'd rather do chores than to play with them. He's too fast and strong for anyone anyway, so why bother? Mew agreed with him wholeheartedly, not that she usually disagreed with him. He glanced back once again towards where Aerith was sitting with her lonesome, tending the flowers with great care.

The girl was a few inches short of his height. Her hair was light brown in color, and its length reached her posterior. There was a ribbon somewhere, which had a bright white gem in the middle of the red thread that held the ribbon together. She wore a modest pink dress, and her forehead was covered with a matching light pink bandanna.

With a shrug, the young boy strutted to where the girl was, and leaned unto the simple wooden fence that protected the flower bed from stray animals. Mew was invisible as she floated just above the side of his head. The smaller girl hasn't noticed Zack's presence yet.

Zack noticed the change in the vibrancy of the flowers from two days ago, when they were already on the verge of wilting. He smelled the soft and tantalizing aroma coming from the flowers and couldn't help but comment, "Hmmm... nice flowers..."

Aerith squeaked in fright as she stood and turned around, eyeing Zack with her wide bluish eyes. She hadn't noticed the boy's presence, and she was wary of the dark glasses that stared right back at her.

The boy has a bigger build than the rest of the boys in the village, but she knew that he was only a few years older than her. He wore a dark vest and dark pants over his tight-fitting body suit, which was tied by a red sash at the midsection. His hair was spiky and unruly, and was raven-black in color, and his eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses. His hands were covered by a pair of white fingerless gloves, and his forehead was covered with a simple dark red bandanna. His arms had prominent black bracers, and around his neck was a solid black choker. She flinched back when the boy bent down and caressed the flowers she was weeding a while ago.

The boy ignored her flinch as he said, "These flowers were dying a few days ago, but now they're alive again. You and your mom took care of them really well!"

The brown haired girl straightened up a bit, her face showing a small expression of shock on it. Hesitantly, she replied, "T-Thank y-you..."

"Zack..." The boy said, looking up to the girl's blue eyes, "My name's Zack Gray."

"Uhmm..." The girl whispered, stuttering, "I-I'm... A-Aerith G-Gainsborough..."

The older boy nodded, "Uh-huh... I know. Heard about it from the kids around. They say some things about you, like how you're weird and all that." Zack took note of the noticeable slumping of the girl's shoulders, and he knew its cause.

He quickly but smoothly amended, "Not that I listen to them, of course..." It was true. He never did listen to them.

"They used to say that about me some time ago..." Zack smirked at the memories of those kids who used to pick on him a whole while back. They were a bit of grown-ups now, but they used to 'try' and kick him around back when he was new to the village. Of course, because of his unusual strength, he took care of that pretty nicely by grinding a few stones into dust.

The girl, Aerith, remained silent, as she watched the plants intently.

"Heh... you have nice healing powers... without the aid of a Materia to do it, too!" Zack chuckled.

"P-Please..." Aerith whispered urgently, fidgeting as she continued, "Not so loud..."

Zack cocked his head to one side, eyeing Aerith incredulously, "You shouldn't be ashamed of that! I mean, at least your ability can help people..." He lifted one of his fists to his face, continuing, "I can only destroy with these fists. I don't even understand how I got to be this strong."

When the girl didn't say anything, he rambled on, "You shouldn't be afraid of your gifts."

"Bad men..." Aerith began, "Bad men hurt my real mommy and daddy and me. The man in the white coat... he hurt my daddy real bad. Then... he had me and momma trapped in his lab... then his tests... we escaped though. Momma got really weak after the experiments, but she was able to give me to Elmyra-mama."

((Oh... so that's it...)) Zack thought sadly. He had a brief pang of memory that featured a scene of him fighting faceless people. He tried to reason with them, but he was ignored and was attacked relentlessly. His vision ended with that.

Shaking himself out of those thoughts, he patted the girl's head lightly, almost making Aerith leap out of the way. "Don't worry 'bout it..." he muttered, "I won't let anything happen to you."

"But..." Aerith began, "But... you might get hurt!"

Zack gave her a lopsided grin, "I can take care of myself, don't worry."

Aerith saw the determination in the boy's facial features. She could feel a great sense of... something when she's with him.

Zack suddenly straightened his posture as an expression of determination shadowed his features. "Wanna see something weird?"

Without waiting for a response, Zack quickly unwrapped the red sash over his waist and glanced at the wide-eyed Aerith with a grin. He sent his tail flapping in front of the girl, which caused her to gasp and squeal slightly in surprise.

"Heh... now you understand that your secret ain't that weird compared to mine..." Zack stated as he waited for the girl to respond. And boy, what a response.

"T-Tail!" Aerith whispered. Instead of backing away in fear, she reached up to Zack's appendage and stroked it lightly, "Soft... and warm!"

The young boy grinned. "Pretty cool, huh?" he shivered slightly at Aerith's touch. When she saw this, she got nervous and she retracted her hands primly in front of her.

"S-Sorry..." Aerith said softly as her face burned with her embarrassment.

Zack shook his head as he replaced the red sash to cover his tail, "Don't worry 'bout it. It's kinda sensitive... in fact, it felt rather good when you stroke it like that." When he finished tying the sash, he continued, "Now do you understand? Don't worry 'bout what other people say. I don't mind it when they do it with me."

Aerith looked up to Zack, her eyes shone with unshed tears, "Thank you, Zack..."

"It's just fair..." The boy said airily, "Since I know your secret, that you'd know my secret too. Besides, it feels pretty good knowing that someone else knows my secret, someone I trust..."

Aerith blushed harder at this, "But... we just met..."

Zack shrugged, "Yes, but it doesn't mean I trust you any less. I can't explain it but... we have a connection."

What can she say about that? She could only nod as she ducked her head lower.

Zack smiled softly. "Oh, and Aerith... I want you to meet someone..."

And here, Aerith met Mew. This was the start of a beautiful relationship.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After that, for so many months, Zack and Aerith has been together. Usually, they sat in the middle of the flower bed outside the village, just gazing at the clouds in the sky. Mew chose these times to appear without any fear, and has bonded with Aerith quite well. Surprisingly, Mew talked to Aerith telepathically just as much as she did with her 'master' Zack. The two humans and their mutual usually invisible friend became quite inseparable, which caused Zack's guardians and Aerith's lone 'parent' to smile when they see the two together.

The kind brown-haired girl was still subjected to being avoided by the other kids of the village, but she wasn't as concerned about it as she had been before. Now, Zack usually stayed by her side, as well as Mew. She felt that she doesn't need anything more...

Until one day, when Zack and the other kids decided to get out of the village to find some big-paying jobs. The village suffered a food shortage, and for them to receive some help from Midgar, they needed some money to compensate. To Aerith's and Elmyra's dismay, the kids that went out of the village were found by Shin-Ra. After being offered by high-paying jobs, they had no choice but to apply. Zack was fifteen years of age at the time. Aerith was placated a bit however when Mew vowed to her that she will look after their beloved Zack.

There were actually seven kids who had gone into Shin-Ra, and only one of them managed to come back after two years. Now around eighteen years of age (at least, since he was found) Zack returned to the village for the first time since his enlistment, with Mew on tow.

Aerith was waiting for them, since Zack's letter has arrived for her that stated the date of their return. He was a whole lot taller, and he still had his dark-tinted glasses around his eyes. Aerith had already seen his weird eyes, and while she wasn't bothered by them, the public might think otherwise. Besides, it was like a secret thing for the both of them. When she finally saw him walking through the gates, she abandoned any form of decency as she ran into his arms. She dismissed the cold feel of his armor given to him as standard issue by Shin-Ra for their soldiers, as well as the pair of big swords strapped on his back.

One she recognized was Zack's personal sword, one that was seldom seen by anyone. The beautiful katana has a very long blade, at least the same height as Zack. The blade in itself was mysterious, the dark color it emitted seemed to suck out the light around it. The mysterious Masamune, the sword that has been with Zack ever since he awoke in this world. He had no idea where he got it, but it appeared whenever he wanted to. Sometimes, he just let it out beside his other blade.

Zack's other sword was of a different design. This one was made by Zack himself, his first smith job. It was still extremely large for a normal man or woman to wield, but Zack has always been strong. This blade was called the Buster Sword. Compared to the Masamune, the Buster Sword was shorter. But its blade was wider than any other sword available in the world. It was one of the reasons why its weight was ludicrous, and as of present only Zack was able to use it effectively.

Aerith's ruminations were halted when she felt Mew's mental tug in her mind that she was nearby as well, and gave a silent nod in acknowledgement.

"I missed you SO much..." Aerith whispered into Zack's ear, as she tried to crush him within her embrace. It was a futile effort, as her arms just barely managed to encircle her boyfriend's torso.

After that searing kiss she gave him during her thirteenth birthday, she pretty much staked her claim on the young man. Not that Zack complained or anything. It DID escalate her isolation from the rest of her should-be peer group in the village though, especially from the ladies...

Zack had a LOT of lady admirers. Go figure.

Zack let the young girl hug him. She grew up into quite a woman in his eyes. Her body was now more pronounced as her curves showed with her semi-tight outfit. Her forehead was wrapped in a pink bandanna, which contrasted his own black bandanna. It was around five months after they first met that she entrusted her secrets to him, as he did with his own secrets to her. Weird enough, she had a trio of gems on her forehead like him, but it was much more of a dark purple in color. It was a mystery that neither of them had answered as of yet. "I missed you too, Aerith... and damn, you grew up pretty well..." he whispered with a lot of emotions laced in his hoarse voice.

It would seem that she almost forgot that there were other people waiting for their loved ones that hung around the gates, and were currently watching them with amusement. It was no secret that the quiet and timid young girl who arrived all those years ago was literally joined to the hip with Zack. The other teenagers of the village may have accepted most of Aerith's strange quirks and powers, but she was attached only to Zack.

The female teenager blushed hotly. "Speak for yourself..." her voice was muffled against his chest, "You've grown as well..."

"Mew!" The pink floating cat finally materialized right just beside Aerith's face, her tail curled with glee. The platinum brown-haired girl smiled against Zack's chest as she absently reached her right hand to where she thought was Mew's position. She brushed upon Mew's head, much to the delight of Zack's partner. She cupped her hand towards the approximate area where the invisible Mew floated and whispered something that Zack wasn't able to catch. For some reason, Mew's link with him in his mind grew agitated for a moment, before it cut itself off. He also felt Mew's presence in the area fade as well.

"What the... Mew?" Zack asked in confusion as he tried to scan for his partner, but to no avail.

Aerith grabbed his hand and caught his attention. "It's all right, I just sent her somewhere. I wanted her to leave us alone for a few hours."

The newly recruited SOLDIER for Shin-Ra cocked his head to one side. "Huh? What for?" he scratched his head for a moment.

The brown haired girl just smiled at his question, with no reply from her lips. Instead, she pulled Zack's hand into her own as she raced out of the crowded gates of Gongaga.

Aerith surprised the homecoming soldier when she pulled him towards somewhere like he weighed nothing. Zack wasn't able to do anything but follow like a leashed doggie. When Zack finally got his bearings in check, he found that Aerith had dragged him to her home, one of which she gleefully informed him of Auntie Elmyra's sudden trip to the planting fields on the other side of the village for the whole day. This, of course, effectively meant that they were left alone, unchecked.

Zack big sweated when Aerith giggled evilly, which was totally out of character for the gentle girl. He was not able to do anything more as she pulled him into the house. He did try to point out that he needed to say hello to his adopted parents first, but Aerith mentioned that they had given her the go signal of taking Zack home first.

No Mew, no parent, just the two of them in the house...

The events that followed was a consummation of love between them, with Zack albeit reluctant in the beginning. An application of Aerith's special puppy dog face totally demolished Zack's self control.

It was a... VERY passionate night for them. It would seem that the neighbors had the foreknowledge of buying earplugs for that night. It was probably because of the determined look Aerith had on her face when she was purchasing all those scented candles from the village curio shop.

Ah, young love.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Zack spent the whole two weeks of his vacation with Aerith as much as he can. Although sometimes, he helped with some of the work left undone in the village as well. He also participated in a few hunting parties, and went home with his shares of the game. His adoptive parents were very understandable when he spent much of his time with Aerith and Elmyra Gainsborough.

Mew reappeared the day after the first night Zack came back to Gongaga. It was when Aerith gleefully accosted Zack's person. The psychic pink feline has detected what Aerith had wanted with Zack that day, and was a bit reluctant in leaving her master alone with the brown haired girl. But the emotions she felt from the girl were so genuine that she felt she just had to give Aerith the chance. Well, Mew did leave Zack's thoughts alone well enough as well as physically, but the emotions Zack had at the time were still... quite strong for Mew to feel them even far away. Although there was this small tinge of emotion wherein Zack wondered where Mew was, and that brought a warm feeling into Mew's heart. She vowed she would cuddle into her master to death when he and Aerith finished with their time. After all, Zack and Aerith owed her a lot for giving them time alone.

Cuddles were a necessity for someone like her.

Mew helped with the chores to move things along... but was out of sight from most of the villagers. The only ones who knew about her existence aside from her master were Elmyra, Zack's foster parents and Aerith. Not that the psychic feline worried about it. She disliked people who stared after her in the world she came from, after all. That has never changed. She will only show herself to people she trusted. And she LOVED her master, a LOT. Proxy to that, she cared for Aerith, as well as Zack's parents and Elmyra.

Zack's free time was spent mostly on training. He won't let his skills degrade when he's idle, after all. But sometimes Aerith would be able to get a jump on him before he trained. When she did, well...

Zack's skills were still a mystery, even for him. At the course of the time he spent in the wilderness during the training for SOLDIER, some weird powers emerged from him. Even his 'limit break' were different from the others. He also discovered that he has an aptitude to learn fighting skills at an alarming rate. He learned advanced sword fighting techniques in less than a week.

Magic, for some reason, went horribly wrong around Zack as far as anyone could tell. Not in the sense that Zack was a failure in activating magic, it's just that whenever he fired off spells from Materia, the power of the spell was usually double or triple its normal intensity. If Zack fired off a Fire spell, it erupted as a massive Inferno.

He did have an affinity in Summons. Summoning consisted of high-leveled demons called out to deliver much more powerful spells. They were usually given to higher-ranking SOLDIER members, but Zack's superiors were impressed enough to give him one of his own even at his low rank.

Zack received his first Summon Materia, Shiva. Usually, Summons were very hard to control. They gave out tests to their 'wielders', often gave their would-be users a very hard time. But for some reason, Zack successfully called out Shiva, and was even able to flash freeze an entire forest in his first attempt. It would seem that Shiva liked him, a LOT.

Because of Zack's overwhelming success, he was immediately bumped up a notch in the SOLDIER rankings. He can now command a small platoon of SOLDIER, but he still has to be supervised by a superior officer. It was then that he met with Sephiroth.

Zack told Aerith of his experiences while in SOLDIER, and the young woman listened intently. He recollected the times he accompanied Sephiroth in various missions, at first as bodyguard, but then as his status was lifted up in the ranks he soon became a permanent member of the silver haired man's team.

Sephiroth was an enigma. He was never seen associating with others, aside from the missions assigned to the team. Nevertheless, Zack took it in stride, and has taken it upon himself to be the jester of the team. The other generic SOLDIER members in the small platoon were quite leery of being close to Sephiroth, but Zack was an exact opposite.

As the months passed, Sephiroth did open up a few times to him. The silver haired man commented once that Zack was too loud, but it was obvious even to Zack that Sephiroth has a minuscule smile on his face when he said so. Sephiroth even had his own version of the Masamune forged after Zack showed it to him. He was intrigued as to why Zack wanted to wield such an unorthodox blade and wanted to test it out himself. Zack just figured that it would be the sign of their friendship.

After a few more months of monster-slaying missions, another SOLDIER hopeful was added in the team. Although it wasn't really necessary for the higher ranked members such as Zack to know their names, he still took the time to grill the new recruit. The newcomer's name was Cloud Strife, a native from a town called Nibelheim.

Cloud was a shy boy, around two years younger than Zack was. He has blonde hair with dark blue eyes, and quite inexperienced in battles. Sephiroth gave the task of training the new recruit to Zack, which the latter gleefully taken up upon. At first, Cloud fumbled with the guns issued for the recruits, but he learned quickly. Especially since he has to learn how to defend himself during the missions. The wild monsters around the lands of Terra weren't merciful to newbies.

For Cloud, Zack was some sort of a mentor. The blonde haired boy was awed at Zack's skills in fighting, especially wielding the Buster Sword. When he was allowed to hold it, Cloud found out just how hard it was to even lift the sword. The blade was very heavy, and it gave Cloud an idea how powerful Zack was. From then on, he decided to devote his time on his training, to become worthy of being Zack's pupil in the art of swordsmanship.

A few days before Zack's time off from SOLDIER, Cloud was already able to swing the Buster Sword, albeit sluggishly.

All the while, Mew stayed invisible by Zack's side. No one was able to detect or see her, and she protected her master by becoming the eyes behind his back. Zack was thankful for her help during those close calls in some missions. She saved his life more than once.

When Zack finished his story, Aerith had a proud look on her face. The man with spiky raven hair was enthralled at Aerith's seemingly glowing visage, which allowed her to drag him into 'their room' for a bout of loving once again.

Not that Zack complained about it much.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

As Zack's vacation time ticked away, the village prospered slowly, especially with the ever-growing reputation of Zack by being one of those chosen few who passed SOLDIER.

For Zack and Aerith, the two-week vacation given to Zack passed by a bit too quickly. When it ended, it was time for Zack to return to Midgar for his missions once again.

"When will you get another vacation?" Aerith asked softly as she cuddled into Zack's side. The couple sat in the middle of a grassy hill at night as they watched the stars. It was a cloudless night, and the stars were like a carpet of glitter thrown haphazardly into the sky.

The scene was so beautiful and romantic.

Zack shook his head from the clouds as he thought of a response for Aerith's question, "I... I'm not sure. Probably in a year or so..."

Aerith absently bobbed her head as much as she could while she lay cuddled into Zack's chest. "Zi (Aerith's nickname for Zack), how's life in Midgar anyway? Is it good in there?"

The young man raked his hand into his spiky black hair. His hair was currently out of its customary low ponytail that held it in place at his back. It's now fanned out and stuck in different angles, not so much unlike a porcupine's. "Why do you ask all of the sudden?"

"Well..." Aerith hemmed as she traced her index finger along Zack's chest, "Mama was thinking of transferring there. More opportunities, I guess. Can't blame her for that."

"Ah..." Zack noised, "Well, it's... noisy. Industrial. Totally different from Gongaga. Lots of seedy characters too... are you sure you wanna transfer there?"

Aerith nodded slightly. "It's not that I dislike this village. Gongaga has become quite a home for me, and the people are great. But mama's getting too old for fieldwork. I hear it's easy to get jobs in Midgar, even for someone as inexperienced as me. And besides..." she lifted her face and stared into Zack's blue eyes with yellow pupils, "It gets me closer to you."

The young man fell silent at THAT. What can one say to something as emotional as that statement anyhow?

The young brown haired girl in his arms fell silent as they spent their last night together for a while cuddling and staring at the night sky.

As scheduled, the morning after that romantic night came as a temporary parting for the lovers. Twenty-one year old Zack Gray gazed longingly into the eyes of twenty year old Aerith Gainsborough, surrounded by the Gongaga villagers who opted to say at least their own farewells to the boy who they adopted a few years back. They all stood at the opening of the rural village as they waited for the Shin-Ra escorts who were supposed to pick Zack up.

Aerith clutched at the soft deep purple outfit that covered Zack's chest, afraid of letting him go. But she knew she must, since somehow, in someway, she had dreams of this event. It was necessary for Zack to leave the village, since he has something to do for this world. When Aerith turned six years of age, she started hearing voices in her head. Her true mother, Ifalna, told her that it was normal. The voices were from the Planet itself, the planet's energy source, the Life Stream. Such were the fates of those who were born out of the Ancients' blood, at least that's how this world viewed them as such. The Ancients were actually Spiritualist Masters from the old pre-apocalyptic world that Terra, the current form of the planet, was formed from. At least, that's the information passed down from the previous 'Ancients' who came and went before them.

The girl's expressive blue eyes gazed intently into Zack's dark glasses-covered ones and felt a warm presence that enveloped her from behind. Aerith instinctively knew that it was the ever-compassionate partner of her loved one, Mew, who was doing her best to comfort Aerith's distress on the current matter. Mew sent empathic waves that told Aerith Zack would be watched over. The brown haired girl's distress was lightened a bit because of Mew's efforts.

In the middle of the noisy crowd were Zack and Aerith, who hugged one another tightly. They stayed that way until the sound of chocobos was finally heard from outside the village. Sure enough, five yellow giant birds emerged from the horizon, one of them carried no one on its back. The others were 'driven' by Shin-Ra soldiers who wore those generic blue uniforms. Zack finally let Aerith go from the embrace when the entourage stopped just right before they entered the village. The soldiers got down from their mounts and saluted towards Zack's direction. The spiky haired man nodded his head to them and signaled to wait.

Zack wordlessly gave Aerith another meaningful kiss, one which needed no words to explain its worth. With one final "See you folks again...", he turned and faced his escorts. He mounted the last rider less chocobo and rode with the entourage out of Gongaga's territory.

He was eighteen years of age, at least to his perceived count of his supposed years in this world, when he left Gongaga once again.

It only took two days to reach Midgar, the world's foremost capital of industry. Machines and tall buildings greeted the travelers, but it was what Zack expected all along. Amongst the bustling activity of technology, there were a lot of seedy places that made Midgar a place for commerce as well as a dangerous place. After Zack entered the gates with his escorts, it was only a few minutes of walking to reach their destination: the huge building of the Shin-Ra Corporation, which housed the President of the company himself.

Zack never did like working under the fat guy, but President Shin-Ra was his boss. He suspected that even Sephiroth shared some of his sentiments regarding their mutual boss, but seemed to be a bit more... discreet in showing them. Nevertheless, here he was... as he stood in front of the huge doors that led into President Shin-Ra's inner sanctum.

Zack knocked forcefully and stood back as he waited. He didn't have to do so for long; the irritating whiney voice of President Shin-Ra gave his permission for the long spiky raven-haired young man to enter the Head's Office. The young man grumbled to himself as he purposely pushed the doors inward, which revealed a lavish room filled with various priceless objects and whatnot. Some of them were items which Zack acquired in those missions assigned to him and his team. He bit back a curse as he entered the room.

"Well, well... if it isn't my good soldier Zack! Did you enjoy your vacation, boy?" The President prattled as he sat behind the huge oak desk on the other side of the room. Typical of him, Zack mused to himself, that the President wore that dark suit fitted for a fat... err... big boned body. Complete with red tie and gold cuff links. Irritating, really.

"I enjoyed it very much, sir..." Zack bowed a bit in mock respect, not that the president of the company noticed.

President Shin-Ra nodded dubiously. "That's good, that's good. So, are you ready to go back to work?" Not waiting for a response, he continued, "We've been having some problems with a terrorist group known as AVALANCHE. They've been bombing some of our facilities, particularly in Sector 7. When you went to your vacation, we've been having a much harder time controlling the situation. And Sephiroth didn't want to do that dirty work." The last sentence was muttered, but it was heard by Zack's sensitive hearing. Zack didn't comment on that one.

"I'll have to send you to check up on an incident near Wu-Tai, but you're going to be in a different team..." President Shin-Ra intoned, as he huffed on the cigar he had lit a short while ago, "Sephiroth took your original team to Junon. They found a weird Materia underwater. So I'll have to give you a temporary team for this mission. Don't worry, it's only for today."

Zack nodded, "Who will be on my team for this mission?"

The president grinned, "A four-man team will be following your orders this time around. I think you met them before... Tseng, Rude, Elena and Reno, can you step into the office please?"

Zack growled inwardly as the president mentioned those names. The foursome wasn't a welcomed thought to him. Reno was a loud-mouthed jerk, always brought danger to whatever team he was on. Rude was silent and brooding. Elena was a love-sick blonde who was fascinated towards the group's private 'boss'. And their leader, Tseng...

The Turks. A semi-competent team formed a few years after Zack was accepted into the elite SOLDIER group, they were usually stationed with President Shin-Ra's son, Rufus.

Zack and Tseng were at odds with one another. A few years back, the foursome decided to accompany Zack in one of his yearly vacations in Gongaga. Tseng was totally infatuated with Aerith's beauty. Even with the young woman's status as 'taken', the jerk in a suit ignored it. He actively pursued Zack's girlfriend, and Zack didn't appreciate it. The friction between the two was palpable.

The huge doors that adorned the President's office banged open once again, and the four aforementioned individuals strutted into the room. The tension in the air thickened immensely, and the newcomers immediately noticed it. The dark long haired man's brow, who was at the lead of the group dressed in a dark suit complete with tie, ticked when he spied upon Zack, who has his back turned against them.

"Ah! Here they are now!" The President crowed gaily, as he gestured for the newly arrived subordinates to come nearer to his table. Tseng sighed and approached hesitantly, followed by his 'team'.

While Tseng kept his mouth shut, Reno just couldn't help himself. "Well, if it isn't shades guy. Still haven't removed your dark glasses? What's with you? Blind or something?" The young man commented cockily, his dark red hair was wild and free.

"Reno..." Elena, the blonde short haired girl near Tseng dressed in a suit as well, hissed in warning to her companion.

The bald dark skinned man named Rude stood behind the small crowd and stayed silent as he watched the events in front of him.

Zack also heard the telltale hissing of his invisible partner, Mew, who tried to control her temper by nibbling on her tail. The pink psychic cat has been set on a slow burn ever since Zack and Mew entered the city of Midgar. For some reason, Mew expressed her distaste of the city quite candidly, not that Zack totally disagreed with her on the subject. True, Midgar was probably the center of commerce for the world as of date, but it was also the birthplace of extreme corruption.

The young man with long spiky raven hair never told anyone, but his feelings about his employers' actions regarding how they gathered materia was simply atrocious. Nevermind the fact that the act itself degraded Nature to a dangerous degree, but the human lives affected by the change in Nature was unacceptable. Still, for now, he will try and do what he's being told. But soon though...

Zack blinked when he felt Mew's invisible tail whap him gently at the back of his head. He found that everyone in the room stared at him, especially Reno, who looked at him expectantly.

"Sorry, were you saying something?" Zack opted the most obvious but insulting comment he could garner, the dubious act.

Reno's face immediately blushed hard in anger, as he crouched to jump on the seemingly nonchalant spiky-haired swordsman. But a dark-skinned hand grasped his shoulder firmly, which effectively stopped his forward momentum. Reno glanced up to glare into Rude's sunglasses-covered eyes.

"Why the hell are you stopping me?" Reno hissed.

Rude remained silent as he shook his head solidly.

Tseng's brow raised as Zack yawned widely, his arms stretched to his sides. "By the way, Zack..." the smartly-dressed man began, "How's your... vacation?" ((Or, how's Aerith?)) Tseng thought to himself as he smirked when Zack's body tensed at his question. One could very well hear Tseng's true question, and Zack disliked it a lot.

Zack's red sash twitched rather wildly, although he was later going to be thankful that nobody noticed it. His red tail has been quite a mystery to him, thanks to the amnesia he garnered when he appeared all those years ago in Gongaga, he wasn't able to know WHY he had the tail to begin with. At first he counted it off as a different race of humans in this world, but after his diverse travels while in Sephiroth's group he found no clues as to who or what he was. But his doubts on his origins were laid to rest when he found that Aerith didn't mind his unrecovered past memories.

But it's probably because Aerith just LOVED his tail.

As soon as Tseng's true query became obvious to him, Zack's body relaxed simultaneously. He continued his interrupted yawn and replied coyly, "Not that it's any of your business, but it went well..." He saw Tseng's debilitating smirk and couldn't help but add, "Aerith had a big surprise waiting for me when I got to the village. It was... enlightening." It was now Zack's turn to grin at the immediate scowl that appeared on Tseng's face.

Elena had barely managed to hold Tseng back as the long haired man started his advance on the smirking swordsman when Zack snorted and patted his clothes down. Without even looking at the 'Tseng Groupie', he stated, "Enough talking. We've got a mission to do."

Zack wordlessly turned and walked out of President Shin-Ra's office, with the agitated group following at his heels.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It was quite a definite improvement from chocobo riding, as their hovercraft leisurely passed along the lands of the northern continent. Their destination was a dense forest just near the village of Wu-Tai. Nevertheless, the easy ride wasn't as peaceful as Zack would've hoped.

"So, why are you in this mission anyway? We really don't need someone as weak as you to finish this..." Reno commented lazily as he sneered towards Zack's direction. Tseng watched the proceedings as he sat across from Zack, Elena was fiddling with her phone, and Rude... who knows what he's staring at?

The swordsman shrugged nonchalantly, readjusting the black sunglasses he had on his face to cover his eyes. "The President made it so. Don't look at me." ((It's not like I wanted to be with you freaks in the first place...)) Zack thought to himself as he heard Mew's giggles in his mind.

Reno scoffed imperiously. "You're probably kicked off of Sephiroth's team, ain'tcha?"

Zack sniffed irritably. Okay, no more mister nice guy. "Or, it could be that the President didn't trust you losers enough to do the job right. I remember that incident years ago, ya know. Heard you four managed to botch up an important mission that the corporation's timetable has been compromised in a relatively obvious manner. Nice going, by the way."

"It was an accident!" Reno growled out as he clenched his fists tightly.

"So you say..." Zack shot back.

Before Reno tried to strangle the man in front of him, Elena intervened, "So, what is our mission this time?"

"Hmmm..." Zack noised as he adopted a thinker's pose, "You know, I didn't really ask. We'll find out about it when we get there, I guess."

Now it was Reno who held back the fuming Elena as Zack continued to ponder on their mission.

In short, the whole trip consisted of Elena and Reno trying to kill Zack in alternate turns, Rude was contented with his ominous silence and Tseng trying to rile up the 'leader' of the mission, a fact that still irked the long haired man. Much to their irritation, their efforts just went by Zack who didn't even bat them an eyelash. Actually, Zack concentrated on his mind speak with his invisible pink cat, who floated around his general vicinity lazily as she chattered some nonsense about her dislike on this said mission.

The group arrived at the forest west of Wu-Tai without 'much' trouble. At first glance, it seemed like a normal forest, but when they got inside...

"DAMMIT! This stinks!" Reno growled to himself as he tried to untangle himself from the webbing a monster spider caught him with. He turned to the side and saw Rude silently brushing off the rocks that a rock-elemental monster managed to smack him with. Elena was furiously hacking the vines that caught her and Tseng off-guard. And Zack? Well...

Zack had a huge grin on his face, his Buster Sword unsheathed in his grip while he surveyed the surroundings for more monsters to fight. He was... untouched by the attacks directed at him by the monsters, much to his companions' ire. When he discovered that the ambush was done, he sighed forlornly for a moment before grinning up a storm once again and said, "That... was fun! So many strong monsters to fight here! Man, I should've found 'bout this place a long time ago, maybe Sephiroth and me would've had some training done in this forest!"

Tseng grunted as he landed on the ground, after Elena managed to free him from the vines that trapped him. He patted himself down and glared at the grinning Zack and growled, "How can you be happy when it seems like every monster in this forest is out to get us!"

Zack merely scoffed and buffed his humongous sword as he replied, "Hey, it's not my fault you prissy rich people can't hack it. If you wanna back out, the hovercraft is still outside the forest. You just have to walk back and wait there until I find out what's causing this sudden monster outbreak. Or... have you forgotten our mission already?"

The long haired man in the dark suit merely scowled and turned in a huff, "Hmph. And let you hog all the glory? Let's go then!" and walked off with a slightly bristled Elena, trailed by the cursing Reno and the STILL silent Rude.

"Man, what crawled up his butt and died?" Zack muttered to himself as he went after them. After all, can't have his companions die for some stupid reason now, right?

For the next few hours of the daylight, the group encountered countless more ambushes from the forest monsters. It didn't amuse Tseng and his 'posse' that the monsters seemed to grow even stronger after each encounter. Well, it amused Zack though, something which Tseng still cannot understand. The swordsman was a fighting machine, and seemed to possess unlimited amount of energy. Not only was Zack able to kill three thirds of all the monsters that attacked them, he was also able to guffaw right in the middle of the fight. Tseng had to hand it to his rival, though. He never did see such superb fighting skills from anyone he has encountered before in his life. Zack's every movement was poetry in motion, his sword strikes were fluid and flawless even with the ridiculously massive sword he wielded.

"Oh come on guys, lighten up! Am I the only one who thinks this is fun!" Zack asked them rhetorically as he punched a huge monster plant that tried to petrify him. Simply put, the plant got a hole on its body and dissolved into nothing. His invisible companion, Mew, has been warning him in advance of the enemies that would attack from behind. Not that Zack really needed it, but he felt a lot more secure that Mew was around him. In fact, Mew already fried some small grunts earlier with her own arsenal of abilities.

Rude only grunted as several wolves attacked him in a pack manner as a response to Zack's query.

Reno hissed, "Shut up, you asshole!" as he felt razor leaves prick his skin from his plant opponent.

"If we survive this, I might just kill you..." Tseng said heatedly as he threw another fireball on the gigantic bats that seemed to take pleasure in poisoning him.

Elena declined to comment, as she was busy healing injuries as well as the abnormal status the freakish monsters gave her comrades. Except for Zack of course, not that he needed it anyway.

Zack just sighed as he hacked at the giant bat that has been hovering over his head absently. As usual, his teammates were still easily-irritated uptights. But damn, were they all PMS-ing or something?

After countless hours of monster-slaying, the group finally reached an old beaten-down temple in the middle of the forest. Its presence within the thick woods provided sparks of suspicion already. Tseng took Elena and Reno to check around the perimeter for traps, while Zack and Rude opted to inspect the temple's outside walls for clues.

Zack felt a strange feeling wash over him as he gazed at the ruins. Something hidden in the middle of the ruins seemed to be calling out to him. Also, monsters seemed to be curiously absent around the temple ground perimeter. He and Rude managed to find three hulking figures that stood at the temple's entrance though, and Zack figured they're stone golems of some sort.

"Hmmm... damn... huge statues, they are..." Zack remarked as he regarded the stone golems with a wary eye. At the back of his head, he could hear Mew's warnings about some weird readings from these supposedly inanimate objects.

"Hmn..." Rude nodded resolutely. He actually respected Zack and his exploits, especially the fact that the swordsman wasn't your typical sword fighter. Rude has seen Zack's fighting level at hand to hand, and was inclined to allow himself to be subjected under his teachings. But of course, he has his friends to think about as well. So, in truth he was in a dilemma how to handle the situation. But he will not stoop as low as how Reno would at trying to goad Zack, and petty rivalries has no meaning to him. Zack is a strong fighter, that's all there is to it for Rude.

The said swordsman shot a meaningful look towards Rude, who faced him in turn and gave him the same look as well. Black sunglasses stared at black sunglasses, as they communicated a silent message to each other how dire their situation was at the moment. Both of them knew something weird was going on at the temple, and the three statues were contributing to that level of weird.

After a few more precious moments of silence, Zack finally uttered, "I guess it ain't gonna go too well if we just rush headlong into this, don'cha think?"

Rude gave him a contemplative glance and nodded an affirmative.

The unvoiced leader of the group grunted as he gestured for the dark skinned hairless man in a suit to follow him, but before they could even complete their turn, the ground rumbled ominously underneath them. They gave each other another contemplative stare, before they turned back to the entrance of the temple, hoping against hope that they won't find what they thought would be there.

Only to get their hopes dashed when they saw their other three teammates currently trying to gain access into the enclosed ruins. Not only that, but they both realized something amiss with the statues.

All three statues were now in a different position than when they first saw them. Which added to their ever growing dread about their current situation.

"... I have to say, Rude, you have... stupid teammates..." Zack deadpanned.

"Hnn..." Rude had to agree with him there.

"But of course, us being the good guys, we have'ta make sure they don't die, ne?" Zack said in resignation as he swung the Buster Blade twice in front of him, "One of these days, their antics are gonna have themselves and you killed. Anyway, right now, did you know that there's this strange tune that popped up in my head? Something like a boss music or something..."

Rude just raised an eyebrow at him.

Zack nodded at him. "Seriously. If the situation ain't so serious right now, I'd hum it just to annoy Tseng."

The dark-skinned man's lips twitched. He had to admit, that would be an amusing sight to see.

The ground shook once more, but this time, the telltale sound of rocks crunching against one another prompted the two to gaze once again at the entrance of the temple. It would seem that Tseng, Reno and Elena finally discovered that those statues aren't just statues anymore.

"Stone golems..." Zack informed Rude, who readjusted his gloves in preparation for a long fight, "And apparently, guardians of the temple. How cliche. Nevertheless, effective. I mean, look, the sheer amount of terror on the faces of those three is so obvious now. I think Elena's just about to cry."

Rude just huffed in annoyance as he inclined his head towards the incoming battle sharply. Zack got the message, sighed boredly, and ventured into the battle alongside Rude.

For some reason, the three stone golems seemed to have frozen in their tracks, and then turned to focus on the newly arrived duo. More in particular, they concentrated on Zack. The swordsman wove around the strikes the gargantuan monoliths threw at him like a slithering snake. The temple grounds shook as each hit from the golems' gigantic stone weapons smashed against the ground, and small craters formed out of them.

Rude began pummeling one golem's leg, intent on taking it down piece by piece. So far, he has little success, but it did let up on Zack for a while to concentrate on him. With a small smirk etched on his face, Rude continued his assault on the statue and dodged the power blows meant to flatten him.

Elena fired off some shots from the gun she had been carrying on her person for such occasion, while Tseng continued to activate the fire materia he had in his possession and released several fireballs unto one stone giant's back. Some pieces of the golem's back broke off, which showered the area with dust and small rocks.

Even with everyone attacking the three guardians, it seemed that the attacks were concentrated mainly on Zack. Something in which the swordsman was irritated on. He dodged another huge fist and slashed at the giant's arm with his sword's blunt edge. The golem roared as its arm cracked a bit from the blow, but retaliated with another punch from its other hand. Zack dodged that as well. He didn't anticipate however another huge fist that came from another one of the statues. When he finally did see the attack, he raised his hand in a desperate attempt to stop it.

"Oh, this is so not cool..." The swordsman uttered morosely.

A large explosion erupted when the fist met Zack's arms, in which dust encompassed the area.

Rude, Tseng, Reno and Elena backed away from the dirt cloud that appeared from the point of contact and watched in trepidation for anything that moved. Rude hoped that Zack managed to evade the hit somehow, while the others wondered when their sights will clear up. When the dust did clear up, they were surprised. For one, there was now only TWO stone golems left. The other one was in pieces on the ground, with Zack's Buster Sword stuck in the middle of the debris on the ground.

Speaking of Zack... the Turks had another sharp intake of breath when they saw what happened to him. He survived the attack, apparently, and was now pushing back on a stone golem's fist with his two hands, while he dangled upon his red sash that was tied up on a jagged piece of rock that was torn off from the second golem when it attacked a while ago. His two feet were braced on the same rock that his sash was tied on.

The sash... when did he have the time to tie that sash to that rock face anyway?

"This... this is so crappy..." Zack whispered to himself as he sighed in relief. A few more seconds and he would've been pancaked! Bad thing to happen to him, because it will hurt a lot! He stretched his leg and shifted it to a better bracing position. Perfect! And if he could only move his tail... oh dear god, no... his tail...

Right in the middle of his life and death struggle, Zack tilted his head backwards and looked. Sure enough, there was his tail, exposed. Apparently it helped his balance as he kept the fist of the stone golem back from crushing him. In the process, his tail must've involuntarily moved by itself to compensate.

Oh dear... a problem... hmmm... he will need good excuse for this...

Tseng smirked slightly at the sight of his rival, who hung unto the stone on what seemed to be a red sash, "Well, it seems that you're in luck, Zack. If your belt wasn't caught on that piece of rock, you would've fallen off that precarious position you're in, right?"

Zack blinked underneath his dark-tinted glasses. So they think it's still a sash, huh? Better not let them think otherwise. He was slightly ill that he had to thank Tseng's stupid conclusion that led him to keep his secret a little bit longer. "It isn't luck, Tseng. I actually swung my sash to that direction on purpose..." his response made the other man's smirk die a painful death, something in which he relished on.

"Well, stop playing around with acrobatics so that we can finish this mission then, idiot!" Tseng growled out.

Zack's mind suddenly narrowed his thoughts into a few things, as he mentally discarded the other information that flowed into his mind at the moment. One, he was still holding back the massive fist that threatened to squish him flat. Second, the Turks except Rude were getting to be really annoying. And third, his fighting skills were being dissed by a whiney rich pansy called Tseng.

This was definitely NOT his day.

The swordsman growled as his eyes slowly glowed gold behind his glasses, while the gems on his forehead flashed angrily in response to his mood as well. It was good that a black headband was tied around his head to cover those gems, or else he would've given the Turks a magnificent light display. Zack immediately snapped into full battle mode, all traces of mirth emotionally and physically from earlier were erased.

To the Turks, it seemed as if Zack stopped moving altogether. Even the last two stone guardians of the temple they wanted to get into had paused in their efforts to crush the man. It seemed that they too felt the ominous atmosphere that had enveloped the entire area.

Soon, Zack moved at last, but only to pull back one hand from its previous position. Without much of a change in his facial expression, Zack allowed it to become a fist, and smashed it nonchalantly into the massive stone hand that wanted to crush him. To everyone's surprise, Zack's much smaller fist managed to break through the stone golem's own fist. The giant roared as its hand crumbled into smaller pieces.

Tseng actually allowed a small strangled noise escape his constricted throat as he saw what Zack had done. They had been fighting those golems for a long time now, and the swordsman dealt this much damage to them with one punch? Was this for real?

The same question ran through the others' minds, but Rude's thoughts ran into another path. He wanted to know if Zack could teach him how to do that.

But Zack wasn't paying attention to the Turks anymore. No, all he saw was his enemies right now, and the fact that they tried to kill him. No, that wouldn't do at all, something in which he was about to remedy soon.

A slight kick to the stone arm that he had his feet braced on shattered the other stone golem's arm. Unsurprisingly, it screeched like the first one. It remained frozen on its position as Zack used the force of his kick and flipped over the two giants. He landed at a small clearing a few feet from the battle site and made a show of tying his 'sash' around his waist once more. No expression can be seen on his face, which was especially accented by his dark tinted glasses.

As the Turks except Rude made some derogative comments about the feat, Zack just ignored them completely and concentrated on the two stone golems that seemed to have snapped out of their stupors. The two struggled to their feet, each with one arm lost that dangled uselessly on their sides.

Nobody had the time to ponder though as Zack's body suddenly flared out a silver glow. To the Turks, though normally they have seen some people emit energy when releasing spells or their limit breaks, this event however was quite different. While other people just flare their energy for short bursts at a time, Zack's aura was a continuous stream of power that washed over the area like the wind.

A VERY strong wind.

So strong that in fact, the Turks had to brace their footing properly to keep themselves rooted on their positions as they watched the battle unfold. They can also see that, even with his sunglasses, Zack's eyes turned into an ominous golden glow.

"Annoying pests..." An ominous growl was heard from Zack, in a tone that had the Turks blinking at the animalistic intensity of it.

Suddenly, a flash of bright light exploded from Zack, which struck the giant golems in front of him. The entire area's visibility became unbearable once again, and the Turks had to cover their eyes from the harsh glare. They heard the death cries of their enemies as well as the crumbling rocks that fell everywhere. The shockwave of the explosion succeeded in knocking them down to the ground.

"What the hell...!" Reno shouted above the noise as he tried to process what he witnessed a while ago.

"Zack, you asshole...!" Tseng groaned as he picked himself up from the ground.

Rude calmly swiped the small rocks and dust stuck on his outfit.

"Oh my god... look!" Elena squeaked as she lifted a shaky finger towards the site.

Four pairs of eyes swiveled to where the blonde-haired girl pointed. The dust finally settled, and they saw Zack standing atop a large mound of broken earth. The swordsman was glaring towards the general area where the stone golems were before, the glow around his body never fading a bit. But the one thing the Turks were looking at was the red sash from before. It was now swinging wildly behind him. There was no doubt that this thing was no cloth, since it was whipping about in a hypnotic pattern that seemed to convey Zack's feelings at the moment.

Agitated. That's what Zack was feeling at the moment. With the incompetence and whining of his temporary teammates, coupled with the near death experiences he encountered a while ago, he was feeling rather irritated. His mind was shrouded in anger and fury, that his actions became automatic. He didn't even acknowledge the strange power that flowed through and about his body at the time, only that he used it to demolish his enemies.

His mind still in battle mode, Zack heard a strangled gasp behind him. He turned his head over his shoulder and glared towards the Turks at the corners of his eyes. The glasses he concealed his unusual eyes with were still in place, but they still glowed bright gold, a fact that wasn't lost to the recipients of the look. Not only that, but the headband he has never been seen without it was burned off, which now exposed the tri-colored gems glowing with their respective colors. The sight was horribly beautiful, ironically.

"Witnesses..." Zack hissed as he fully turned towards them. While Tseng, Reno and Elena were petrified by the glare from earlier, Rude was made of a much sterner stuff. The dark-skinned Turk immediately fell into a stance, ready to defend his teammates.

The berserk swordsman took one step forward, and froze on the spot. They could see his body shaking slightly as Zack fell to his knees. The swordsman clutched at his head with his gloved hands as he gasped for air. The aura receded into his form once again and the glow of his eyes disappeared. The gems on his forehead became dormant once more.

"Gah... wh-what... what... ugh..." Zack struggled to say as he held a shaky hand in front of his face, "What... wh-what happened?" he whispered urgently.

"Y-You!" Zack's head snapped towards the scared cry of Elena, who pointed her finger at him, "W-What... what was t-that! W-What are you!"

The prone swordsman shook his head rapidly, his eyes wide behind the sunglasses, "I-I... I d-don't know! I..."

A solution presented itself. While generally absurd, the idea voiced by the least expected person to do so brought about the tense end to the subject for the time being. "Limit Break..." was all Rude said, but it effectively finished the argument at the moment.

The rest of the Turks eyed Zack warily, but Rude paid no heed of them as he came over at the swordsman and helped him to his feet. The dark-skinned bald man even took the effort of dragging Zack's sword, which has been thrown somewhere a few feet away while in battle, and handed it to the other, who looked up to him gratefully. Rude then gestured towards the now opened entrance into the old temple, probably opened after the three guardian golems' defeats. Zack nodded at him in response and re-holstered the Buster Blade on his back, and carefully avoided making eye contact with the rest of the Turks. Rude followed Zack fearlessly, and paused only to give Tseng and the others a meaningful glare.

Tseng, Reno and Elena looked at each other in askance, but the silent command from the normally stoic Rude demanded nothing but silence from them. It also forced them to follow the duo deeper into the temple, but it was clear that the event cannot be forgotten anytime soon.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The temple was deceptively huge inside, and the group found that out the hard way. Thousands of traps littered all over the place, as well as those high leveled monsters. Some of them were never seen outside of the temple, but sure enough they were here. There were lots of secret passages as well, and the whole temple seemed to have become one giant maze of monsters and traps.

It annoyed the Turks.

Zack enjoyed himself.

Zack already blocked out the events that happened outside of the temple, and just concentrated on keeping his companions alive. He did, however, terrify Tseng, Reno and Elena into keeping the phenomenon to themselves. It involved growling, some rope, a ledge, and a seemingly endless pit.

Don't ask.

Rude really doesn't care much about what happened from earlier. He just carried on with Zack as before, which was not much.

The other Turks were, as Zack muttered to Rude earlier, bad luck. Apparently, most of the traps were triggered by them. Elena had triggered the knock-out gas from earlier, which brought Tseng and Reno down with her for a few minutes. Zack and Rude sweatdropped at that, and they did wonder why they haven't gotten anything on them yet.

After the three 'jinxes' awoke, Tseng triggered a trap door, which opened a large section of the floor underneath the three. If not for Tseng's presence of mind to hang unto the edge of the pit, Elena wouldn't have been able to grab Tseng around his waist, and in turn Reno who grabbed Elena by her pants' waist. Again, Zack and Rude had to sweatdrop as they watched the bizarre scene on the safer grounds they were on at the moment. Tseng was screaming about Elena's grip on his groin, and Elena was literally driving her stiletto high heels into Reno's head for pulling her pants down, which was around her ankles at the moment. Who knew Elena wore neon orange undies anyway? It glowed in the slight darkness of the pit, too...

There were a lot of other instances where these three triggered a few more traps, which earned them exasperated groans from the two males who haven't been caught in a trap yet.

In any case, the group finally reached the bottom-most cavern; it was huge, large stalactites and stalagmites decorated the ceiling and the floor. The walls seemed to have an eerie glow with the phosphorus that coated them. The huge room was circular in shape, and right at the middle of it was a large pedestal. A large crystal was innocently held on top of the pedestal.

"Looks suspicious..." Zack muttered loudly as he surveyed the place. It seemed safe at first glance, but looks can be deceiving. The presence of traps on the upper floors proved that fact.

"Dark, spacious, gloomy, ominous... damn, signs of a death trap..." the swordsman continued as he focused his stare on the pedestal. He blinked behind his sunglasses when he failed to hear any sarcastic comments from his 'teammates'. He turned his head idly to the side and watched the Turks at the corners of his eyes. They stood behind him, apparently in awe at the stone on the pedestal. Zack resisted the urge to sigh and shake his head. They were materialistic, as much as most of everyone else in this world. It was a normal reaction.

Of course, Zack's teammates may be gawking at the size of the said stone, but what Zack was partially impressed about the matter was the amount of power emanating from the stone. He wasn't about to tell anyone about it, but Zack was already able to get a similar stone of the same size somewhere down south of the continent. It was the Master Magic materia. When he acquired it, his other magic materia were absorbed into the larger gem. For some reason, it embedded itself into the Masamune, the gem appeared just a few centimeters above the hilt.

Zack shook his head out of musings and cautiously stepped towards the pedestal, his eyes alert for any traps that could potentially endanger them. He was followed by an equally cautious Rude, a wary Tseng, a spaced-out Elena, and a red-faced Reno. Why was Reno red-faced? Well, he was still thinking about Elena's underwear from earlier. And also, Elena's magnificent slap on his face still had the flaming hand imprint.

The swordsman snorted, after he made sure there were no other traps capable of entrapping his teammates. He gestured for those behind him to halt their advance, partly because they triggered the most unusual traps of the temple in the first place. Jinxes, all of them... well, probably not Rude, but the others... hoo boy.

Zack continued his advance towards the pedestal unhindered. He hovered in front of it, a bit hesitant, and reached for the orb that was presented. When he finally touched the large gem, he felt the power that emanated from it. He was quite surprised when he felt the Shin Masamune materialize at his side, floating with unknown power. The menacing silver glow of his sword matched with those of the orb. Zack ignored the Turks' shouted warnings and fed his own energies into the orb. The light pulsed from the gemstone, which was in perfect synchronization with the Shin Masamune.

With a flash of power, the glowing orb exploded in energy sparks, which were sucked into the Shin Masamune without pause. After the light died down, there was now two gems displayed a few inches from his sword's hilt. The Shin Masamune's silver glow abated as the fusion became complete. Zack stared at the sword in awe as he grasped its hilt. The power he felt from it... was immense. Not only that, it would seem that the new additional materia that chose him as its owner seemed to be... a Master Summon?

For the materia to become as it was right now, it would've taken it years to form. He idly wondered how long it took for the Master Summon to gather its energies. Zack also felt his minor summon materia in his pocket disappearing, in which he knew they must've combined with the Master Summon.

Cool...

Zack blinked when he felt a menacing aura behind him. He turned slowly, and saw Tseng's harsh glare boring into him.

"What?" The swordsman asked dubiously as he banished the Shin Masamune into nothing once again. He still doesn't know where it went when he does it, but as long as it appeared when he needed it, he won't care.

Tseng's nostrils flared as he raised a fist towards him, "That Materia is Shin-Ra property, soldier! You should return it, NOW!"

Zack shrugged as he started walking past the stunned group and said, "I can't. The Shin Masamune doesn't give up whatever it assimilates into itself for anyone, not even me. Besides, blame the materia too, since it chose me as its master."

"You asshole!" Reno grunted as he grabbed Zack's shoulder before the swordsman could get past the group, "That was our mission! It ain't yours!"

"Tell that to the materia..." Zack muttered as he glanced at the hand clamped down on him. With a negligent flick of his hand, he swept it off him and continued, only to find himself blocked by the blonde haired only-female member of the Turks, Elena.

"Give the materia to us now, Zack..." Elena growled out as she pulled her gun from its holster, "This is considered treason against Shin-Ra. Give it to us now or we will have to hurt you."

Rude just stood on the side, uncertain of what he should do.

Zack's eyes flashed gold as he faced them halfway, "Bring it on, maggots..." he said snidely.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

At the same time, back in Midgar...

The mother-daughter pair who knew Zack up to a personal level walked into their new home. Sure, it was in the Slums Section of the city, but it was their home for now. Besides, the daughter doesn't really care too much. As long as she was close to Zack, the house is of no consequence.

Elmyra and Aerith, two of those people who were forever etched in Zack's heart, gleefully decorated their house. Aerith was singing the new song she thought up of as she fixed the pastel orange curtains she put at the living room window. She idly watched as people around the city went by the window as well, and took note of the different individuals that sauntered up the streets. It was then that she noticed the city had no trees whatsoever, which created an aura of sadness and distress.

"Such a sad city..." Aerith blinked her blue-gray eyes as she spied upon the broken down church just across the block. She promised herself that she will visit the place later.

The brown haired girl paused in her work as a thought suddenly came into her mind, "Flowers..." she muttered to herself, a small smile slowly growing on her face, "I'll grow some flowers and sell them. They should liven the city a bit..."

Aerith sighed as she smoothed the curtains she was arranging, "I wonder how Zack's doing... I hope he got the letter I sent him."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back to the forest near Wu-Tai, inside the newly discovered Temple...

Zack just holstered the Buster Blade on his back once again. Tseng lay unconscious on the wall near the doors that led into the huge room, Reno was face down in a crater near Zack's feet, and Elena dangled at the collar of her suit while in the swordsman's grip, clearly unconscious as well. Rude on the other hand clutched at his right arm a few feet away from Zack, his black sunglasses broken at his feet.

"Are you going to try again, Rude? Or do I have to knock you unconscious like these guys?" Zack asked curiously as he put Elena down gently.

Rude grunted as he fell on one knee, as he tried to stave off his wounded arm's bleeding. Blood pooled at his feet as his lifeblood flowed continuously from the glancing blow of the Buster Blade. The dark-skinned man shook his head and bowed, a sign of his defeat to his opponent.

Zack nodded sharply as he pulled several healing potions from his belt pouch and gripped the bottles between his fingers. He glanced at them for a second before he tossed the bottles to the bleeding Turk. "I'm going out first. I don't think your friends are gonna be happy seeing me when they regain consciousness..." he sighed as he rubbed his temples, "Damn... I'm fighting instinctively. Can't even control my own body when I'm like that. Tell them I'm sorry for the wounds I gave you."

Without waiting for a response, Zack turned his back to the Turks and waved absently. His long spiky black hair swirled with the wind as he walked out of the hallway.

As the young swordsman continued his way out of the room, he was at a dilemma. What happened to him in there? Why was there so much battle lust in his mind when he fought in the temple? He was actually looking for a fight... what the heck's wrong with him? But the power he felt while he was fighting... it was... soothing. It seemed to him like it was supposed to be that way. But how? And why?

He shook his head as he noticed he was already near the exit of the temple. There were no monster attacks after the materia was pulled from the pedestal. It was probably the stone that attracted and empowered the monsters in the temple. Frankly, Zack felt that the mission was a huge waste of time, except the rare materia's discovery. Well, it's also a cool thing that it chose him as its master.

Now, if he could only understand what was happening with his abrupt personality changes...

Zack breathed in deep as the sunlight hit his face. He just got out of the temple ahead of the Turks, and it was probably for everyone's good. He still doesn't know how to explain this to his superiors, particularly, the dreaded Doctor Hojo. The swordsman's gaze narrowed at the thought of the man. Doctor Hojo was never an honest man to begin with, and he seemed rather insane in his experiments. The doctor never bothered with things such as human rights and stuff, just as long as his experiments got done.

Weird man, that doctor. Zack would be happier if he won't be the target of Doctor Hojo's experiments. No thank you. He'd rather spend several months in the deepest pits of the Slums of Midgar rather than spend a minute in Doctor Hojo's presence. The man was extremely screwed up, everyone in the Shin-Ra Corporation knew of this fact, and they also shared the same sentiments he had on the doctor. Even Sephiroth wanted nothing to do with the doctor, but was sometimes forced to have his check-ups done by the madman. Zack knew that Sephiroth inwardly dreaded those upcoming scheduled checks.

There were rumors of Doctor Hojo that he has a secret lab somewhere, but Zack never bothered to try and find it. Although according to the rumors, the doctor has been involved in a lot of... inhumane experiments that violated a lot of laws. But being an employee of Shin-Ra has given Doctor Hojo a lot of lee ways, and if Zack read this right, Shin-Ra may also be indirectly involved in the experiments.

Which was exactly why Zack didn't want anything to do with the crazy doctor. He met the man a few times before, and it was never pleasant. The manic look in Hojo's eyes were not a sight to behold, and it was as if he itched into taking Zack into his laboratory to be examined. The swordsman was quite thankful that his medical check-ups were done by a different doctor. A local but respected doctor from Midgar, near Sector 7. The Corporation first demanded his cooperation on the matter, but a timely intervention from Sephiroth as well as a show of their swords put the matter to rest. Since then, his medical records were taken by Zack personally and handed to whatever medical staff was present in the Shin-Ra Headquarter's private hospital.

Zack blinked as he found himself standing in front of the hovercraft, the same one he and the Turks used to reach this place. He has half the mind of taking the hovercraft and leave those irritating pests in this place... well, except Rude. But alas, he cursed his innate sense of honor. He wouldn't begrudge the injured Turks of their only way for salvation from this place. Too bad the monsters in the area disappeared when the stone was gone from the temple. Karmic justice would've been interesting.

He decided to leave the hovercraft for the Turks' to use and sprinted towards the Midgar capital. Not really his cup of tea quite frankly, but he needed a good run after the strange things that happened to him in that place. He felt Mew comfort him in his mind as the floating cat materialized beside him. It was pretty cool that Mew was able to keep up with him, even while levitating.

Hmmm... just a few more days away from Midgar anyway...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Well, at least Zack got back to Midgar way ahead of the Turks, even with the hovercraft at their disposal. He was currently strolling, yes... strolling, along the streets of the Slums. Sleazy bars, factory smoke, brothels... you name it, this place has it. Illegal contraband were widespread here, and even Shin-Ra soldiers were afraid of walking these streets. But Zack wasn't a normal soldier.

The swordsman lazily tripped a robber who was just about to jump him. Zack didn't even twitch when the poor robber flew into the dumpsters of the alley on the OTHER SIDE of the wide road. Even with the spectacle, people in the Slums just shrugged it off as part of the normalcy in the place. He wasn't complaining.

He was about to sit on the newly opened noodles cart he has spotted a few weeks back when he spotted a very familiar lock of long brown hair that just entered the broken down church of the place. Zack heard Mew chattering in his head excitedly, something about a very familiar presence around the vicinity.

Zack basically ignored the Ramen Stand owner's frantic cries as he stumbled out of the cart. He quickly sped into the direction of the old church, where he last saw the familiar brown hair.

Could it be? Was she in here already?

As the abandoned church slowly came into view, Zack slowed his pace into a slight walk. He was immersed in deep thought. If this woman was who he thinks she was, then why has she come too early? And for that matter, wasn't she aware how dangerous Midgar was for someone like her? Someone with her unique abilities would attract a large amount of attention from the Shin-Ra scientists, especially... Doctor Hojo.

Zack already figured out that Aerith was somehow a part of the doctor's past, like some distant experiment who escaped his grasps. Zack has heard about it from the doctor's insane rantings during the slow days in the Corporation, and it was then that he made the connection. Work be damned, but if Hojo even tried to touch one hair on Aerith, Zack would raze the Shin-Ra Corporation to the ground.

The man with long spiky raven hair blinked behind his dark tinted glasses when he found himself standing in front of the broken down church. Those men, women and children who walked the streets behind him whispered at the seemingly crazy fool who stood dumbly in front of the ruined building. Zack fought off the blush that threatened to devour his face as he mustered enough dignity to step forward and enter the ruin. He noticed that his hand shook a little when he was about to push the old wooden doors at the entrance of the church. He was nervous... weird.

He shook off the unnerving feelings he felt at the moment and pushed the doors inward. The sight that greeted him robbed the man of his breath for a moment.

Well, there were broken down chairs lined up at the sides, and it was really dusty inside, but those weren't what caught his attention. Just in front of the half-demolished marble altar at the other end of the aisle, there was a patch of flowers that grew even in the most desolate area of Midgar. And in the middle of the small field of flowers, his beloved Aerith was happily watering them down with a worn pail. It did not help his awe that there was a hole on the roof that allowed a few rays of sunshine on the exact same area where the patch of flowers grew. The sight was, in his opinion, simply magnificent.

It was understandable then, when the woman who literally took Zack's breath away has long stopped watering the flowers when she noticed of another person's presence in the building, and was quite elated to find her love staring at her in awe. Aerith already squealed his name and hugged the still immobile man in her embrace, but there was still no reaction from him.

"Zack? ZACK! Are you okay?" Aerith's blue-gray eyes looked Zack over. So far, he was a bit dirty, probably just got back from a mission, no noticeable wounds, so what was the problem?

"H-haa..." Zack sighed as he slowly got his breath back. He finally noticed Aerith's arms around him, which literally had him melting in his embrace. "A-Aerith...?" Zack asked softly, his arms slowly returning the intimate contact.

The brown haired girl nodded to his chest, "Yes... but what happened to you? Are you hurt? I thought you've become mute when you didn't say anything a while ago..."

The raven-haired man chuckled nervously. "N-No... it's just that... when I saw you in here... I was... caught up in the moment. I mean, the scene... with you... with the flowers... the sunlight basking you... it was beautiful..."

Now, it was Aerith's turn to be awestruck as she blushed deeply. "A-aaahh... s-so that was i-it..."

"Hmmm..." Zack acknowledged her as he held the girl. The two stayed that way for a while, basking in each others' presences for the moment.

Zack finally broke the silence, carefully laced his words with both a bit of urgency as well as fondness, "What in the hells were you thinking, woman? Coming to this wretched place... Midgar is no place for someone as wonderful as you!"

Aerith was too used on how Zack handled his emotional outbursts, and just snuggled closer, "I know... but I can't be away from you, idiot. I love you, and I want us together."

"But this place..." The man almost whined, Aerith took note not to laugh at the tone, "This place is hell! Full of murder, dark secrets... and... Shin-Ra!"

"But you're here. I don't care for anything else..." The girl whispered into his ear.

Zack sighed sadly, but at the same time he smiled slightly as well, "Stupid girl... you'll be the death of me someday."

"Ah..." Aerith replied impishly, "But you love me anyway."

The swordsman snorted as he tightened his hold on the beautiful girl and said, "Of course."

"Meewww..." A forgotten pink floating cat sounded piteously behind them, which caused both Zack and Aerith to laugh.

"Of course I haven't forgotten about our little Mew!" Aerith continued to giggle as she opened one arm towards Mew, "Now come on in here and join us!"

Zack's partner meowed once more as she gleefully darted between the two lovebirds.

They continued to chat about anything they could think off until the sun has long set in the horizon, which prompted Aerith to take Zack back home with her. It was a wonderful reunion (and painful because Elmyra was too enthusiastic of her hug on Zack) between the three, err... four of them. Including Mew of course.

Zack stayed with the small family for three days, until he deemed it time to return to Shin-Ra Corporation for his mission report. And, he also wanted to see if the Turks managed to make it back into Midgar safe and sound as well.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Shin-Ra Building, Midgar Branch...

Zack found himself in the President Shin-Ra's office once more. He spent a few days with Aerith and Elmyra, and he has no regrets over it. But apparently, the management doesn't appreciate his... tardiness.

Add to the fact that his so-called teammates were able to return to Midgar only a few hours ago, still wounded from their encounter on that fateful day of the mission. With the outcome of the journey, Zack knew that he would receive a long tongue-lashing from the big-assed president of the company he worked for.

True to his premonition, Zack watched boredly as the president ranted behind the boss' big desk. The president waved his hands in the air as he did so, and spit flew out of his mouth from his yelling. Zack was quite thankful that he was way out of range from the yucky projectiles.

Sephiroth sat on the couch situated on one side of the office as he watched the proceedings without an expression on his face. He did, however, have a slight grin directed towards Zack, one which was returned albeit briefly.

The Turks stood on the president's side. Tseng had a smug grin on his face while he huffed on a cigarette. Elena stood poised as she glared at the swordsman. Reno had a scowl on his face, probably still sore at the utter loss they had received from the man being berated. Rude was as stoic as ever. It would've been an impressive sight if the Turks hadn't sported the various injuries they received from Zack in the form of casts and bandages.

"... and furthermore, you were supposed to report here immediately after you arrived in Midgar! And where were you! Probably gallivanting with some whore!" The President shouted as he banged his fist against his desk once more. He quickly shut up however, when Zack's hand slammed against the front part of the desk. The Turks bristled at the reaction, while Sephiroth's brow just quirked upwards.

"What I do after the mission is NONE of your concern, SIR." Zack's cold voice echoed in the spacious office. "I returned from this mission earlier than the deadline you yourself set on us, so I decided to get some relaxation from my free days. What I do on those days is, guess what, none of your concern, SIR. Furthermore, those idiots you call your elite Turks haven't done much in this mission. All they brought me was a huge burden. Had to save them a lot of times too. And for what? They turned on ME afterwards."

President Shin-Ra bristled in his seat as his eyes glared daggers into Zack's shades-covered ones, "H-How DARE you, subordinate! How dare you speak to me---"

"Let's get one thing straight, SIR..." Zack cut him off as he leaned closer towards the now sweating president, "You may be the one giving me the checks, but that's besides the point. The one who can give me orders is my superior officer, or have you forgotten? I'm in the military. And don't give me crap about you civilians having the higher power whatsoever. Besides, the mission's done. Get over it."

"You took the Materia, Zack. It should be Shin-Ra's propert---" Tseng tried to defend his boss, but was once again cut off.

"I don't give a hoot what you think, girly-boy..." Zack's unnerving stare turned to the leader of the Turks, "The Materia, while a material thing, is still semi-sentient. It's already proven in the labs, remember? It didn't choose you, it chose ME. I can't do anything about that. But if you're so adamant in taking it from me, then challenge me in a one-on-one combat. I'm sure my superior officer would enjoy that, ne Sephiroth?"

The aforementioned man snorted from his couch as the silver haired man named Sephiroth shifted his copy of Zack's Masamune from one shoulder to another, "Why not? It has been a boring week. Besides, it would be a real treat for the soldiers to watch a lackey getting beaten up by you."

The black-haired swordsman grinned as he readjusted the black headband around his forehead, "Well, there ya have it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd rather watch the soldiers drink themselves to death in the bar rather than listen to all of your whiney excuses. Toodles!"

While his statement had the president sputter some indignation, Zack swirled on his spot gracefully and exited the office with a flourish. The huge doors shut themselves closed after Zack passed through them.

A tense silence remained in the president's office, which was broken when the obese chairman of the board shouted, "SEPHIROTH! Did you hear what that runt told me! The nerve of him! He's being insubordinate! I want him punished, you hear me! PUNISHED!"

"Whatever... just remember, he's one of our best men. So you can't punish him too badly..." The silver haired man muttered as he stood from his seat. Sephiroth threw a sharp glance towards the Turks while the president continued his ranting, which made the Shin-Ra 'Elite' shiver slightly. He did not bother saying anything as he turned his back from his 'superior' and left the office with as much dignity as Zack did earlier. This brought about another bout of indignation from President Shin-Ra. But now, his targets were those who were left in the room, meaning, the Turks.

Sephiroth exhaled loudly as he exited the room. He was thankful that he left the loudmouth executive before the fat man continued any more of his monologue. Irritating bastard, that's what the president was in Sephiroth's eyes. He was about to turn on a corner when he almost ran into Zack, who was leaning on the wall.

"So..." Zack began, as he uncrossed his arms and stood from his position, "What did the bastard say?"

Sephiroth grunted, "You really like to live dangerously, do you?"

The raven-haired man shrugged. "I don't sit well with those incompetent leader types. And that guy is on top of the current list."

Zack's superior shook his head slightly and said, "It may be so, but you shouldn't antagonize those who pay your allowances in their faces."

Zack nodded solemnly. "Ah, so I should antagonize them behind their backs like you do, right?"

"Stupid idiot..." Sephiroth said quietly, but the words held no heat in them. "Anyway, I was told to punish you, severely." Without saying another word, Sephiroth held out a hand and smacked Zack at the back of his head, which elicited a loud yelp from the other man.

"Ouch! That hurt you moron!" Zack hissed as he rubbed his head.

Sephiroth inclined his head. "Good to know you can still feel that blow. Now that you've been sufficiently 'punished', let's just get out of this place. This building... it irritates me for some reason."

As the duo entered the elevator, a soft mumble was heard that said, "Hmph... you're just a big softie..." and another loud smack echoed in the empty hallways after the elevator doors shut.

Little did Zack know that within a few more days, everything between him and Sephiroth will change drastically.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A few days later, Zack and Sephiroth were practicing sword techniques when all of the sudden, the silver haired man fell to his knees and screamed bloody murder.

Zack immediately went to his friend's side and was at a loss at what to do. "Sephiroth? What's the matter man? Hey, you okay?" He was about to touch the other man's shoulder when all of the sudden, Sephiroth growled and slapped his hand away harshly.

"Get your filthy hands away from me, insect!" The man grunted out as he clutched at his head. His aquamarine eyes were sharp and unforgiving as they stared at Zack.

"What the hell's wrong with you!" Zack asked impatiently as he glared at his companion. He just wanted to help, after all, no need to bite his head off because of it!

"Ugh..." Sephiroth shook his head, "Reunion... the Reunion with Mother is... soon... ugh..."

Zack was confused at the statement. "What the heck are you talking about Sephiroth?"

"Wh-wha... ugh..." The silver haired man groaned as he convulsed on the ground.

The raven haired man grimaced. Sephiroth's his friend, and he wasn't about to abandon the guy to his torture. Also, Zack felt that there was something wrong with how his friend acted a while ago. It was in Sephiroth's eyes that Zack saw the illusion of whatever it was that possessed his friend. He was about to pick the silver haired man up when the doors of the training room opened violently.

Zack watched warily as a group of doctors went inside the room without waiting for an approval from him. His eyes narrowed when he found the leader of the little group. ((Doctor Hojo)) Zack thought to himself angrily.

"We will take it from here, soldier." Doctor Hojo's raspy voice echoed inside the large training room, as the doctor gestured for his companions to take Sephiroth's inert form.

Zack immediately stepped in front of his unconscious friend. "What is this? Why all this attention? What's wrong with him?"

Doctor Hojo lifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose with an index finger and replied, "That, is actually none of your concern. I am Sephiroth's personal physician, so it is my duty to ensure his... well-being."

((Right, and I'm actually an alien...)) Zack thought to himself sarcastically. Vocally, he said, "I think I have a right to know what's been going on. Why did he lash out like that?" ((What the hell did you do to him you freak?))

Doctor Hojo's face almost split with the gruesome grin on it. "I told you, that's none of your business. Now, let us do our work or Sephiroth may end up dying, and it's because you've been delaying us!"

Without any solid proof of deceit, Zack had no choice but to back off and watch as the medical team took Sephiroth and placed him on a stretched. The doctors filed out of the room with the SOLDIER's leader in tow. Doctor Hojo threw Zack a mocking grin before he went out of the room as well.

Zack could still remember that horrible laughter...

It was a week after that incident when Zack met up with Sephiroth once again. Much to the raven-haired man's dismay, his friend was back to being cold and ruthless, not much of a difference if you were one of the normal soldiers, but now even he was subjected to the silver-haired man's ruthlessness. Not that he minded, but it was as if their friendship was back to square one. At most, Sephiroth now treated Zack like one of the soldiers.

The swordsman was now more wary of Doctor Hojo than ever. What did that doctor do to his friend? Sephiroth's eyes were now somewhat glassy, and often times Zack found him muttering to himself something about 'Mother' and 'Reunion'. But the most important thing Zack took note of was the one word that he actually did not know about.

JENOVA.

Sephiroth's musings consisted of JENOVA, and his mother. But as far as Zack knew of Sephiroth's past, the silver-haired man has no mother. At least, that's what he's been told. Sephiroth once confessed to Zack during a drinking binge, a rare spectacle in itself, that he was a test tube baby. Created out of the lab. Again, so he was told.

The same lab that Doctor Hojo ran.

Zack now has a lot of the puzzle pieces, and slowly the picture was coming to focus. He knew that the doctor has something to do with everything that Sephiroth's been going through, and his friend's abrupt change in behavior.

Now, more than ever, Zack vowed to find out more about this JENOVA, and what this could mean if Sephiroth did find it.

The elite soldier shook himself out of his memories and reminded himself that he's in the middle of a routine inspection of the SOLDIER candidates ranks. He spared a glance towards Cloud, who stood in attention as Zack continued on with the inspection.

The small but elite group received a mission. Something about investigating a certain town named Nibelheim. Zack narrowed his brows a bit, and remembered that Cloud came from the town. ((Ah, so that's why he's so uptight lately. I wonder how long it's been since he went back home for a vacation?)) Zack wondered to himself.

"Are you done with the inspection?" Sephiroth's cold voice cut into Zack's thoughts.

The raven-haired man nodded mutely.

The group leader swiftly turned his back from them, his silver hair fluttered in the wind when he did, "Then let's not waste time. The sooner we get to Nibelheim, the faster we finish this mission."

As Zack watched his changed friend walk away, he muttered, "What? No 'Let us do our best, men!' speech? How boring." Nevertheless, the man snorted as he nodded to the men as a signal to depart, and followed Sephiroth into the vehicle they will use as transport.

In no time at all, the whole entourage arrived in Nibelheim with little to no problems whatsoever. There was the occasional monster battles which blocked the road earlier. Okay, so it wasn't as smooth sailing as it looked. Only Zack seemed to have enjoyed himself so far, and the time they weren't fighting he spent sleeping. He played a mental game of Shogi with his partner Mew, who sat on his shoulder while still in her invisible mode. Who knew where she got all that energy to maintain it for such a long time, but Zack didn't bother her about it. As long as Mew's happy, he's happy.

Zack was awakened by a soldier, who told him they have arrived at their destination. The other men in the vehicle were already out and inspecting the town. The soldier who woke him up turned out to be no other than Cloud, and Zack was a bit amused at the stressed expression on the blonde's face.

"You know, one should be a bit more excited returning to his home town, Cloud. It's as if you don't want to return here..." Zack mused to his subordinate as he donned the Buster Sword once again.

The blonde shook his head quickly and said, "It's not that, sir. It's just that... it's been a long time... and... well..."

Zack snorted loudly as both men walked out of the vehicle, "It's a girl, isn't it?"

Cloud blinked. "W-Wha! Where did you get that idea, sir!" he said hurriedly.

The raven-haired man chuckled as he took the view of the village in appreciation. "Relax. It's not as if you made a promise to her or something and that now you think you broke it..." ((Hmmm... this town ain't half-bad. Kinda reminds me of Gongaga. A few technological advancements, but still has its rustic view. I like it...)) he added to himself. Zack stopped when he noticed his companion has halted in his tracks.

"Oi, what's wrong with you, Cloud?" Zack asked with an eyebrow raised.

The blonde-haired subordinate sighed and slumped his shoulders forwards. "I dunno. I mean, I promised her I'll come back as a member of the elite SOLDIER, but... as you can see..."

"Lemme guess. You're ashamed to show your face to her since you haven't made SOLDIER..." Zack mused and watched as Cloud nodded his head meekly, "Well, lemme be the first to tell you, that's bullshit."

"But sir!" Cloud said pathetically, "I'm no SOLDIER. I'm just..."

"A grunt. Well, so what?" Zack rolled his eyes behind his shades, "At least you have a job. And besides, you can always try at becoming SOLDIER again. But you didn't. I wondered about it, but now I know why."

"Sir..." The blonde began, but was cut off by his superior.

"Don't put yourself down too much, Cloud. Everybody fails one time or another. True strength can be seen of a person who falls and stands to try once again..." Zack looked at Cloud intently, who fidgeted under his gaze, "Try taking the SOLDIER test again, Cloud. Stop moping around just because you failed the first time. Stop wallowing in the mud of failure and stand up with your own two feet. Get your ass in gear and DO IT. Understand?"

Cloud had no choice but to agree with it. He WAS actually thinking of trying again but... he hesitated a few times in the last few months. He was still sore at his first failure. But his superior officer's unwavering voice seemed to be the kick he needed to follow through with his dream.

Zack finally decided to relent on his erstwhile subordinate and student. He was leaning forward towards Cloud in a menacingly looming manner, so he slowly back away and nodded, satisfied that he was able to spur Cloud a bit to pursue his dream.

"Good..." the raven-haired man said as he flipped an errant strand of hair on his face, "Now, let's go before 'his bitchiness' becomes angry at us dawdling around."

"Yes sir!" The subordinate answered enthusiastically as Cloud put on his complete uniform, as well as his helmet.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

There was nothing more amusing at the moment for Zack than to watch the events displayed right in front of him. A while earlier he was introduced to the guides of the town, the Lockhart family. The patriarch of the family, a somehow tall, slightly pudgy man of his late 50s proudly introduced his 'heir' of some sorts to the family business. Actually, Zack thought that this heir of this man was his only child. Anyway, as it turned out, it was a girl.

Long, sleek black hair that reached up to her waist, reddish brown eyes, height that reached up to his chest, her... hmmm this was a teenager? Her... assets... were a lot bigger than what Zack was accustomed to. This girl was younger than Zack, probably a year or two. She had a wide-brimmed hat on her head, and she was... energetic.

AND, she was staring at him like he's some prized meat. Zack sweatdropped at the look that was directed at him.

"Hi there!" The succu-- err, the GIRL 'bounced' in front of them. Sephiroth was, unsurprisingly, nonchalant about it. The girl's father was smiling widely, proud of his daughter. And Cloud... what the? He's... projecting some weird vibes. ((It's a good thing I'm the only one who noticed it...)) Zack noted to himself.

Mew suddenly whispered in his mind, something about being HER. Now what could that be about... oh... OH! OHO! Such an interesting turn of events... a drama unfolded right in front of him and he almost missed it!

Zack was brought out of his musings when he felt someone pulled on his tight-fit shirt. He looked down and saw the girl, well, actually, EVERYONE stared at him in confusion. And then Zack finally realized that he must've been carried away.

"Err... what was it again?" Zack asked nervously as he scratched the back of his head. Everyone except Sephiroth sweatdropped.

The girl recovered her vigor and said, "I said my name's Tifa Lockhart, your guide for the rest of your stay. Your other companion already introduced himself, but you were lost in your thoughts so much that I had to get your attention."

"Oh..." Zack shrugged slightly, "My name's Zack. Nice ta meet'cha."

Tifa nodded happily. "Great! Now we're friends!" she crowed as she bowed down to her waist. Zack big sweated when he felt Cloud's glare at the back of his head.

The girl pouted cutely as she stared at Sephiroth's composed face and said, "You're kinda cute, but you're also scary-looking."

"Ahem, well..." Zack fervently tried to shake the feel of his subordinate's glare, "Let's just begin the tour then! Err... hey. Can you stand still for a moment? You're making me dizzy."

The girl grinned sheepishly as she stopped fluttering around the room. "Sorry!" she chirped, "I got too excited. It's seldom that we get to guide high-profile people like you!"

Zack turned to his side and looked at Cloud pleadingly.

The subordinate blinked underneath his mask as he shrugged slightly. But he buckled under Zack's gaze, "Err... better stay close to us then, ma'am. There might be strong monsters in there."

The girl was about to retort, but Zack beat her to it. "Then it's settled!" Zack grinned evilly, and Cloud felt an impending doom coming to take his moderately wonderful life...

"YOU take care of her, kiddo!" Zack smirked triumphantly as he swerved Tifa towards the uniformed Cloud's direction, who was to dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events to even complain about the situation. Cloud got no choice but to catch Tifa and watched as his mentor, Zack, trotted away from them. It still bothered Cloud that Zack threw the patented 'I-have-a-plan' smirk at him. The blonde blinked when he suddenly realized that he has an armful of the busty young girl he had a crush on since he was a child, and said girl now threw a right hook towards his face.

WHAM!

Whoa. Good thing normal soldiers of Shin-Ra wore those helmets. Who knew how much pain Cloud would be in if he got that punch at full blast? Although, now he has to have it changed, because the fist imprint was not fashionable for a mask.

Well, Cloud let Tifa go when he stumbled back from the blow. Which led to the girl falling unto her shapely bum and got her to curse everything in existence, especially that soldier who dropped her.

Sephiroth just shook his head and went ahead. Zack on the other hand had stopped fleeing once Tifa lost interest on him. He did however see the spectacular right hook the girl threw at Cloud.

((Ah, young love...)) Zack thought to himself as he watched, from a distance, as Tifa screamed profanities at Cloud. This girl was probably the one Cloud was talking about earlier, and it was probably a good thing that Cloud's face was covered by the helmet.

The raven-haired swordsman winced when he saw Cloud got kicked at the shin by Tifa, before the girl stormed off after Sephiroth. ((I wonder... what would happen if I tell the girl that the soldier she's bullying is her childhood friend? Ohhh... such fun this is! Oh yes indeed!)) Zack grinned to himself as he too turned to follow where the small group has gone.

Sephiroth, as always, led the group of four people as Tifa introduced them to Nibelheim's sites. Tifa's father has gone somewhere else, probably another part of town where another group of tourists arrived. Anyway, Zack was half-heartedly listening to the younger girl's descriptions regarding the view, while it was Cloud who fervently paid full attention to her.

Mount Nibel, in Zack's opinion, was a let-down. Not that it was a small mountain to begin with, but with that much build-up from before, he was expecting a whole lot from it. Although, there were some good points. Even when the mountain was already touched by Shin-Ra's technology, there were still various parts of the mountain virtually unscathed. Shin-Ra built a massive Mako Reactor in this area, and Zack surmised that Mount Nibel teemed with Mako energy. Which also meant that the mountain has lots of materia in it.

Zack kicked a small rock absently and stared at the stalactites in one of Mount Nibel's caves. In the middle of the room, a relatively small-sized materia was formed atop a natural rock formation eroded by years of confinement. Tifa pointed out the fact very proudly, while Sephiroth explained the long and winding process of materia formation from solidified Mako energy. In other words, the raven-haired elite was very bored.

Low level monsters ran rampant along the slopes of the mountain, but they were dispatched easily. No challenge for Zack whatsoever, so one could definitely understand why he's this way at the moment.

So bored. Though the occasional 'couple-like' banters between Cloud and Tifa were pretty interesting at some points.

Thankfully, the group finally reached the heart of the mountain's interior, where the ruined Mako Reactor resided. But Tifa that the day's tour was pretty much over, and that they would continue on the next day. Zack, with all his boredom, agreed too easily, while Cloud followed Tifa like a lost puppy. Sephiroth, though, paused at the entranceway into the Reactor Core itself as the rest of the group turned to leave.

Zack noticed his superior has fallen behind. "Sephiroth... the tour's over for today. I think it's gonna be nighttime, and we don't want to get stranded in the middle of an unknown territory at night. We will start earlier tomorrow so that we'll be able to explore that place, so don't worry."

"I am not worried..." Sephiroth mused distractedly as he soon turned and followed the rest of the group out of the mountain.

They were met by Tifa's father at the foot of Mount Nibel, who led them back into Nibelheim Mansion to spend the night. Sephiroth wordlessly entered the mansion without waiting for the others. Tifa opted to stay in her own house and went with her father. Zack and Cloud were the only ones left outside the mansion proper.

"Hey kid, you came from this village too, right?" Zack asked his companion as he stared at the blood red sky.

Cloud grunted an affirmative.

The raven-haired swordsman turned his gaze towards the blonde and said, "Why don't you visit your home? Your mother must be worried 'bout you, ya know."

Cloud bristled at this. "I can't. I'm not a SOLDIER..."

Zack snorted as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Kid, she won't care whether you're in SOLDIER or not. All she'll care about is that her child is alive and well. You're an idiot to think otherwise."

Eventually, Cloud was convinced by Zack to go home for the night, his own home, in this hometown of his called Nibelheim.

After seeing his subordinate walk back into the town, the amnesiac warrior entered the mansion and went into his room. Zack lay on his bed, but was pretty much awake.

After a few hours into the night, Zack heard a door open slightly outside his own room. The swordsman quickly donned his clothes and silently slipped outside his room. He found Sephiroth gazing outside the Mansion's balcony, in such deep and intense introspection. The view overlooked the Nibelheim town, as well as Mount Nibel. Zack decided to just let the silver-haired man be, and went back into his room as silently as he did slipping outside of it a while ago. He never noticed Sephiroth's expressionless face turning into a malicious sneer...

Heat was the first thing that greeted Zack in the morning. As he blearily opened his eyes, he was surprised to see the red hot flames howling along the walls of the room he was staying in. Most of the furniture in the room were already burned badly, especially the curtains, which caused him to jump out of his already smoldering bed in alarm. Zack dashed out of the burning room, basically ignoring the scorched door as he mowed it down with his strength. Of course, the whole place was ablaze as well.

Zack made his way to the stairs that led downstairs, and met up with a frantic Cloud wearing his own regular soldier uniform. Without exchanging much words, they quickly paved a way for each other downstairs, where they managed to witness their silver-haired superior stabbing Tifa's father with his long katana. Tifa, unfortunately, witnessed the entire thing at the door of the burning mansion, wherein her only path to her dying father was barred by the long searing fires that licked the rest of the area.

In their haste, Zack and Cloud had forgone the stairwell path and jumped directly into the area where Tifa was. Zack called out to Sephiroth, but he was ignored by the silver-haired man as the latter turned and vanished into the flames.

With the embers of the fire weakening slightly, Tifa braved the flames and went to her father, followed by the two Shin-Ra operatives. It was too late, her father has departed from this life, and her heart-wrenching sobs chorused with the roar of the fire. Zack quickly turned to his subordinate and ordered Cloud to find other survivors in the town proper. The blond underneath the headgear was hesitant in leaving a distraught Tifa, but Zack assured him that the raven-haired man will take care of her. With that said, Cloud quickly left the burning mansion and went into the Nibelheim town itself.

When Zack turned to the brown haired girl from Nibelheim, Tifa had already pulled off Sephiroth's sword from her father's corpse, and was now running outside of the mansion as well. So the Shin-Ra SOLDIER member ran outside as well, and just followed the grief-stricken girl's path. Both of them were further horrified, however, when they saw that even the whole town of Nibelheim was burning in the huge fiery mess. Zack did notice that Tifa was making her way towards Mount Nibel blindly, and the ruined Mako Reactor in particular. Still, Zack didn't let up in tailing the girl. He surmised that he'll probably find Sephiroth inside the reactor anyway.

Everywhere they turned, the same burning scene met their sights. This fueled their rage as they ran towards Mt. Nibel. When they reached the place, they paused momentarily at the door where they had stopped yesterday from entering into.

Tifa and Zack, however, stiffened when they finally laid eyes upon the inside of the reactor room. It was, by far, the most different in all of the other reactors they have ever encountered. Usually, the series of Mako gathering machinery that Shin-Ra installed in strategic parts of the world were generally the same in design. But this one was... so much unlike the others...

"What the hell is this..." Zack muttered to himself as he stared at the rows of 'pods' that lined up inside the innermost sanctum of the reactor itself. He ignored the black haired girl who wore that ridiculous straw hat for now, who stood rigid at the sight, and continued to inspect the pods. He was also able to ignore the imposing figure of their real purpose in the reactor, in favor of these... things around the area. Sephiroth just stood at the top of the long flight of stairs that led towards the inner reactor proper, apparently in a deep trance himself. Tifa shook in silent rage when she saw the silver-haired man, but she held herself back a bit when she saw Zack's unusual reaction.

Zack peered into one of the capsules, and a rather deformed face of... something... greeted him, which caused him to recoil back in shock. "What the hell is this!" he finally bellowed.

He quickly looked into another pod, and saw something vaguely the same. As well as the next pod, and the next, and the next...

"Experiments..." The swordsman simmered as he whispered, loud enough to be heard by anyone inside the silent hall. He saw Sephiroth twitch at his words.

Sephiroth finally spoke, and rested his hand on one of the pods in front of him. "JENOVA..." he murmured to himself, clearly out of his wits at the sudden turn of events. "I finally found... Mother..."

Zack growled, "What do you mean, Sephiroth! Do you know who did this!" In a sudden terrifying thought, he added, "Do you have something to do with these... abominations!"

"Abominations...?" Sephiroth breathed as he glared at Zack coldly, "These... are HER children, mortal!"

Taken aback by his friend's sudden one-eighty turn of emotions, Zack regained his footing and asked, "What... what the hell's the matter with you, Sephiroth!"

"Nothing is wrong with me..." Sephiroth smirked absently as he turned his back towards his former friend negligently, "I just found what I was searching for so long..." The silver-haired man noticed Tifa inching towards one of the pods in place at the lowest level of the room, "Stand back! You don't deserve to gaze towards them!"

Tifa's eyes blazed as she clutched at the sword in her hands. "You... you bastard! You killed my father, you murderer! Not only that... the village..."

Sephiroth's cold aquamarine eyes stared at the doors in front of him. "Humans... they do not matter to me. I am superior to all of you."

The long-haired buxom girl screamed. Before Zack knew it, Tifa was already running towards Sephiroth with the fake Masamune in her hands, poised for a strike on Sephiroth's back. The silver-haired man just turned and caught Tifa's hand before the blade even touched his skin and took back his sword without a word.

Zack shouted, "Shit! Tifa!" and ascended the steps himself, unsheathing the Buster Sword as Tifa flew back from Sephiroth's near-fatal sword slash. The raven-haired man barely caught the unconscious girl before she seriously injured herself from the high fall, and carefully set her down leaning unto one of the pods. Then Zack himself charged Sephiroth, but the latter was ready for this. Partly from the terrain advantage, Sephiroth quickly slapped the heavier Buster Sword without too much trouble, and landed a slash across Zack's chest.

Zack grunted as Sephiroth kicked his body away, and landed heavily on the one of the pods at the lower level of the stairs. His dark-tinted glasses flew back and clattered on the floor a few feet away from where his sword landed.

"Ugh... Sephiroth..." He grunted as he struggled to right himself. He saw a blurred image of Sephiroth looking at him passively from atop of the steps.

Sephiroth sniffed imperiously as he turned his back to him. "Hmph. Typical of humans. If you play with fire, you get burned, so they say..." he trailed off.

"Sephiroth!" Zack screamed, unknowing that his scream was in stereo with the soldier at the doors.

Cloud just came from his inspection of the town. In short, Nibelheim was burned to the ground. Even his house wasn't spared, especially Cloud's mother. The blonde had no time to grieve as he turned his head from his destroyed house and tried to find other survivors. Most of the townspeople had slash marks on them made by a very long blade. Even those other soldiers who escorted their entourage were killed by a sword.

Seeing that there was nothing else he could do, Cloud went on to find Sephiroth. The last logical place Cloud thought the silver-haired man would be in was the Mount Nibel Mako Reactor core room. It was then that he witnessed Zack being thrown back from Sephiroth when he entered the room with the strange looking contraptions.

It was when Cloud noticed Tifa's condition.

The blonde removed his helmet and threw it on the ground as he quickly made his way towards the wounded girl. He was thankful that she was still alive, only unconscious. He brushed his hand on Tifa's cheek and remembered his promise. His promise to protect Tifa when she needed him. He was assaulted by memories of their childhood, as well as that accident on the bridge that changed the two's relationship.

Cloud stood resolutely and glanced around. He saw Zack's struggling form on the pod, as well as the Buster Sword on the ground. He quickly went to Zack and carefully brought the man down from the uncomfortable position he was on before. Cloud gasped when he saw Zack's face.

Instead of the whites in the eyes, blue-grey color greeted him. Even Zack's pupils were highly unusual, which were glowing golden at the moment.

"Hooo... so you're not human as well, Zack?" Sephiroth whispered to Zack as he stared back with his own blue-green eyes.

"B-Being human... is a r-relative t-term..." Zack gasped as blood spilled from his mouth. He gripped at Sephiroth's sword arm tighter, which caused the other man to wince slightly. "Wake u-up, S-Sephiroth. This i-is n-not y-you..."

Sephiroth snorted as he pushed his subordinate back violently. "Wake up?" he asked in amusement, as he cocked his right leg back, "I am already awake, after such a long time..." Having said that, Sephiroth kicked Zack, sword and all, down the stairs.

Cloud bore witness to all of these, and watched in horror as his friend and mentor was impaled by his own friend in a vital area. He saw that Zack landed hard on top of one of the pods after Sephiroth kicked him away without remorse. Already, the pod on which Zack landed on was already coated with the man's blood.

He immediately lifted Tifa's unmoving body and cradled her against him. Cloud ran towards where Zack fell, and saw that the man was still trying to stand.

"Z-Zack!" Cloud asked in trepidation. The sword strike was fatal, but the raven haired man was still able to move. He watched as Zack reached for his sword, but it was enough.

"Stop moving! You're hurt bad!" Cloud hissed as he used his foot to stop Zack's hand from grasping the Buster Blade. When the wounded officer looked up to the blonde, he breathed in sharply.

For as long as he could remember, Cloud knew that nobody has ever seen Zack's eyes. They were always covered by those dark-tinted glasses that Zack never seemed to run out of. Now he saw it clearly, how unearthly those eyes were.

The raven-haired swordsman huffed as he sat up gingerly. His abdomen hurt like hell, and it was only his sheer will that he was able to do so. Zack saw it clearly, his friend has that manic look in his eyes. Ironically, it reminded Zack of Doctor Hojo's own manic glee whenever the doctor had acquired new... specimens. Nevertheless, he needed to stop Sephiroth. Whatever Sephiroth was after, it wouldn't be all that good. And his target must be behind the doors on top of those stairs.

Zack could hear Cloud's voice from somewhere, but he concentrated on numbing the pain he felt around his chest. As he reached for his sword, he found his hand blocked by a black boot. Zack looked up and saw Cloud leaning down to him. He also spied upon Tifa's unconscious form. Damn, she was wounded by Sephiroth as well. Zack could see that his subordinate has a panicked look on his now unmasked face.

"Huh?" Zack asked dubiously as he leaned back to the pod he landed on. He abandoned his attempts to wield his sword, if only to recover some energy to do so a little later.

Cloud's worried face appeared in front of him. "I said, stop moving dammit!" The blonde told him sternly.

"... can't do that..." Zack grimaced as he felt his body slowly forcing itself to heal the fatal wound, "... need to stop... Sephiroth..."

"Why did this happen! Why did the boss do all these!" Cloud asked frantically.

Zack shook his head slowly as he took deep, labored breaths, "I... I dunno. But it all started... a few days ago."

His eyes narrowed into slits as he stared at his blonde subordinate, "Cloud... you... you need to stop... Sephiroth."

The blonde soldier was taken aback. He wasn't even a good fighter yet, and to face the leader of the group at his current level would be suicide. "But sir... I'm not strong enough!"

"Cloud..." Zack rasped as he clutched at his aching wound tighter, "Something's... something's gonna happen... and Sephiroth is in the middle... of it. I... I was taken by surprise. I... I thought I could get to him... before he goes crazy. Seems like... I failed..." He paused momentarily to let the fresh bouts of pain washed all over his body, "Someone... needs... to stop him..." Already, Zack's vision was dimming as his body was automatically shutting itself down to heal faster, "That... that stupid jerk... who needs... enemies when... you have... friends... like... him..." His eyes finally closed in exhaustion. He heard Cloud from somewhere while he was in the state of near total unconsciousness. Something about a solemn vow, probably for that poor girl caught in the crossfire, and the telltale sound of the Buster Sword being picked up from the ground.

If Zack had enough strength, he would've patted the boy on the head for facing this trial bravely. But he can't, not at the moment. Zack just hoped Cloud would survive long enough for him to recover and continue teaching the younger man. Cloud has potential.

Oh well, those were the breaks... he could already hear Mew and Aerith's really long sermon about this later...

Zack was just thankful that he can't really concentrate on Mew's frantic mental calls in his mind right now.

He knew he's gonna get it from the women (Aerith, Elmyra, his adoptive mother, Mew...) of his life soon. Ah, blissful unconsciousness was never this sweet before...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

For Zack, one of the worst views he could have when he woke up was being inside a VAT enriched human-sized capsule. Sadly, his day got worse when he recognized that he was inside one AND was in Doctor Hojo's laboratory.

Zack felt like crap, which was an understatement. The liquid inside the capsule he was in was thankfully breathable. He reached out and touched the small circular window in front of him. The memories he had before he went unconscious was not pleasant at all. His wound was obviously healed, due to the fact that he trusted his own body's functions.

He decided that his extended stay inside this capsule was enough, so he cocked back a hand and smashed it through the glass window, which caused the liquid to spill outside. Zack followed this with a kick to the metal door.

The swordsman found himself nearly naked; only his boxers seemed to be the only thing that covered his privates and his black bandanna around his forehead as he coughed out the liquid from his lungs. The VAT treatment tasted dreadful, and it was an experience he wouldn't want to repeat anytime soon. While he scuffled along the dark, damp office, he spied upon some documents that lay messily amongst the papers on the lone table in the room.

Experiments? Mako Radiation Therapy? JENOVA cell infusion? Was that what was done to his body? And yet, Zack felt no different. Ah, no reaction to the JENOVA cells... a failed infusion. Again, Zack had to thank his unusual metabolism, which seemed to have saved him a lot of trouble. Not only that, but it seemed that Doctor Hojo has kept him in this lab for at least five years. Gah, must be really powerful drugs the mad doctor used to sedate him. A really long time, but... what's this? Another test subject?

Cloud Strife. Oh no...

Quickly, Zack stumbled towards the other pod near his and found that it was true. That Cloud was the other test subject mentioned in the documents. And unlike him, Cloud was prone to the effects of the Mako infusion. Not only that, Cloud's body was modified horrifically.

The changes in Zack's friend's body were pretty obvious. The few scars around a few choice joints proved that Cloud has been reattached with a few limbs or so, Zack's not really sure, but it might be the case.

The raven-haired swordsman shook himself out of his stupor as he pressed the button that he surmised would open the pod. A while later, a damp Cloud was lying on the ground next to the pod. Zack was quite alarmed when he found his friend nearly immobile, with a few twitches here and there. Not only that, but it was also revealed that Cloud was overdosed with Mako energy. A thin trail of light green liquid dripped from the blonde's mouth as Zack pulled his insensate friend into a sitting position.

"Cloud?" Zack asked worriedly, patting his blonde subordinate on the cheeks, "You in there, kiddo?"

Cloud's head snapped up, but his eyes were glassy. "Guuuwaaahhh?" the blonde noised as his head fell to one side limply.

"Damn..." the dark-haired man growled, "He must be near brain-dead coz of this stuff... gotta get him outta here, quick..." he eyed the pod in disdain as he lifted his companion's arm over his shoulders.

"MEW!" A pink blur encompassed Zack's vision for a moment before he was forced to grunt as he felt something impact against his stomach. It was a good thing that he's got a firm hold of Cloud's unresponsive body, else he would've accidentally dropped the poor guy on the cold flooring of the lab. After he got his breath back, Zack found his erstwhile pink-furred partner Mew, who was usually invisible unless in front of Aerith or if they were alone. In their mental link, Mew spewed a lot of nonsense and garbled figures. But Zack felt the overwhelming feeling of longing from the floating pink cat. He felt a bit ashamed, and mentally soothed Mew with his apologies and reassurances that he will be with her forever.

"Hmmm... so we've been trapped in this dump for about five years, huh?" Zack mused audibly as he pulled Cloud along with him towards the laboratory's exit. After Mew finally allowed Zack to move again, the trio... well, duo and an unconscious cargo... continued their trek to escape the daunting prison of sorts. They found themselves in the ruins of the mansion located in Nibelheim, the very same place where the disaster with Sephiroth occurred.

"I have a bad feeling about what they did to us in there..." Zack said seriously as Mew threw him a worried look, "But I've got no time to deal with it for now. Cloud's pretty much in a coma, and he takes full priority as of this time."

Zack managed to hitch-hike on a farmer's truck with Cloud in tow. Mew was of great help, as she helped lessen the blonde's weight load on her master/partner.

Meanwhile, back in the facility... the escape has been discovered. Alarms blared angrily all over the laboratory, and soldiers congregated to initiate their mission. Doctor Hojo surmised that since both experiments were great failures, he wanted them destroyed to remove the evidence of his banned research. It was too bad though... the black-haired warrior did have some interesting samples in his blood that the doctor cannot use correctly.

All the while, Zack was telling the insensate Cloud of his past exploits, even his first meeting with his beloved. He ignored the blonde man's soft groans as he unraveled his life over to his only friend left, who probably won't understand any of his ramblings, but the piece of mind Zack would feel after this would be worth it.

"We're gonna be mercenaries, Cloud..." Zack intoned as he stared over the darkening horizon as the drone of the truck's engine went on, "We're gonna be helping people in need... and also beat a lotta monsters and get stronger..."

The now self-proclaimed private mercenary droned on, "And then I'll introduce you to Aerith and Elmyra... then I'll help you get that girl you liked so much... I hope she survived though... well..."

Anyway, Zack noticed that their ride was finally a few kilometers away from Midgar itself. Thank the powers that be for that, now he felt a bit better being further away from the city. He did feel a pang of regret when he remembered Aerith and Elmyra, but just decided to call later to inform them of his status when they arrive at a town or something.

Alas, his plans were meant to be foiled. Mew alerted him of pursuers from Shin-Ra Corporation.

A truckload of fully armed Shin-Ra squad was visible from the far side of the road, and it didn't help that it was coming close. Zack figured that it would've been easy for him to beat all the soldiers up by himself, but with the current status of his body as well as his friend's condition...

Zack opted another way, that was, to escape. He draped Cloud over his shoulder as he leapt out of the truck they hitch-hiked on. Mew monitored their pursuers' movements as they ran towards a meadow. Zack cursed when he saw the open area, since it was tactically unsound for them to be exposed while being hunted. Too bad they had no other choice but to cover the distance to the other side of the clearing anyway.

Of course, safety was just beyond those clump of trees over to the other side of the dangerously exposed open meadow. Sigh, why do these things happen to Zack in the first place?

BANG!

A whizz in the air followed by a soft thud beside him proved that they was about to be reached by the soldiers. He ran even faster as he readjusted Cloud on his shoulder, not that he can do anything else. His usual potent energy was in overtime trying to fix his body, his breath has been ragged because of his tired state, his friend was totally incoherent from Mako overdose... such odds were sadly normal occurance for him.

WHIZZ... THUD!

Okay, so it wasn't everyday that his own former employers hunted him down with extreme prejudice.

RATATATATATA... THUD, THUD, THUD... PING!

Gatling guns, huh? Not good for Zack, especially with the extra weight... not good at all... but nevertheless, they're already near the other side of the clearing. He could already see a bit of salvation in the small foliage... oh, wait...

"DAMN IT!" Zack cursed loudly as he slid into an abrupt halt. Just a few feet in front of him was a VERY deep ravine.

"Mew... mew!" The pink cat flitted all over the place to find another way for them to escape, but alas, no such luck.

The raven-haired man shook his head as he put Cloud down gently. "It's not your fault, Mew..." he sighed sadly, "You better go invisible. I'd rather have you safe out there than be captured as well..."

Mew faded from view, but her presence never left the area. She was adamant that she would protect her master, but...

Zack grimaced as he slowly released the Buster Blade from the clamps that secured it upon his back. He still felt his immense weakness, and he knew it was going to affect his fighting in a bit. He idly noticed that Cloud's image shimmered for a bit, before it became... 'part' of the background. He can't explain it, but somehow Cloud's inert form was... ignored by his mind for the time being. Probably the effect of Mew's skill, so he tried not to think about it too much. Besides, he has a lot more things to think about.

Maybe it has something to do with the guns aimed towards his direction.

There were some points in Zack's life that everything around him slowed down dramatically into a severe slow motion playback. Right now, it was Mew's first time to experience this phenomenon, and it was probably her greatest nightmare to date.

The image of the guns that blazed bullets into Mew's master's body burned in her mind as she screamed both vocally and mentally. She was about to drop the slight distorted illusion on Cloud and help Zack but she heard her master's tired but urgent voice in their mind-link.

"((D-Don't move, M-Mew!))" Zack's voice came to Mew telepathically, "((J-Just... just k-keep protecting C-Cloud... I... I'll h-handle t-this...))"

Before Mew could even retort back, Zack forcibly cut their connection. Unknown to the pink critter, Zack has given deep thought on the situation. He uncharacteristically flinched when those bullets were shot at him, which resulted to his heavily wounded state at the moment. Even if he would be able to heal these wounds without much trouble normally, in this case he was stuck with a rather terribly weaker constitution due to that mysterious event in Doctor Hojo's laboratory. He wasn't able to pull enough energy to heal quicker, but he was able to keep himself alive even when some of the bullets did hit a few crucial points in his body. He wasn't also able to do anything when the force of the shots pushed him over the ravine.

Right now, he was falling deeper into the dark crack on the earth. When he will hit the bottom, he wasn't really sure. But he did realize that due to his mental connection with Mew, the pain he would feel when he hits rock bottom would resonate through their link, and into Mew. He didn't want Mew to feel the incoming pain, so after he warned her of not helping him and keeping the illusion on Cloud's unconscious body in the meantime, he cut off their connection.

Satisfied of the situation, Zack waited for the inevitable; the fall should end soon enough, and the pain will start. He just hoped that he would survive the impact, and he also wished that Cloud would survive without him for a while as well.

Ironically, the last thought in Zack's mind was... the short flash of memory that he should be able to get out of this mess by flying, but...

How can he fly, ne? He doesn't have wings...

Right...

CRACK! RUMBLE!

Blissful darkness... finally...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Pain. That's the first feeling he had since he awoken... or something. Nope. Wrong, he's not awake yet. He felt himself drifting in the darkness once again, and it seemed like he was used to this situation.

Weird, really.

He could still feel the pinpricks of pain that lanced from the bullet wounds all over his body, but somehow the pain was starting to ebb away into nothing. The mind-splitting headache that pummeled his head right now, that's another story. But he could still see nothing... nothing at all. In fact, he had no idea if his eyes were opened or closed in the first place.

FLASH

A memory flashed in front of him. He was in some sort of a highly advanced place, surrounded by women. But his attention was trained unto a few females only, namely a light-green haired girl with dark skin, a pale girl with light-cyan hair and red eyes, a girl with dark purple hair and purple eyes, a tall woman with long light blue hair and blue eyes...

Huh... it seemed like he knew these people somehow...

FLASH

""If you think you can kiss me and run like that, you have another thing coming!"" The purple haired girl with purple eyes screamed at him as she leapt to his direction, then...

Raven... her name was Raven...

FLASH

"I felt so lonely. For thousands of years, I've been left dormant, until Fei and the others found me. I'm deeply grateful to them for that." The girl with dark skin and light green haired told him at one time...

Emeralda...

FLASH

""I will come with them, of course. I will follow Master Ranma where ever he may go."" The woman with light blue hair and red eyes hugged him into her bosom...

Lea... Ihadurca...

FLASH

The blond haired woman almost choked, as she felt tears course down her cheeks. Ignoring the warm pelts of salty liquid flowing down freely on her face, she whispered vehemently, "-You are very precious to me, Chaos. I love you very much.-"

Hild... my dear Hild...

FLASH

The cyan-haired girl gasped and stepped back, her face lighting up much to her companion's shock. The girl with red eyes reared back and bowed to the waist, declaring, "Kami-sama! I finally found you!"

Vanilla...

FLASH

The teal haired woman blinked as she looked down to the child in her arms, who looked back at her with those slitted blue eyes with curiosity. "I forgot to tell you..." she almost whispered, "You... we... the last time we... we did... IT... I got... well, PREGNANT... and..."

Ryoko... and my... daughter... Ranko...

FLASH

A name... he was... Chaos? No... that one was the old him... the other...

Master Ranma? Lord Ranma? Ranma-sama? Ranma...

Ranma... his name... is Ranma... Saotome.

Son of the goddess Tokimi and the Saiyajin Elite Nasu...

The Trinity... the Choushin... Choushin...

"Choushin..." Zack, rather, Ranma muttered to himself as he watched the myriad of memories that swirled around him. Instead of being confused though, his mind felt being slowly completed... like an unfinished puzzle...

"I remember..." The raven-haired man whispered to himself in awe. "I remember... and WHAT THE HECK HAVE I BEEN DOING THESE PAST FEW YEARS!"

The Darkness seemed amused at his outburst, but it receded once again like it had in the past...

Ranma gasped as he took a sharp intake of breath, as he found himself buried in a massive rock landslide.

"Ugh... THE HELL! Now I'm under a pile of dirt!" Ranma grumbled loudly as he thrust his right hand upwards. The obsidian-colored bracer on his arm made a sharp metallic noise when it hit the hard rock. The landslide seemed to be deeper than it looked, since his hand never felt the slight freedom of being waved in rock-less space. With a sudden revelation, Ranma remembered his skills... and almost smacked himself silly for even forgetting he had them in the first place for two decades or so.

Total recall and all, Ranma deadpanned to himself, "How I managed to survive all these years must be luck... OH CRAP!" Another memory surfaced as he phased out of the rubble, "Aerith... I... oh... drat... I mean... I BOINKED ANOTHER WOMAN! Ryoko's gonna kill me! And Lea! And Raven! And Emeralda! And Vanilla!"

When Ranma finally navigated out of the predicament he was in, he floated on top of the rocky ruin as he gazed at the semi-darkness of the ravine. "I'm a dead man..." he groaned as his mind betrayed him by raunchy thoughts about his present lover, "Very VERY dead man..."

"MEEEEEWWWWWWW!" A rampaging pink ball of fur barreled into Ranma's torso. The man grunted as he struggled to maintain his floating position after he caught the highly emotional partner slash pet of his.

"Mew..." Ranma winced guiltily as he spied upon the glistening tears in Mew's eyes before she smashed into him. He also felt the immense relief and emotional outburst within their newly opened mind link. "Damn, Mew... I'm so so sorry for making you worry, really..." he said weakly as he caressed the pokemon's pink head lovingly.

A long silence followed the tearful reunion, only marred by Mew's occasional sniffs and hiccups.

Ranma did have one last thing to say though. "Damn... not only am I gonna be killed by the girls, but Rin-Ohki's gonna blast me to kingdom come..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

A few thousand light years away from Earth, or Gaia...

A large dark shadow passed by the seventh moon of the fifth planet in the Dirgas System, at least sixteen light years away from the Solar System. When the Dirgas System's giant red dwarf-type star's rays finally hit the shadow, it was revealed that it was silver in color. Its body was crystalline in nature, and spike-like structures jutted out of its body. Six of these spikes pointed backwards, three on each of its side. Another trio of the spikes, which were much shorter than the rest of the spikes, pointed out front. The front spikes were curiously arranged in an inverted triangular position if the whole thing was looked at from the front...

In short, the shadow was actually a silver ship. However, with the way it lazed in a continuous orbit around the natural satellite, it was dormant.

However, when Ranma recovered his memories light years away from the location of the silver ship, it suddenly flared an ominous glow in the middle of the dark space that surrounded it. A large dark purple gem at the top of the ship shone brightly when the whole thing 'activated'.

Inside the ship, various crystalline objects lit up momentarily. A large semi-transparent screen became visible at the front most area of what seemed to be the ship's bridge. The entire area's lighting was turned on, and an image of a silver-furred animal which seemed to be a cross between a cat and rabbit was shown. The silver animal was... sleeping at the moment, complete with a speech balloon with 'Zzzz' in it. The speech balloon popped all of the sudden, and the animal awoke.

"Miyaaaaahhh..." The animal yawned sleepily as it took stock of its surroundings, before it realized something and perked up. Its ears suddenly snapped upwards as it started concentrating.

More crystals lit up when the animal started concentrating. Various parts of the ship started reactivating as well. The progress report of the ship's activation went on for a few minutes, until it finally reached the final phase of its activation.

Reawakening the persons in Cold Sleep.

It would seem that the ship had been dormant for at least twenty years, Earth time. All these years, the inhabitants of the ship remained in cold sleep because they were waiting for someone.

With the ship's reactivation, it would entail that the person the inhabitants of the ship was found once again.

On the semi-transparent screen on the bridge's front area, amongst the activation protocols and ship's recovery status was a certain phrase that seemed to be the most important.

MENTAL LINK RE-ESTABLISHED, U.P.S. (Universal Positioning System) ENGAGED.

"Miyaah!" The ship seemed to squeal as it informed its 'crew' about the new situation.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back on Gaia...

"I just KNEW my life sucks, big time..." Ranma muttered to himself as he stared at the spot where Cloud was supposed to be.

After Ranma and Mew managed to pull themselves out of their funk, they flew up and out of the ravine. They both wanted to check on Cloud, who was left on the edge with Ranma's discarded Buster Sword. The dark-haired man remembered that he dropped the sword when he was shot a few days ago. Speaking of which, he just found out from Mew that he was unconscious for nearly three days. It took that long to get his healing abilities up to par.

"Mew, are you sure Cloud was here before you left him?" He asked his companion as he toed the depression on the grass. Nope, no Cloud here.

The floating pink kitty threw Ranma a deadpan look. "Mew...!"

Ranma gave Mew his own deadpan look, his tail waved agitatedly behind him. "Right... but he's not here, ne? Hmmm... then maybe he recovered while you were looking for me, stood up on his own, took my sword then went on ahead to ride towards the sunset, ne?"

Mew closed her eyes and gave a solemn nod. "Meeeww..."

"Whatever... we'll just have to find him, ne?" Ranma huffed impatiently.

With that said, the duo flew out of the area.

"And while we look for the idiot, we'll gather information about this... JENOVA... that Sephiroth's blabbering about..." Ranma spat the name like a curse, "Meaning... we'll be going undercover and target Doctor Hojo. Seems that guy has most of the info at hand."

Mew nodded slightly in ascent to Ranma's statement as they flew on.

Time passed by quickly, and Ranma eventually found Cloud's whereabouts. The raven-haired former elite soldier discovered Cloud DID manage to recover from being near brain-dead, but there was something... off about the blonde.

One glaring reason was that Cloud Strife hunkered all over the place and dragged the Buster Sword in his person like he owned it. Also, Cloud became a mercenary, just like how Zack envisioned their future to be. Ranma was suddenly struck of the notion that somehow, during the time Cloud was incoherent, the blonde absorbed whatever Zack, or Ranma, told the young man during their travels. It was like Cloud imprinted upon what Zack told him.

Well, no matter. Ranma was kinda glad Cloud found something to do, even if it seemed like the blonde mercenary was clearly a fragmented soul. Ranma decided he would have to look into that later, after his thorough investigation of Doctor Hojo. He even held off visiting Aerith and Elmyra in Midgar, since he feared that Shin-Ra might get wind of his survival and target those people close to him.

Zack, who now went by the name of Ranma as it was his original name, was now twenty-three years of age. He continued to slowly age his body as to how it would've looked at the age, and he didn't want to screw up the timeline even more by changing things too much. So he opted to follow through his current aging style.

Of course, he still transformed into his much smaller form, if only to use it to gather intel from various villages, particularly Midgar and Junon. He ran across Cloud every now and then, and even saw how his beloved Aerith met up with Cloud. She got involved in the scheme of things, and Ranma vehemently protected her as much as he can behind the scenes. Sadly, he decided not to reveal his existence as of yet, since he still has no idea how to explain to Aerith his recovered memories, as well as his predicament with the other women in his life. Too complicated, he surmised.

One good thing did come out of the situation. Ranma got wind that he never did transform into female throughout his life as Zack, and it made him wonder how that came to be. He remembered how Washuu explained his body's attributes to him. She even made fun of him about it. So he dedicated some of his time trying to discover how he managed to fend of the transformation process of his Jusenkyo curse while on his surveillance mission.

Ranma discovered the trigger by accident, actually. It was also the time he almost got himself caught by the Shin-Ra soldiers stationed in Junon. A routine 'puppy-dog-in-chibi-form' almost got him shot on the spot if it weren't for the fact that the soldier Ranma was needling some info from turned his back on the little pigtailed raven-haired boy who hugged a stuffed pink cat. The Junon Shin-Ra base of operations was surrounded by a large mass of water, the sea actually, and it was inevitable that one errant wave hit poor little Ranma. Out of desperation, since the soldier was about to drive Ranma off as he turned towards the boy again, the former amnesiac literally forced his body to turn back to male. Ranma didn't actually expect the process to work but, surprisingly, he got off the tight situation when he DID turn back to male. More like shifted, actually.

It was the start of the three month vigorous training that even got Mew quite frustrated. For those three months, Ranma never let up on the training. At first, his transformations came sporadically, which irritated him to no end. But as it went on, he slowly got the hang of it. The secret lay on his age shifting, just as Washuu hinted to him years ago. It took Ranma to manipulate his body's cellular structure, which made easy thanks to the Masu traits he had, and pushed his body to shift into the other form it was familiar with, which was his female form. It was easier for Ranma to transform back to male, because it was his body's 'default' form. Going female took a bit of concentration for him, since it's his body's secondary form.

It was like a marble in a pinball machine, with the machine tilted to the right side. While it would be possible to push the ball towards the higher left side, it would be easier for the ball to go towards the right. But it doesn't mean that it can't go to the left at all. It's just a little more... difficult. And requires more force.

The same thing applied to his so-called 'curse'. Ever since his body re-acquired its ability to manipulate its structure, a foremost Masu ability, it was like he was given an option. While it would always be a male form his body would prefer, he has the option to turn female. And with his 'curse', this ability to shift forms came easier for Ranma than other Masu, if they were any left aside from Ryoko.

The Masu were really of a great race, but in truth, they were one of the most simple organisms in the universe. They could manipulate their body structure easily, most similar to bacteria and other one-celled organisms, which were the first of the building-blocks of life. They have abnormally high life energy output, as well as assimilating abilities. They were also of a Hive collective mind-types, but some were able to evolve out of the loop and gained their own 'colony'. Rumors had it that they 'reproduce' asexually, some even surmised they reproduce by cell division.

Who knows? They're just rumors.

Anyway, Ranma's highly modified body has all of the Masu abilities, probably even more so than the normal Masu. It was because of his Masu abilities that Ranma was able to gain full control of his curse, even if he did learn about it so late. Washuu would laugh at his absent-mindedness...

Maybe, there were some more ways to control his curse, but Ranma found THIS way. And he stuck with it.

Back to Ranma's current journey... he was still quite dissatisfied with the results of his search for the truth.

But he did come up with a suitable explanation for this world... this Earth... Gaia...

Gaia has its moments, for a post-apocalyptic renamed from the old Earth... but it's full of crap. Seriously. He finally found who or what JENOVA was all about, and quite frankly, Ranma was a bit queasy at the thought. After all, he did remember certain parts of Washuu's lecture about the history of Earth for the five thousand years he was imprisoned in limbo. After he connected the dots between Washuu's info regarding Earth's five millennia history and how JENOVA was found, things became contingent with one another.

The earliest possible historic records Ranma was able to garner about JENOVA branched off from the beings known as Angels, a term Ranma remembered that Washuu has mentioned when she informed him of this universe's history. If these old historical texts were true, then JENOVA was a remnant of the ancient pre-apocalyptic past. A ghost of a previous experiment, one who the texts revealed to have been led by Ikari Gendo.

Ranma did find something very interesting... the fact that Sephiroth was actually Doctor Hojo and some woman named Lucrecia's son. Sephiroth was in contact with JENOVA since he was still a developing fetus inside Lucrecia's womb. Sadly, due to Professor Gast and Doctor Hojo's experimentations for uses of the JENOVA Cells, they injected samples into Lucrecia's womb. Sephiroth wasn't the only one who suffered Hojo's madness; Ranma's investigation garnered more than ten more people experimented on by Hojo's project. The prognosis he found about the extent of damage Doctor Hojo's experiments amassed were pretty much disturbing, and Ranma wondered how much more damage the crazy doctor caused.

He also found some records of a race of people called 'Ancients', also called 'Cetra', who were part of Doctor Hojo's sick fascination regarding their skills. They were said to be in-tuned with the Planet or something. To Ranma, it sounded like those high-leveled ki manipulators and monks from his time. He wasn't sure. Whoever they were, Doctor Hojo seemed to have gathered quite a number of their people, and of course, experimented on them. Most of the Cetra died out, but some thrived in hiding. A former researcher from Doctor Hojo's team, Doctor Gast, seemed to have gotten fed up with the inhumane practices of his fellow doctors in the team and left the project. But Doctor Gast also took with him a female Cetra.

Both were rumored to have a daughter and died. But the daughter's whereabouts...

Ranma was quite surprised when he found the girl's identity.

Aerith.

Not only that, but the one who instigated Project JENOVA was none other than Aerith's blood-father himself, Doctor Gast. Though... unlike Hojo, Gast became mortified with his involvement in the project and ran.

Well, that just sucked, right? Now, Ranma was doubly incensed in seeing to Aerith's protection. And the unresolved relationship... or something. Gah. Ranma never even had a decent relationship yet, and most of the girls he was involved with were... unusual to say the least. With all of his memories of Zack intact, he remembered each and every intimate situation he and Aerith found themselves in. The memories still made Ranma shiver in longing. He found that he does feel strong emotions for Aerith, just as strong as his emotions were for the other women in his life.

Women whom Ranma wished would find him soon.

And the Masamune... it has changed so much. It has absorbed both Master Summon Materia and Master Magic Materia, which gave it complete command over divine monster summons and various aspects of magic spells, especially the all-powerful Revival Spell.

Yup. Ranma discovered loads of reasons for him to put a stop to Doctor Hojo's plans, consequently, Sephiroth's as well.

The man with the newly restored pigtail-styled hair was currently atop the Golden Saucer's ferris wheel. The attraction was put to a halt for the time being, after an incident in Management took place a few moments ago. He has heard that Cloud's party, Aerith included, took off to investigate a lead towards Icicle Inn for Aerith's origins. The group were a few steps behind Ranma's gathered information.

Cloud managed to recruit a few capable people for his journey...

Tifa Lockhart, the girl which Ranma remembered from Nibelheim when he was still amnesiac. She now wore a simple white shirt that hugged her figure, her legs were covered with shorts held by a jumper. Her hands were covered with gloves, which blatantly indicated her grappling and martial arts oriented style of fighting.

Barret Wallace, the man with a gun-arm as a right hand, member of the resistance group called AVALANCHE. His daughter, Marlene, lived with him in Midgar. He was a big burly man with dark skin, his mustache and beard were cropped short to the skin.

Cid Highwind, mechanic extraordinaire and a great spear-user. He has goggles around his dirty white hair. He was dressed in blue pants and blue jacket, which covered the white shirt he had inside.

Vincent Valentine, one of Doctor Hojo's earlier experiments turned bad and was left dormant in the Nibelheim Mansion. He wore a tattered red cape, something which he wasn't able to change anymore since he woke up from his 'sleep'. The red cape was loosely wrapped around his face to cover them, coupled with the bandanna around his forehead.

Red XIII, or Nanaki as his true name denotes, a large dog-tiger hybrid from Cosmo Canyon, captured by Doctor Hojo for experimentation only to be rescued by Cloud's party. 'Red' was because of the color of his fur, while the 'XIII' was his specimen number, courtesy of the mad doctor. He took the name as a nickname, but his real name says otherwise.

Yuffie Kisaragi, materia hunter and elite ninja from Wu-Tai, daughter of the village's leader Godo. She doesn't wear the typical ninja outfit, and was quite... small for her age. Petite, some may call it. She loved collecting materia, very enthusiastic too, something which brought much trouble to her as well as her companions.

Cait Sith, the feline doll mecha that originated from Shin-Ra, controlled by a Shin-Ra operative named Reeves, used to spy on the group at first, but as the secrets started to be uncovered it joined anyway.

Of course, his beloved Aerith Gainsborough, whom Ranma vowed to meet soon enough.

Ranma frowned in contemplation as he gazed at the darkening sky beyond the horizon. The sounds from Golden Saucer was calming for him, except for the cheesy background music. The chocobo racing was pretty cool though. Mew on the other hand just floated around him, pretty much excited at the pretty lights from the amusement park below them.

"Mew?" An inquisitive noise called Ranma's attention from the horizon to his side, where Mew stared at him with her head cocked slightly to one side.

The raven-haired man nodded slightly as he pushed the bridge of his dark-tinted sunglasses up the ridge of his nose, "I know... it's time to meet Aerith again, ne?"

The pink psychic feline tilted her head in agreement.

Ranma sighed agitatedly and said, "I just knew you'd say that..."

The bandanna around Ranma's head was curiously absent ever since he recovered his memories, and now the tri-colored gems in an inverted triangle that decorated his forehead glowed brightly. This was synchronized with Ranma's eyes, which blazed with power as well. An explosion of ki-feathers from his back formed his own version of the Light Hawk Wings.

Ranma flapped the wings experimentally as he muttered, "Been almost two decades... no wonder my back hurts a lot these days. Sheesh..." his red tail wove sharply from side to side.

He glanced off to the side and FELT the awestruck feeling that emanated from his current partner, "I know... it's cool, isn't it? Anyway... it's time to go fix this mess..."

With a final glance at the dark orange horizon, Ranma's wings wrapped around him and Mew, and dissipated into motes of light. They left no trace of their presence in the area...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

To Be Continued...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:

"As punishment... I was reborn as a mortal. I was punished because I recovered my memories of mother!"

"Aerith? Are you and Zack... you know?"

"Soon, Ranko-chan, you will see your father soon..."

"Uhh..." The girl was still very nervous, who looked at anywhere but him, "Well... to tell you the truth... I'm pregnant."

"WHAT ARE YOU, NOT-SO-HUMAN? SOMETHING OLD... AND HAS MUCH POWER WITHIN THAT BAG OF FLESH OF YOURS. WHY HIDE IN THAT CONTAINER?"

"These so-called 'scum' are the ones who should exist in this world. True, they might be traitorous to the other, but this is their own existence to live in. Besides, even with all the darkness in this world, there are always those who wanted nothing more than to live their lives peacefully with one another."

AUTHOR RANTS:

Ahem. Yes. Here we are. After a long absence, I'm back.

My absence has nothing to do with writer's block. In fact, quite the opposite. I got so engrossed in writing this chapter that it became too long to send in one go. And it's not finished yet.

So I decided to cut it relatively in half and send the first part of Arc 1's ending.

Oh, and probably me playing games factored into the semi-slow production as well.

I also tried to keep the Final Fantasy 7 events as canon as I can. Although, being in Zack's point of view most of the time, that's near impossible. Especially since Zack's actually Ranma (to anyone who hasn't figured THAT one out yet). Hence, I reviewed my FF7 knowledge and researched it before I went on with this chapter.

Out Of Character flames are totally ignored. Come on, Zack is not really Zack, so I'm bound to have some leeway with how I write my modified Zack. Besides, if I stick to the canon, then why the heck would I write a FANFIC anyway?

FANFICs are based on the fanfic writers' own disgressions regarding how they want their own stories to go along.

Remember folks, while I tried to keep some major key events synchronized with the game itself, some events are modified, changed or removed for the benefit of my plot.

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Evangelion Cameos - Final Fantasy 7 galore - Teen Titans (Raven)  
- Evil Zone (Ihadurca)  
- Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki!  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Pokemon (Mew)  
- Xenogears (Emeralda)  
- Galaxy Angels (Vanilla Ash)

Again, someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migraine she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'real time'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the siege of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land) are few of the worlds Ranma encountered in this dimension. And certainly not the last.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

But as time went on, it was revealed that another one who bore the gems of power was Luna Inverse.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

To clarify things, the planet Final Fantasy 7 used was called Gaia. Dunno if it is really Earth in general, but I did it like that anyway.

In my fic, Gaia is a post-apocalytpic Earth. This is the Earth in the Vandread episode, which just got freed from being 'mechanical' in nature after Kagato went after the Vandread home world. This planet is also after the 'Third Impact' from Evangelion happened. This Earth is located in Future Dimension B. After Ranma and Kagato's battle in the Vandread home world, he got sucked in a wormhole that led him to Gaia.

How? Well... Kagato planned to go back to Earth to regroup, but got killed anyway. Instead of Kagato getting sucked into the wormhole, Ranma did. Due to the massive power loss Ranma experienced from his previous battle, he wasn't able to stop his decent when he got caught in the Earth, rather, Gaia's gravity. Hence, his not-so-gentle crash landing.

So kiddies, Ranma is STILL in the Vandread Universe, just in a different place.

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	22. Chapter 9b

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... Arc 1's done.

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

I had to cut off the chapter in half... it got too long. Sorry 'bout that folks...

To my significant other, Lady Ayame... this is for us!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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CHAPTER 9B - THE UNIVERSE OF ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, CONCLUSION...

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In the Northern Continent, City of the Ancients...

For Aerith Gainsborough, the whole trip with the gang was a big tiring chore. It hadn't helped matters any when she found Cloud's uncanny rendition of her beloved Zack's personality. She was gravitated to show Cloud a bit of affection, yes, but Cloud's no Zack. Although, she felt she just had to help the poor boy to recover his memories, as well as help him save the Planet.

Also, there were these callings of the Planet itself. Since her powers manifested themselves back when she was a child, the Planet has been talking to her. It spoke of a tremendous blight that wanted to destroy the Planet. The blight's name was JENOVA.

That was why Aerith was here. To pray for the protection of the Planet. She also discovered in her younger years that she kept a white materia in her possession. Nobody was able to identify it, and Aerith felt that she should keep it safe up until it was needed. She felt that the materia was very important in the future, and it seemed that it has something to do with the Planet's cries.

Aerith fervently prayed to activate the materia. Now she had a name to call the materia by, thanks to the guidance of the souls in the Life Stream. The materia in her hands was named Holy.

Cloud and the rest of the group ran around and dodged the Shin-Ra soldiers, especially the Turks. It was another sore memory for Aerith. While Tseng was her friend from childhood, she can never love him more than a friend. And then there were the Turks' attempts to kidnap her. Really! What's a girl gotta do to have some peace and quiet anyway? Because of these kidnap attempts, Aerith was swept into the mess Cloud was in after blondie fell through the roof of her miniature garden in the old Slums cathedral. She hired Cloud to become her bodyguard, and was coincidentally recruited into saving Tifa, Cloud's childhood friend, from the local town rich pimp, Cornejo. There were more weird circumstances before they reached where they were right now.

Five years... somehow five years passed without word from Zack. But with Cloud's presence, Aerith felt that Zack was still around somewhere. Sure, she was a bit irritated that her lover hadn't even sent a letter to her, but then everything he does has a reason. Probably something like to protect her from harm or whatnot. Sweet, but a pain sometimes. Still, Aerith hoped that Zack was still alive, and that they meet soon.

Aerith missed Zack so much.

The brown haired girl huffed slightly as she tinkered with the light pink bandanna around her forehead. The trio of gems on her forehead was similar to her boyfriend's own, something in which confused them to no end. They had no idea why the two of them were the only ones who had them, not that they took the time to find out more about them. Although, Zack's gems came in a black, silver and golden color scheme, hers came at a trio of black gems. They both knew that the presence of the gems somehow connected them with each other beyond anything they could comprehend, but information about them came scarce. And if they tried to dig deeper, they knew they might attract the wrong crowd...

But she was getting sidetracked. She had to activate Holy to start the magic for Gaia's defense. Gaia was the new name of this Planet as of the moment, but the Planet once told her its former name was Earth.

Anyway, Aerith cleared her thoughts once again and concentrated on the task at hand, but she kept on having the most ominous feeling that she was in grave danger. But the Planet tried its best to placate her, telling her that this was her fate.

Fate... somehow, the term sounded totally wrong for Aerith. The girl huffed once again as she squirmed while she kneeled on the minuscule altar in the middle of the hall she was in. It was surrounded with water, and it gave off a tranquil feeling that should've allowed her to meditate on her prayer. But... these lingering thoughts kept nagging in her mind...

Aerith opened her eyes slowly and found herself staring at the hall's high ceiling. Funny, was that a silver-haired man dressed in black wielding a long-bladed katana eerily similar to her boyfriend's Masamune falling towards her in alarming speed? With the sword poised for a strike that came straight right at her chest?

The girl smiled at the funny thought. But the feeling of the cold wind which blew on her face disapproved the hallucination idea. She momentarily panicked, her smiling visage frozen at the sudden insight of her impending doom.

"What the..." Aerith muttered feebly as she locked gazes into the man's blue-green eyes as he descended towards her for the kill. There was no way she could dodge the deadly sword thrust anymore. But... the most amazing thing happened...

An explosion of feathers, followed by a loud clanging sound that signified a blade striking another blade echoed all over the cavernous room. A mass of white covered her sight as a stream of curses filled the air, followed by a voice which brought so much hope and happiness in her heart...

"Oh no you don't, Sephiroth." A deep melodious voice rumbled near Aerith. The feathers that momentarily blinded her slowly cleared up.

In front of her was another visage of a man with a dark cape. His back was against her as the mysterious stranger stood between Aerith and the other man with silver hair, who was surprisingly flung towards the other side of the hall over the waters. But the most prominent thing that caught Aerith's attention were the additional appendages that jutted out of the stranger's back. They were a pair of glowing silvery wings, and she could see the raven-haired pigtail that flowed down his back.

The silver haired man, whose name was revealed as Sephiroth, glared at Aerith's savior as he slowly stood up from his crouch. He landed on a small islet of land near the cavern wall. Sephiroth's eyes trailed down to his sword, and surprise showed on his face when he found the blade edge was nicked, badly. All because of one encounter...

"YOU...!" Sephiroth growled as he sheathed his sword unto its holster. His Masamune would have to be re-forged again soon. Not only that, he also failed his mission to kill the young upstart Cetra that wanted to hurt his mother, JENOVA.

The stranger shrugged as he rested his own long-bladed on his broad shoulder. "Yep. Me. What? You thought I could be killed that easily? In your dreams, kid."

The silver-haired man's lips went into a straight line. "It seemed that my information was wrong. So, you survived."

"Yup. Returned from the dead just to irritate you." The stranger's voice mused lightly. "I bet you're feeling quite angry right now."

Sephiroth bristled at the comment. "Damn you, you traitor! I will ki---" the rest of his statement was cut off when another voice called out from the entrance of the large grove.

"AERITH!"

Aerith didn't stray her eyes from the stranger, but her head inclined on one side to acknowledge the newcomer. Sephiroth gaze turned to the source of the shout. A blonde-haired man stumbled into the grove with the Buster Blade unsheathed.

The blonde was frantic, and was momentarily relieved when he spied upon Aerith's form. "Aerith!" he called out, "You okay?"

"Yes Cloud!" Aerith said in a daze, her stare still trained upon her defender.

Cloud was momentarily confused. There was a stranger with a black cape in front of Aerith, but the girl was safe. He was about to ask about it, when he finally saw the silver haired man on the other side of the cavern. "You... SEPHIROTH!" The blonde growled as he ran towards Aerith.

"Well..." The person in front of Aerith noised, "Seems like it's not your lucky day, eh Sephiroth? Watcha gonna do now?"

Sephiroth grunted, "Mother will be displeased. No matter... Reunion is at hand, boy. You cannot stop it. For now, I will let you go. There will be other chances to kill the girl, and of course, you as well..." Without waiting for a response, Sephiroth activated his Teleport materia and vanished from the area.

An intense and ominous silence permeated into the cavern after Sephiroth finally vanished.

"Eh..." The spell was broken when the only stranger left in the cavern spoke with slight amusement, "This is kinda... awkward..."

Finally, he slowly turned to face Cloud and Aerith, which allowed them to fully observe the man's profile. Added to the black cape were obsidian bracers that decorated his arms, a same dark-colored choker around his neck, a red furry belt around his waist, black body suit overlapped by a dark blue kevlar vest style armor, and the dark-tinted sunglasses that covered his eyes, and a trio of multicolored gems shimmered slightly on his forehead...

Cloud showed a confused look in his face. In some way, the mysterious stranger seemed familiar to him.

Aerith made a slight strangled noise when recognition immediately came to the expression on her face. Even when the man's hairstyle was changed slightly, there was no doubt in her mind... this man... this man was...

"Hey Cloud... you're probably still confused about all these..." The pigtailed man chuckled nervously, if only to alleviate the heavy atmosphere around the place. His facial features softened greatly when he turned to the awestruck brunette, "It has been a long time, Aerith... love..."

To Aerith... this man was...

"Mew!" A familiar pink furball phased into existence behind the man.

"ZACK! MEW!" The girl quickly leapt towards the man, who was revealed to be Zack. The man grunted as he caught the girl in his arms. He remained silent as he let the young woman sob into his chest while the pink cat floated around the pair happily.

Sephiroth was right about one thing. This was a Reunion... thought not the reunion he was hoping for.

Heh.

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Still at the City of the Ancients, in one of the abandoned mini-homes...

A large bonfire lit the area quite nicely, and it brought the necessary warmth to protect a person from the night's biting cold.

A group of odd people surrounded the said bonfire, who sat staring at each other in slight wonder and askance. Actually, most of the group's gazes concentrated on the new face on their team, as well as the weird cat that hung around the air near the newcomer quite protectively.

Aerith snuggled closer to Zack as the rest of her current erstwhile companions as she idly teased Mew with lazy waves of her hand in the air. Cloud sat across the lovebirds and stared at the scene with a mixed expression of slight anger and longing on his face. Tifa sat a bit to the side of Zack, while Yuffie sat next to the buxom long-haired girl. Barret was next to Cloud, confusion seemed permanently etched on his rugged features. Cid lay on the ground just behind Cloud, but was listening to the conversation while he pretended to be asleep. Red XIII posed on his haunches as he watched the new guy warily. The dog-tiger hybrid specifically glared at the floating feline beside Zack, who returned it with a stare of her own. Vincent was a bit behind Cloud's place, his face half-covered with the red scarf that surrounded his head. Cait Sith was curiously silent that night.

"I think..." Zack began as the fire cackled noisily, "That most of you have some questions... especially you, Aerith..."

The aforementioned girl sighed softly, but didn't lift her head from its position on Zack's chest. "Yeah, I do..." she said softly, but loud enough to be heard by everyone in the area, "Like... where have you been, or what have you been doing, or... how you survived, when I heard from the Turks that you were... killed... five years ago. But somehow, I can't bring myself to care too much about that... I knew you wouldn't die so easily like that..." She lifted her head to peer into Zack's sunglasses, "I'm just happy that I'm right to believe you're alive... and that you're here, with me..."

"Hey hey..." Barret said gruffly, "How do ya know that this guy's the real thing, Aerith?" He gestured with his gun-arm towards Zack's general direction.

Aerith snorted. "Oh, it's him, all right..." she replied with strict conviction, "There's nobody else who can expel that much ego during a fight. Also, there are some... special features that only Zack has which allowed me to be made sure of his identity. No doubt, this person I'm holding right now is Zack."

Cloud flinched slightly at the loving tone from the girl, which was mostly unnoticed by the group.

"I remember meeting Zack five years ago..." Tifa mused mainly to herself, "Back in my and Cloud's hometown, Nibelheim, I met Zack along with some Shin-Ra soldiers... and Sephiroth."

"Yeah..." Zack confirmed Tifa's words, "We were... investigating an accident in Mount Nibel at that time..." he glanced at Cloud, "And that incident where Sephiroth went nuts. But that will be a story for some other time. I don't know how to explain that one yet."

Yuffie piped up, "Aerith? Are you and Zack... you know?" she gestured with her hands vaguely.

Aerith got the idea of Yuffie's query anyway, "Yes, we are."

A soft "Ohhhhh..." came from the girls' vicinity.

Vincent decided to speak up, albeit in a low voice, "I heard stories about you. Shin-Ra Special Operative Zack, whose sword skills were second only to Sephiroth's. But... I heard of a few more rumors..." He bore a heated gaze towards the pigtailed man, "Some say that you're actually far better in fighting than Sephiroth. You only let him win in the spars because of rank, as well as not letting Sephiroth be embarrassed in losing to a subordinate."

Zack merely shrugged at the veiled accusation, while Mew seemed to glare at the moody Vincent.

"You have a weird scent..." Red XIII commented suddenly, which caused everyone to look at him in curiosity, "I mean... you have a different scent from the others out here. There's hardly enough human scent from you to classify you as human. In other words, you're not fully human..."

Mew hissed at Red XIII angrily, which caused the ruby-furred canine to flinch back slightly. Must have been the small cat's glowing pair of eyes when she glared at him.

"Says the talking hybrid canine..." Zack deadpanned wryly, which caused Aerith to giggle slightly. "Oh..." the man winced when he saw Red XIII eyeing Mew carefully, "Mew's pretty protective of me and Aerith, so better be careful. She can understand what you're saying perfectly, and she's also much more intelligent than she lets on."

"Hey..." Cloud called out to them, as he nodded towards Zack's direction. His aquamarine eyes strayed over to Aerith's snuggled form for a short time before they snapped back on Zack's face. "I was wondering... you told me earlier back in the cavern... that I may be confused... what do you mean by that?"

The former Shin-Ra operative stared at the bonfire for a few moments, as he contemplated on the answer to that question. The rest of the group waited impatiently for his reply, while Zack continued his staring contest with the flames.

At last, when the others were about to become rowdy in their wait, Zack spoke solemnly, "You're not ready to know. The fact that you were not able to make much progress in connecting the dots, so to say, means that you're far from ready." Before anyone could comment on his words, the pigtailed young man urged Aerith to rise, who complied accordingly, and stood together with the brown-haired girl. After whispering some choice words with Aerith, Zack nodded to her slightly and turned to the others still around the bonfire.

"I gotta talk to Aerith about some things..." Zack trailed off when he saw Red XIII and Barret started to rise from their seats, "... Alone. In private."

"What!" Barret bellowed as he glared at Zack angrily, "No way in hell am I gonna leave Aerith in your hands! Who knows what you'll...!"

"Barret! Please!" Aerith cut into the conversation as she stared at the dark-skinned man with the gun-arm, "Zack will NEVER hurt me! And yes, I'm one hundred and fifty percent sure he's the genuine Zack! We have to talk about a lot of things! Are you going to stop us from doing so!"

Barret winced as he lowered his head meekly, "S-Sorry! We're just worried!"

"And I thank you for that..." The healer of the group commented at him with a small smile on her face, "But Zack and I have a lot of things to talk about by ourselves. So please..."

Red XIII sighed as he sat back down, and grimaced when he noticed Mew was poised for an attack of some sort. He wasn't sure, but he felt quite frightened at the thought. He just hoped his fur wasn't standing up right now...

"If you will excuse us..." Zack said curtly as he led Aerith hand-in-hand out of the encampment. After a few steps though, Zack turned his head slightly to the side, while Mew twitched in mid-air. The floating cat seemed to nod at the man before he turned and continued out of the room. The pair vanished in the darkness of the rooms outside the place they stayed in and left the rest of the party to look at each other in trepidation.

Cloud's face was contrite; he probably wouldn't say it verbally, but the sight of Aerith happily joined hands with another guy really irked him. But he can't voice out his thoughts, especially since Aerith's tone against Barret was borderline anger. Still respectful and cheery, but everyone could practically taste the young woman's impatience to be alone with Zack. While true that Cloud spent a few hours alone with Aerith in Golden Saucer during their 'date', she hadn't stopped mentioning things about her 'boyfriend' though... much to his consternation. Especially in the Ferris Wheel...

Tifa and Yuffie glanced at one another in worry. Both were quite worried of Cloud, when they saw his normally non-expressive face slightly scrunch up in what they could describe as anger and jealousy. Tifa felt slightly affronted by this, since she herself had a thing for the blonde-haired mercenary. If not for his amnesia... Cloud would've remembered Tifa already. Yuffie was quite amused and weary at the same time. Amused, because it was only a few times she was able to witness such drama in real life. Weary, because she has been watching the 'Love Triangle' between Cloud, Tifa and Aerith ever since she joined the group. But because of this recent development, Yuffie was able to ascertain that the one-sided romances were evident. Tifa loved Cloud, Cloud loved Aerith, while Aerith loved a person outside the triangle, Zack. Ah, the drama continues...

Barret was still a bit put off by Aerith's mood swings. Well, he really can't do anything against Zack because of Aerith's reaction. He always felt like an older brother to most of the younger ones in the group, so he was pretty much over-protective of them. Especially the women.

Red XIII was totally baffled. His sense of smell was triple strength of those normal beasts around, and he smelled Aerith's immediate arousal ever since Zack saved her. One wouldn't have to be psychic just to understand the flow of her mind at the time, since it was so obvious on the expressions of her face. The sad thing was that Aerith now acted pretty much like a lioness reunited with her mate and patriarch, and it would be unwise for anyone around her to show any kind of hostility against the patriarch. Arghhh... hormones sucked, seriously...

Vincent was contemplating on the effects of this new development. For one, it has upset the balance of the group, with Aerith as she did a moment ago. Not that it was bad in itself, quite frankly, he was kinda glad Aerith finally found her long lost supposed-to-be dead love. While it didn't show on his facial expressions, Vincent was quite worried about the girl. He could see the depression set underneath Aerith's mask of cheerfulness. While the girl continued to tease Cloud every now and then, he could feel her trying to lighten up dire situations whenever they were in a depressing mood. And Zack... the man was a legend. He has heard how great the man was, and that Zack was a person who will not intentionally do anything bad. Vincent also found stories about Zack bravely standing up to anyone who wanted to order him around, even against the Shin-Ra president. Vincent mused as to how this situation will turn out, and also wondered how Cloud would interact with the guy. It would be really interesting to watch...

Behind the robotic doll named Cait Sith, Reeve sat in his hidden base of operations somewhere in Gaia. He knew who Zack was, and the soldiers who participated in the 'Hunt' for the escaped duo of Zack and Cloud was pretty much certain that Zack died that day five years ago. Of course, now that he saw Zack through Cait Sith's camera that the man was alive and well, that theory was out of the window. How did Zack survive the nearly fifty-story drop off the ravine anyway? And then there were the gunshot wounds... too many mysteries...

Frankly, Cid didn't care much about everything. Sure, Aerith acted a little out-of-character, but hey, she's still a woman. And to be reunited with her love at such manner, well... it was inevitable. Besides, when he saw the pure unadulterated joy in Aerith's eyes whenever she looked at Zack, Cid was reminded of his somewhat relationship with Sierra. Ah... how he missed her so...

Mew glared at the dog-turd that was with the group. She disliked Red XIII, especially when his scent was a mixture of both canine and feline attributes. Quite confusing for her, really, but she can defend herself when she wanted to. Besides, she wanted her beloved master and partner to have some time to be reacquainted with Aerith. Mew was fond of the girl because of Aerith's innate ability to make people feel... content... whenever she was around them. Aerith's uncanny ability to disperse disputes with only a smile on her radiant face was a sight to behold. As much as Mew wanted to reunite with Aerith, Zack's welfare was Mew's priority at the moment. Besides, Zack has a lot of things to talk about with Aerith for now, point driven to the topic of Zack's newly-recovered memories. And boy, were those memories a doozy! With their link, Mew was able to 'see' bits and pieces of those memories of Zack's. Although, Mew did like Zack's true name... Ranma. It sounded so... wild and primal.

Anyway...

Aerith and Zack broke off from the group hand in hand. The pigtailed young man led the brown haired girl back to the grove where Aerith was praying a while ago. The brown haired girl shivered a bit as she had a few flashbacks at what happened earlier. When Zack saw that his girlfriend tensed when they entered the huge cavern, he tightened his grip on her hand a bit to reassure her. Sure enough, Aerith relaxed when she felt him do so.

"I never wanted to believe you died, Zack..." Aerith began as her eyes strayed on the altar in the middle of the grove, "I... I've always felt that you'll come back someday. But..." she smacked her free hand against his arm weakly, "What took you so long, you dope!"

"Sorry..." Zack chuckled weakly as he led Aerith to the altar itself. The pair stopped a few steps from the shrine and gazed at the water beyond it calmly. "A lot of things happened..." Zack continued, "That incident actually did me a few favors..."

"Oh?" Aerith asked skeptically as she slowly disengaged her hands from her boyfriend's, and sat at a protruding rock on the ground, "What, pray tell, is more important than your girlfriend?" She threw him a mock glare. The humor was lost with Zack's serious face.

The pigtailed man removed his glasses and put them in his pocket. He stared at Aerith thoughtfully and replied, "I got my memories back."

Aerith's blue-gray eyes widened quite a bit when she heard the news. She sat rigid as she gazed at her lover's ethereal eyes, "Wow... all of your memories?"

Zack nodded. "Yep. All of them. And so much more..." he grinned as he slowly lifted off the ground, which caused the girl to be more surprised. He still held his grin as he slowly floated nearer towards Aerith, "I have powers, Aerith... and my memories... they're so much more than anyone can ever imagine."

"W-Wow!" Aerith gasped, "But... isn't that a good thing? I mean... you know..."

"It depends on how you'll react to them, I guess..." Zack sighed as he willed his body to go horizontal and took a lying position languidly in midair, "I was hoping you'll be able to accept the consequences."

"You're not breaking up with me, are you?" Aerith joked weakly, but Zack could see the slightly frightened undertone within the question.

"As I've said, it will depend on how you'll take them..." The pigtailed man whispered audibly.

Zack began to explain to Aerith explicitly about his origins. He began with his old life in the Nerima of his home world, his true parentage, how he found out, his travels, his accident with Washuu's inventions, the chaos he introduced in the futuristic universe... and the girls.

Aerith got a far-away look on her face when Zack mentioned of his true parentage, especially with the name Tokimi. It was quite familiar with her, but she couldn't explain how. Her musings were cut short rudely when Zack mentioned the girls... and Ryoko, the bearer of Zack, no, Ranma's first child Ranko. Her eyebrows twitched wildly when Zack mentioned of the girls' plans for their... relationship with him.

"Sharing, huh..." Aerith mumbled as she returned to her dazed expression.

Zack, or rather, Ranma swallowed nervously, "So you see... I'm..."

Aerith cut him off, "All those girls vying for your affections... must be really nice for you, huh?"

The man scratched the back of his head slightly in embarrassment. "I'm tempted to say no, but somehow I felt that I would be a liar if I do so..." he looked at the water's dark depths as he continued, "Also... it's the girls' decision. It wouldn't be right for me to just ignore them. Besides... it's true... I feel strong emotions for all of them..." he eyed Aerith's slightly slumped form at the corners of his eyes, "Just as strong as what I feel for you."

"Wha?" Aerith's head snapped back up and faced the man she now knew as Ranma, "Are you... are you saying that...?"

Ranma shrugged slightly, "Many would call me a pervert, a womanizer, an opportunist, maybe. But... I can't help it. I love you, just as much as I love the other girls as well. I try to give attention to all of them as much as I can..."

Aerith's eyes widened once again, but this time it's because of a huge realization. She saw it clearly, Zack's... Ranma's love for her literally smashed into her in waves. It made her heart beat faster, and her breath hitched at the enormity of the situation. Ranma has all those girls waiting for him, and he also loved her too. What to do... what to do...?

"I told you that it will be up to you..." Ranma muttered, "I'll accept any decision you make about this. I know I don't deserve your love, especially since it seems that I'm stringing you along, but I really do lo---"

Whatever he was going to say trailed off when Ranma found his lips being smothered by Aerith's, when the girl leapt towards the man's floating form with wild abandon. Unknown to them, their hearts synchronized with the tremendous emotions that seemed to have been released with their current union, and the gems on Ranma's forehead shone brightly. In response, Aerith's bandanna was burned off by the intensity of her own gems' shine, and they seemed to gleam in response with one another.

Ranma was forced to release their heated kiss when Aerith's head suddenly snapped back as she made a wordless scream. He finally saw that the gems they both had were glowing brightly, and caused him to worry a bit.

Aerith's mind was suddenly unlocked. Her thoughts became a jumble of memories as her mind continued its recollection. The black gems on her forehead flared brighter as thousands upon thousands of unfamiliar memories were crammed into her mind... her old life... her life as... as... Belldandy?

Who was Belldandy? Ah... daughter of Tokimi... Tokimi? Goddess... a goddess... of Chaos... her mother... the seal of God as she was taken away from her mother... her service as a formal Goddess of the Present alongside her 'sisters'... sisters? Urd... Goddess of the Past... Skuld... Goddess of the Future... the granted wish to become the girlfriend of a mortal named Keiichi... the appearance of the dark gems upon her forehead... her recent, or was it past... meeting with her real mother... the seal of God broken...

The new punishment... her person a declared heretic... was forced to be reincarnated into a mortal body... as... Aerith? Aerith... yes... Aerith... or Belldandy... no! Belldandy! That's who she was! She was Belldandy, daughter of Tokimi, reborn into a mortal shell.

She was Belldandy, at the same time... she was also Aerith.

And Zack... no... Ranma... Ranma? Ranma's biological mother... Tokimi... half-brother in her previous incarnation. Yes... Ranma... Zack... in this life... her lover...

Her love... Ranma...

"RANMA!" Aerith, rather, Belldandy screamed as she hugged the startled man she straddled on. "I found you... I finally found you!"

"Y-You... what?" Ranma asked in confusion as he automatically held the distraught girl in his arms. He had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation, but he improvised...

Belldandy cried tears of joy as the pain in her mind ceased, "I... I was reborn as well... I was... I was Belldandy, Goddess of the Present... until Kami-sama punished me when I met my mother once again... my mother... Tokimi!"

"EH!" Ranma quailed as he almost lost control of his powers as the two of them almost fell back down the ground. "S-So... you're my... half-sister?"

"Former half-sister..." Belldandy insisted as she buried her face deeper into Ranma's chest, "As punishment... I was reborn as a mortal. I was punished because I recovered my memories of mother!"

Belldandy continued her sniffles as she continued, "Kami-sama took my memories when they imprisoned mother in another dimension. He trained me into becoming one of His goddesses. I got stuck on Earth when a mortal wished me to become his girlfriend. Then one day, these gems appeared..." she gestured to her forehead, "And then... I met mother in a town called Nerima..."

"Nerima..." Ranma breathed, "You mean... Tokimi-mama..."

"Yes..." The former goddess of the Present replied, "She was freed from her dimensional prison. As to how that came to be, I do not know. But she was there, and she was looking for you."

"Looking for me..." Ranma whispered as he slowly allowed the two of them to settle down on the ground, "She... she was looking for me..."

Belldandy lifted her head and gazed into Ranma's eyes, "It was by pure chance that I found her there. It was then that the memory block in my mind was removed. The memories were bittersweet for me, but I was happy I was able to remember mother... after which I was pulled out from that universe and was put here. I was forced to be reborn as a mortal to a special couple, Doctor Gast and Ifalna."

"Heee..." The pigtailed man smiled tentatively, his face twisted in a sick fascination, "I... I made out with my sister..."

"In essence only, love..." Belldandy murmured as she planted a light kiss upon Ranma's slightly opened lips, "The past is done. This is my present now. I am mortal, born from different parents. While I have Belldandy's memories, I am now Aerith as well."

Ranma scratched his head. "Uhmm... well, what name do we call you then?"

"Belldandy..." The brown-haired girl smiled at the young man's skeptical expression, "I don't want to pretend that I am not Belldandy. I am also Aerith, but I am Belldandy. I answer to both names, but... please, call me Belldandy."

"Belldandy..." The pigtailed hybrid said the name reverently, as he stared into the former goddess' eyes intently. "What about... us? We're... half-siblings in your past life... doesn't that bother you? At all?"

The beautiful brown haired girl slid her hand on Ranma's cheek as she said, "The past life is just that, the past. I was a goddess in my past life, so I should know a few things regarding how Existence work, my dear. I may have my goddess memories back, but physically, I'm no longer Belldandy. And about your harem..." she pinched his cheek playfully, "From my goddess memories, I am not adverse to the idea. In fact, most divinities have their own harems. There are also humans in different religions who allow harem relationships as well. So don't bother trying to convince me otherwise."

Ranma was about to protest, but Belldandy gleefully silenced him with a searing kiss. When they broke apart, the young woman gave him a passionate gaze.

"Don't bother trying to weasel out this, love... I have decided. Which means... that you're stuck with me, along with the other girls as well..." Belldandy said in amusement, "Now come along, dear. We need to get... reacquainted. Your goddess has been without you for way too long..."

The pigtailed alien sighed morosely. He wasn't able to do anything when the ex-goddess pulled themselves up from the ground and led him back to the camp.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The entire party of Gaia's saviors looked up curiously when they heard footsteps rapidly approaching their position. They were about to draw their respective weapons, only to sigh in relief when the light of the dying bonfire revealed the intruders to be their companion Aerith and the still-mysterious person named Zack. They had just finished setting up their sleeping quarters, which were simple tents made out of cloth that they had bought from the last town they were in a while ago.

They were quite surprised to see Aerith's fiery determination as she did not even bother to pause and say hi to them when the pair just walked past them towards one of the tents the rest of the group had set up earlier. Zack did throw them an apologetic look as he was pulled by Aerith into one of the tents farthest from the others out in the back. The party watched as the flaps of the tents were violently shoved closed by feminine hands in an eerie sign of finality. Only then did they noticed something different from what Aerith looked like when she passed them.

"Is it just me, or does Aerith have black gems on her forehead just now?" Tifa commented shortly after the pair locked themselves in the tent. A soft yelp followed by the sound of cloth being ripped were heard afterwards.

Barret nodded. "Ya, she usually had a bandanna over that forehead of hers, right?" he said as he stared at the direction of the aforementioned tent, which shook slightly as another sound of protest escaped from it.

Mew just snorted as she fluttered near the dying fire. She knew what had happened because of her link with Zack, but she wasn't about to say anything about it. Not that anyone from this crowd understood her in the first place.

"Cloud, did you know about that?" Yuffie asked with a slight greedy expression on her face. ((They're probably materia!)) she thought to herself giddily.

The spiky blonde-haired mercenary shook his head. "No. The truth is, I don't know much about Aerith."

The group's chatter fell silent when soft moans emanated from the tent the pair got into.

Mew twitched on the ground as she tried to drown the extreme emotions she felt through the link. It didn't help too much as her eyes glazed over.

Red XIII's nose scrunched up as he yipped in distress. The group looked at him curiously as he leapt up and scrambled to the other side of the camp, opposite of their sleeping tents.

Yuffie, the Wu-Tai ninja noticed her fellow female in the party, Tifa, had blushed so much as the long-haired girl ducked her head to hide it, but it was for naught. The ninja leaned to her friend and asked, "What's wrong, Tifa? Your face is all red..."

"S-Shut up!" Tifa blushed even harder as she tried to shove the other girl away, but one good thing about Yuffie was that she was very persistent.

The same persistence gave Yuffie the strength not to be thrown off her seat as she leaned towards Tifa once again as she waited for the answer. She was about to ask again when a loud feminine scream emanated from the tent, which caused her to stand and draw her weapon.

"That guy's hurting her! Let's go help Aerith!" Yuffie crowed enthusiastically. But her ire switched into confusion when she noticed no one was following her. Everyone, except Cloud, had their gazes anywhere but towards her. The blonde haired mercenary looked at the fire with a weird expression on his face.

"Uhm, hey? Why isn't anyone following me?" Yuffie asked in exasperation.

Cid spoke up without moving from his prone position, "Kid, sit down. Aerith's not bein' hurt or anything."

Yuffie insisted, "But she screamed! I heard her, YOU heard her..."

"Yuffie..." Tifa's soft pained voice caused Yuffie's anger to deflate rapidly, "Zack and Aerith... they're in a relationship." The female bartender looked up to see if Yuffie understood.

The ninja didn't.

"They've been separated for so long, and I guess they've pretty much gone far in their relationship..." Tifa tried once again, only to be met by a blank look from the other girl.

"And...?" Yuffie tilted her head to one side.

"Good god, girl..." Barret grumbled loudly as he stomped his foot on the ground. He has been watching the exchange in frustration. "Didn't your pops ever tell you about the 'birds and the bees' yet? You're old enough to know 'bout it!"

"Wh-What?" Yuffie stammered as she fell down to her butt in shock. "Y-You mean... Aerith... t-they..."

"Yes, Yuffie." Vincent stated in a monotonous voice, "Aerith and Zack are a couple. Couples go beyond hugging and kissing after some time in their relationship. You know... SEX."

This was punctuated by a loud duet of groans from the tent in question, which caused everyone to look away in embarrassment.

"O-Oh..." Yuffie muttered. She then stood up quickly and casted a desperate look towards Tifa, "W-Well, we better get some sleep, right? We've got a big day tomorrow! Ho-hum! Sleepy! Yes?"

Tifa's eyes widened in understanding. "R-Right! Sleep! Let's go Yuffie!" she said as she stood up as well. Both girls quickly scampered towards their tent, which caused the males to look at them in askance.

"They do realize that their tent's the nearest to theirs, right?" Cid drawled out as he pulled down his bandanna over his eyes firmly in place.

Barret looked at Cait Sith and saw that it was already 'asleep'. "Eh... anyway, the girls are right. We need to sleep..." he threw Cloud a concerned gaze, "You okay there Cloud?"

The blonde merely growled softly as he stood. "I dunno. Maybe. Right, let's get some sleep." Without waiting for a reply, Cloud went inside the males' tent.

"Heh..." Cid sniffed, "The kid's jealous. Love triangles... gotta love 'em."

It was a... vigorous night for Ranma and Belldandy, while the rest were kept awake by the sounds. Especially Mew, who twitched every now and then at the sensations she was receiving from Ranma.

Ah, glorious night indeed...

The morning came quickly, as Aerith emerged from the tent bushy-tailed and energetic. Zack came out with his eyes still half-closed after a short while and plopped down next to her near the re-lit fire, his red tail dangled lifelessly behind him... though nobody noticed it yet. Everyone was already around the fire, their haggard expressions were testament to their lack of sleep. Mew was draped on Zack's back, because the whole night she was an unwilling distant participant in the pair's coupling. Red XIII sniffed as a sudden onslaught of cold attacked his sense of smell. Barret threw Zack a tired glance, unwilling to voice out his protests due to Aerith's weird mood swings. Vincent was... stoic as always, but one could see his shoulders slumped just a bit lower than normal. Cid was cursing under his breath as he cooked breakfast, his eyes had black bags under them. Tifa and Yuffie huddled close to one another, their hair in total disarray and their faces showed an expression of horror mixed with envy in them. Cait Sith kept its silence as it prepared the dishes and utensils to be used for the meal.

The awkwardness of the situation was broken when Aerith finally revealed ANOTHER huge secret... Zack and Aerith's true selves... their lives as Ranma and Belldandy. It took the pair more than a couple of hours to explain the situation of their lives, particularly Belldandy's.

"So, let me get this straight..." Tifa said slowly, her eyes alternated between the woman she got to know as Aerith, and the man she has met as Zack, "Zack, rather, Ranma... isn't from this world, and that he's been traveling in different dimensions to get home. While Aerith, I mean Belldandy, was punished by god, THE God, to become mortal because she recovered her memories as the daughter of this... Tokimi?"

"That's right!" Belldandy tittered cheerfully, as she clutched tightly as her slightly embarrassed boyfriend.

"Whoa whoa whoa..." Barret waved his arms frantically, "Different dimensions, gods, goddesses... man what a messed up situation!"

Vincent interjected, "Not only that, but both of you were... half-siblings before... Belldandy... became mortal."

"And now..." Yuffie added energetically, "You're lovers! That's sooooo romantic!" She clasped her hands in front of her dreamily.

"So..." Cloud grumbled gloomily, which caused everyone to sober up from their festivities quickly, "There was never an Aerith Gainsborough to begin with. It was all... a lie."

"Actually..." Ranma cleared his throat, as the group's attention shifted towards him, "To my understanding of how Bell explained it..." the aforementioned girl blushed at her new nickname, "Belldandy actually 'died' when she was reborn in her mortal body. So, Aerith is real, only with the additional Belldandy memories. Whereas I..." Ranma pointed to himself with his thumb, "Actually never died. So, I am Ranma, who took the name Zack, when I crash landed here a couple of decades ago. So, it was Zack that wasn't 'real' per say, but my own created identification to make me fit in this world with my amnesia."

"That's correct..." Belldandy nodded, "I am Aerith, but I chose the name Belldandy because that's been my name since I was born in my past life for thousands of years as a goddess. But I still answer to the name Aerith, only, I also answer to the name Belldandy."

"Confusing..." Cid moaned as he slapped his forehead, "So, you're Ranma and Belldandy now. That's fine with me. As long as they don't destroy the world or anything, I don't care what their names are."

Red XIII was about to comment, but his attention riveted on the red furry thing that wriggled behind Zack, err, Ranma. His eyes widened when he saw the thing wave again, as he finally recognized what it was. The canine hybrid stammered some nonsense as he pointed a shaky paw towards Zack's behind.

Mew, the ever-so-protective of her master/partner/friend, immediately teleported in front of Red XIII and smacked the poor canine with her tail. Red XIII yelped as he leapt backwards, his teeth bared slightly at the pinkish floating cat that glared menacingly at him.

"Hey Red, what's the matter?" Barret asked curiously.

Red XIII pointed his paw at Ranma once again, more specifically, Ranma's red tail. "Ranma has a tail, if you're just curious to know."

Everyone, except Belldandy, Ranma and Mew, gasped when they saw the red furry tail that flittered in the air from behind the pigtailed young man. Not only does Ranma have weird eyes, but a working tail as well?

"Uhm..." Ranma chuckled nervously, his tail quivered agitatedly as it became the topic of the discussion, "I can explain this, really!"

Belldandy giggled melodiously as she watched the love of her life flounder around on his story. She knew about it for a long time now, with her memories as a goddess in the previous life. She gave Ranma a loving gaze...

All the while gently running her hands upon her flat stomach.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The group continued their pursuit of Sephiroth, as they encountered multitudes of obstacles in the Shin-Ra and some very powerful monsters. It didn't help them that Ranma refused to participate in most of the battles. The pigtailed man said that it was to toughen them up, something in which Belldandy agreed upon as well.

Ranma explained that he will not always be around to help them, but Belldandy knew the real reason.

With her love's recovered memories, his link with his other partner, Rin-Ohki has been re-established. Already, the pair expected the rest of Ranma's entourage of women to come and take them back. Yes, Belldandy has decided that she will leave with him when the time comes.

Belldandy, though, was curious as to why her link with the World Tree Yggdrasil has been off lately. But she surmised that it was because of her rebirth, but she wasn't sure. Even with the problem, she did amass quite a lot of knowledge regarding Ranma's past, as well as his 'plotted' future. But for some reason, Kami-sama's plan for Ranma were totally derailed. Kami-sama was supposed to have Ranma, or his own previous life's person as Chaos, by His side. The notion was totally bombed, with Ranma being the dominant personality and was totally against his Fate.

But it was good, after all, if the events hadn't happened, she wouldn't have met him. Then she remembered her own life as Belldandy, and the wish that led her to be stuck on Earth for quite a number of months. Keiichi Morisato was a kind young man, that's true, but Belldandy wondered if the former emotions she felt for the man were real. After all, if Kami-sama would seal her memories of her mother and her past, why not plot her own fate as well, right?

While the group continued their journey to the path of Sephiroth, Belldandy mulled upon her own fate. She discussed this once with Ranma, and the man just laughed at her. She was about to bash him with her staff, but he followed up with a simple statement.

"Fate is just as an excuse whenever things go wrong, or right, depending upon the situation. Our future lies in our own hands, not on fate or destiny, but with our own actions and decisions."

Because of that, Belldandy was now faced with the truth. She would face her own future and shape it with her own two hands. And she will do this with her Ranma. More about her own mortal past was uncovered when they reached the Icicle Inn, where Ifalna and Professor Gast hid from Doctor Hojo. Belldandy couldn't help but shed some tears when she saw the video taken by his mortal self's father, Professor Gast, of her mortal self's mother, Ifalna. Even if she stayed with them for only a short while before they were killed, she loved them dearly.

The most prominent source of information for them with regards to Belldandy, rather, Aerith's heritage were revealed in the Temple of the Ancients. This was also where Ranma and Belldandy met up with the Turks, in particular, Tseng, for the last time.

But the group moved on, intent on stopping the menace brought about by Sephiroth.

Cloud, on the other hand, became quite desolate. With Belldandy's strengthening resolve about her future, Cloud's doubt on his future became apparent. No one noticed it in the outside, but his turmoil in the inside grew in intensity. His love for Aerith, or Belldandy, became one of the foundations of the personality he adopted for himself when he woke up from his coma. Ranma was tight-lipped about his relations on Cloud's past, saying that Cloud has to be the one to learn the truth for himself.

Information that pertained to the Reunion was of no help, as secrets unraveled themselves as they surged on. Certain secrets about Doctor Hojo's experiments, as well as the truth what happened to Cloud in the past. The biggest blow came to the group when they faced Doctor Hojo in the Northern Crater, just as the Black Materia was used by Sephiroth to summon Meteor.

The mad doctor gleefully explained most things, particularly, how he fathered a girl named Lucrecia, who bore the man now known as Sephiroth. But while Sephiroth was still a fetus, he was already subjected to Hojo's experiments on the JENOVA cells. Which was why Sephiroth was more... stable... than the other samples. As a fetus, Sephiroth had a lot of time to accommodate the JENOVA cells and integrated them into his own DNA structure. But as in everything else in the universe, it was never perfect. Sooner or later, the effects took hold of Sephiroth.

Vincent was especially incensed regarding the girl named Lucrecia. Apparently, he was in love with the young woman, but she chose Doctor Hojo. For what reason, nobody bothered to know.

Doctor Hojo cheerfully told them what he did with Cloud. The blonde mercenary's doubt increased when Hojo mentioned how Cloud was a failure as a test subject. Cloud was infused with the same JENOVA cells inside Sephiroth, and was exposed to Mako Radiation Therapy. But that was after Cloud was found inside the Mount Nibel Mako Reactor ruins, after which the blonde managed to wound Sephiroth severely. Unlike the other test subject that was used the same time Cloud was, the regular blonde soldier had a reaction to the JENOVA cell infusion, as well as a severe case of Mako poisoning. Doctor Hojo made a lot of... adjustments on Cloud's body to 'retrofit' the blonde for the doctor's experiments.

Ranma knew the truth though, but he kept his silence. This was new information, however painful it would be to Cloud, Ranma knew the blonde mercenary needed to hear this for himself, and make his own conclusions.

Apparently, Ranma miscalculated Cloud's doubt of himself. The mercenary was so full of self-doubt that Cloud lost his sense of self. Ranma was slightly guilty at this, for if he only woke up earlier from his self-induced healing trance five years ago, he would've been able to spare Cloud of this psychological torment.

In the end, the group failed to stop Meteor from being summoned, and Cloud's psychological state was destroyed to an extreme degree. The group watched helplessly as Cloud was whisked away by the blonde's own power and disappeared from their sight. As the place they were in slowly collapsed, Ranma hesitantly teleported all of them in Junon.

Most of the towns all over Gaia were damaged by the backlash of the Meteor summoning magic. Barret became totally worried about his daughter Marlene in Midgar, and Ranma obliged to help by teleporting the group into the town. They found Marlene, as well as Belldandy's foster mother Elmyra, alive and well amongst the other refugees who managed to escape the destruction of their homes. The group took the refugees to the town of Kalm, and asked Elmyra Gainsborough to take Marlene. The group made sure the Midgar refugees were safe, before they took off to take care of the business at hand.

Belldandy implored Ranma to search for the distraught Cloud, but the pigtailed man refused, albeit with a small amount of reluctance. Ranma stated that the rest of the group needed to find Cloud with their own power to show their full support for the poor man. If he decided to intervene now, Cloud's mental state would become borderline insane, as what happened to Sephiroth. Now that Cloud knew he wasn't what his personality perceived itself to be, Ranma's presence would only make things worse.

Ranma told Belldandy bluntly that the both of them shouldn't interfere too much, because they were part of the reason for Cloud's mental trauma as well. The former goddess understood Ranma's reasoning and agreed into taking the sidelines in the new journey of the search for Cloud.

Along the way, they met a few remnants of Hojo's JENOVA experiments. The Sephiroth Clones, as they dubbed them, had numbers on them signifying their connection with Sephiroth. Most of them either went insane, or died because they became too sick from their respective reactions on the JENOVA cells.

Belldandy was mortified at the situation and was quite worried about Ranma's welfare. Her lover had been involved in the experiment as well, but Ranma reassured her that he was capable of fending off JENOVA's influence. Red XIII, whose real name was Nanaki, was quite worried as well. Nanaki bore the number 13 as one of Doctor Hojo's test subjects. When Nanaki vocalized his concerns regarding his own mental state, Tifa was adamant that Nanaki would be all right. Ranma smiled at the group's interaction, which proved that his decision of leaving things to them was the right thing to do.

This will also strengthen their ties with one another, and Ranma knew they will need it in the battles to come.

After a few weeks of floundering around, they managed to locate Cloud in a small village called Mideel. It wasn't such a happy occasion though, because Cloud was in his semi-catatonic state once again. He was in the same condition when Ranma managed to free both of them from Hojo's laboratory. Tifa took it upon herself on seeing of Cloud's needs while he's on a wheelchair.

This one disaster was followed by another, as gigantic organic beasts called WEAPONs emerged from various locations in Gaia. Ruby WEAPON wandered the deserts, Emerald WEAPON terrorized the seas, Diamond WEAPON walked the lands, and the Ultimate WEAPON ruled the air.

Belldandy explained that these WEAPONs were not evil. They were the Planet's automatic defense system against threats. The WEAPONs remained dormant during times of peace, but were awakened whenever the Planet felt danger upon itself, in this case, Meteor. However, they were indiscriminate of their targets.

Which was why Mideel was suddenly attacked by the Ultimate WEAPON. The massive behemoth's shadow covered the village as it began its assault. Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII, Cait Sith and Vincent began their defense of the village while Ranma and Belldandy led the village people to safety. Sadly, Tifa and Cloud were caught up in a stray attack. The ground where the hospital the pair stayed in opened up and spewed green stuff.

The Life Stream, as was explained by Belldandy a while back. The main lifeline of the planet itself, comprised mostly of spiritual energy. Cloud and Tifa fell into one of the rifts that contained Life Stream.

This event was unfortunate for them, but at the same time, it was necessary. It was only then that Cloud was forced to face his true past, way before the incident in Nibelheim. With Tifa's help, Cloud was able to piece his past together, and then some. Tifa finalized her feelings for Cloud in this 'dream world' orchestrated by the Life Stream's will. The most prominent memory Cloud and Tifa had of their past in Nibelheim was Cloud's promise to Tifa of always being their for the girl to protect her whenever she needed him. Tifa almost forgot the promise, but Cloud never did. In fact, Ranma had an indirect hand in allowing Cloud to keep his promise by making the blonde come with the Shin-Ra entourage in the Mount Nibel expedition. Even if Tifa didn't know it, the unknown regular soldier that kept on 'pestering' her was actually Cloud.

The more painful memories came into the form of the incident inside the Nibel Mako Reactor. It was when Cloud saw his friend, Zack, getting slashed by Sephiroth. Not only his best friend and mentor, but also one of the most important people in his life... Tifa, has gotten involved in the conflict. The sight of her limp body flying in the air with blood spraying everywhere spurred her into taking Zack's sword and coming after Sephiroth inside the main core of the reactor. It was then that he was able to deal the fatal blow on Sephiroth, but he didn't escape unharmed. He was run through by the silver-haired man's Masamune.

During Cloud's memory recollection, Ranma and the others were trying to push Ultimate WEAPON back. Ranma was adamant on NOT destroying the WEAPON, not because Belldandy asked him to, but because he felt no ill aura on the organic planetary guardian. It was only reacting to Gaia's pain with regards to Meteor's summoning, and probably categorized ALL Homo Sapiens as threats to the Planet. Hence, the indiscriminate attacks of the Ultimate WEAPON on anything that moved...

Belldandy's shield spell was very useful in retaining some of the village's semblance of its terrain as the shield deflected Ultimate WEAPON's stray blasts. Ranma helped in steering off the angry WEAPON away from the village. Eventually, the WEAPON grew tired and ceased its attacks. With a loud roar, the massive monster fled the area without disturbing anything else. The group was finally able to breathe easier now, and put themselves to the task of recovering Tifa and Cloud from the rift the pair fell into. Again, it was Ranma who took charge of this job, since he was probably the only one aside from Belldandy who would be able to resist the side effects of being exposed to too much of the Life Stream. With his flight ability and teleportation, the pigtailed alien hybrid easily transported Tifa and Cloud out of the rift.

Cloud finally remembered everything... he recognized Ranma as Zack, whom, he was quite happy to see alive and well. The blonde explained how Zack took him under his wing as a student in sword fighting, also how Zack protected him whenever he got into trouble with the bigwigs of Shin-Ra. He also mentioned how Zack managed to cheer him up when he's down, especially when the realization came to Cloud how much he failed in his promise with Tifa.

Belldandy couldn't have been prouder of her beloved as she gave him her approving smile.

The small band of would-be world saviors had a short time of respite after the incident with Cloud, but as with every good thing it wasn't meant to last. Gaia has become dark and gloomy, as Meteor loomed closer by the second. One could see the huge space comet on Gaia's skies.

Not only that... the WEAPONs began their attacks on various villages and Shin-Ra bases. Emerald WEAPON has been attacking Junon from underwater as of late, and Diamond WEAPON just finished destroying the Sister Ray cannon Shin-Ra has built over at Junon. Both Diamond WEAPON and the Sister Ray annihilated each other when both blasted the other apart with their respective attacks.

The Sister Ray was meant to destroy the barrier that protected the Northern Crater, the place where Sephiroth waited for Meteor to land.

Ruby WEAPON scourged the land near Golden Saucer, destroying various military entourages as they patrolled the area to control the monsters that have increased lately. Ultima WEAPON was hovering above the Northern Crater itself.

The group decided to split up in dealing with the WEAPONs first. Ranma and Belldandy offered themselves to go after the underwater giant named Emerald WEAPON. The pigtailed alien hybrid reasoned that he doesn't really need air to begin with, and would be the perfect candidate to have Emerald WEAPON retreat back into the Planet. Belldandy will support her future husband with her magic, and she would be able to cast a shield bubble around her for underwater breathing as well. Having goddess memories really rocked.

The rest of the group opted to go after Ruby WEAPON. They decided that after the battle, they would meet back in Junon.

Ranma and Belldandy easily routed Emerald WEAPON back into the gallows of Gaia, where it became dormant once again. With Belldandy's strong connection to the earth and nature, the planetary guardian was easily coerced into sleep. Cloud and the others had a bit of a harder time in handling Ruby WEAPON, but with the Hades Summon, they were able to pause it long enough for them to damage it. When Ruby was severely depleted of its energy, the WEAPON burrowed into the earth to sleep once again.

With Diamond WEAPON gone from the earlier skirmish with the Sister Ray, there's only one more to go.

That... and Sephiroth.

But first, they had to find out more about Meteor, so they sought after the great scholar Bugenhagen, who was incidentally Red XIII's, Nanaki's, adoptive grandfather. The group traveled to the Cosmo Canyon, where they found a weakened Bugenhagen. But the scholar managed to explain to them the effects of the Meteor on Gaia, as well as its current position in space as well as the approximate time and day it will arrive.

Bugenhagen also opened the path of truth for Nanaki... the truth of what really happened with his father in the past. Nanaki learned of his father's great heroism, who sacrificed his life to safe his son's and every villagers' lives from the powerful monsters that attacked the canyon. The truth gave Nanaki a firmer resolve to protect the land, consequently, the entire planet, from Sephiroth's wicked ideals.

When the group returned from their trip to Nanaki's memory lane, they found a dying Bugenhagen on his deathbed. After a few hours of spending his time with his grandson, the old scholar finally rested in peace.

Armed with new-found vigor, the group continued with their journey towards the Northern Crater.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the... 'borrowed' airship, Highwind...

Cloud casted a longing gaze towards where 'Aerith' snuggled with 'Zack'. Oh yeah, Belldandy and Ranma... he sometimes forgot that these were their real names.

"It's pretty sight, huh?" A female voice commented at the blonde's side. Cloud found that it was Tifa who spoke.

Tifa continued, "When Aerith mentioned that she was searching for someone, I had a feeling it has something to do with her lovelife. I just had no clue that the guy I met back in Nibelheim during that expedition was the person she was looking for..."

"Zack, no... Ranma... he helped me out a lot in the past..." Cloud stated as he turned his gaze towards the dark sky outside the Highwind's window, "He's a good person. Now that I think about it, he's a perfect match for Aerith... Belldandy, I mean. That's why I admired him so much, it's probably the reason why I imprinted on his personality when I temporarily lost mine."

"Cloud..." Tifa murmured as she stared at the back of the blonde's head worriedly.

"But..." Cloud breathed in deeply as he closed his eyes, "I have to accept it. Aerith doesn't feel anything special towards me. Just the feelings of a sister to a brother. I think she only saw Zack in my personality when she met me. It wasn't wrong for her to think so, since she missed Zack. And also, I might have picked up Zack's emotions towards her when I took in his personality."

Cloud smiled sadly as he turned to gaze at Tifa's confused eyes, "What a screwed up situation that was..."

"It wasn't your fault either..." Tifa insisted as she neared Cloud with a passionate look in her eyes, "You weren't yourself at that time. Please... don't be too hard on yourself."

"I know that..." Cloud smiled slightly at the concern Tifa was giving him, "But, I can't help but wonder, though. What it would be like... I mean, Aerith, no... Belldandy... was pretty much perfect in any way. She just has this way with people that seemed to attract them towards her."

"Perfect, huh?" Tifa mused as she turned towards Belldandy and Ranma. The pair was now standing and both stared at the incoming destination at the horizon. Mew sat upon Ranma's shoulder, and seemed to be in a conversation with the pigtailed man.

The Northern Crater was shrouded with dark clouds, and the shield was vaguely visible.

"Mew says that the whole area's filled with hopelessness and despair..." Ranma commented to his female companion as they gazed at the crater seriously. "Frankly, I don't like staying here more than I should, but we have to stop whatever Sephiroth's planning to do."

Belldandy nodded, "This place, the Northern Crater, was formerly known as Knowlespole. It was a land inhabited by the people known as Cetra, which my current incarnation is as well. The Planet's calling out for help. It felt the same emotions Mew felt from whatever's inside the barrier. If we don't stop Sephiroth, Gaia is doomed."

Ranma grimaced as he turned towards his beau, "Don't be too negative. I'm not gonna let Sephiroth do what he wants. And besides, with you here, I have a lot more at stake in saving this world from destruction."

"About that..." The brown-haired girl said nervously as she looked at the horizon, "Ah... Ran-kun... we have to talk."

The pigtailed man blinked. Those words... he knew they meant heavily when they were spoken, and yes, it got him all chilly inside. "Okay... what is it?"

"Uhh..." The girl was still very nervous, who looked at anywhere but him, "Well... to tell you the truth... I'm pregnant."

"..." Ranma fell silent as he stared at Belldandy with wide eyes. Finally, he seemed to gain some semblance of life as he asked, "W-What... you're serious? Coz if it's a joke..."

Belldandy shook her head quickly, "I'm not jesting, Ran-kun. You're going to be a father."

"Hahah... urk..." Ranma's body seemed to lock up before he fainted.

"Ran-kun!" Belldandy rushed towards her lover as she caught his head before it hit the metal floors. "Mou... Ran-kun..." she commented as she caressed Ranma's hair lovingly.

They have no time to joke around though, when all of the sudden explosions were heard from the outside, followed by the airship jolting quite violently.

"What the..." Cloud muttered from where he was thrown on the Highwind's flooring when they were attacked.

Cid grimaced from the pilot's seat. "We're here, I guess."

Ranma sighed as he let Belldandy down. His balance was better than anyone else's, and he wasn't thrown off like the others when he levitated. He automatically woke up and reversed positions with the girl when he caught Belldandy after the girl lost her bearings. "Get ready to fight, people... Ultimate WEAPON calls."

The pigtailed hybrid turned a skeptical look towards the girl near him and said, "We're gonna talk about this... later. I guess... but first!"

"But first...?" Belldandy cocked her head to one side slightly in curiosity.

Ranma raised his fists into the air and hollered, "OH YEAH! WHO'S THE MAN! I'M GONNA BE A DAD... MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" then lowered his voice to a tone that not even Belldandy could hear it, "Well... I'm gonna be a dad, again... Ryoko's gonna kill me for sure, but hey... that's life..."

The brown-haired girl just giggled at his antics.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It took the group at least two hours before they managed to stave off Ultimate WEAPON. That's because Ranma wasn't with them, since the pigtailed alien concentrated on bringing the Northern Crater's Barrier down. Ranma was able to destroy the shield before Cloud and the others defeated the WEAPON. It became distracted by the fact that the barrier was brought down, and that was when the group bombarded it with their strongest attacks.

The Northern Crater was created long ago. As far as anyone can remember, it was already there. A black dot in the map, the crater was as ominous as they come. Anybody who dared to explore this wretched place came back totally changed. Some died from mysterious illnesses, while others died prematurely.

The truth of the matter was that the Northern Crater was the Point of First Contact. In the pre-apocalyptic era, it was part of the northern hemisphere of the world, where polar ice caps melted to create the desolate wasteland of a world.

The Northern Crater was the place where the first Angel, Adam, touched the Planet. It was the beginning of the end for the world, and certain individuals wanted to take advantage of the knowledge within the Angel's remains.

The alien life form dubbed as Angels became a test for humanity's survival, hence, the Evangelion Wars. The event was called the Second Impact.

After the Third Impact occurred, the world's lands shifted and formed what was now known as Gaia, the post-apocalyptic world. The survivors thrived, but then the greed in humans can never be removed from their hearts. People blatantly used the scarce commodities left of the post-apocalypse and now the Planet wanted some sort of balance. Hence, the activation of the WEAPONs. Add to the fact that Sephiroth has been guided by JENOVA, a small part of whatever was left of the Angels in the past, to continue the world's destruction.

The Northern Crater spawned powerful monsters given to life by JENOVA. It was the blight of the world, and it was growing at an exponential rate. It was the perfect place for Sephiroth to instigate the 'Final Judgement' of Gaia, the Meteor. This was also the incoming Fourth Impact.

The Reunion was the gathering of JENOVA's pieces, which were taken and experimented on by Doctor Hojo. The mad doctor has the idea that if JENOVA was torn into microscopic pieces, they would still have the urge to gather at a certain place in due time. The humans Hojo used to inject the JENOVA cells on were compelled to gather in a certain area for the Reunion.

All for JENOVA's rebirth.

The crater itself became one huge mess of a maze, with powerful monsters at every corner. It was what greeted the small band of heroes.

"You're enjoying this, aint'cha?" Barret groused as he breathed in sharply. They had just finished off a rather big stone giant, and most of them were exhausted. Ranma wasn't tired at all, in fact, the guy was grinning like an idiot!

"Oh, come on..." Ranma said in amusement as he held on to Belldandy's tired form in his arms, "I'm just conditioned in fighting better than you people..."

"Mewwwwww..." The pink pokemon snorted on her position draped on top of Ranma's head.

Cloud groaned as he held his body up with the Buster Blade, "I have forgotten how much of a stamina freak Zack was..."

"Ugh, great!" Cid commented wryly as he stared at the dark cavern while he was lying down the ground, "We've got monsters, Sephiroth, Meteor, and a sadistic maniac who loves to fight! What else could go wrong!"

The pigtailed man stiffened slightly. "Don't say it... don't say it...!" he said in a mantra as Belldandy looked at him curiously.

"Well..." Cloud chuckled tiredly, "Hey, it could be a lot worse..."

RUMBLE...

"Oh crap..." Ranma winced, and looked at the confused blonde mercenary with a narrow-eyed stare, "You said it. I kinda hate you right now..."

RRRRUUUUMMMBBBLLLEEEE...

The group watched in morbid fascination as the space in front of them warped and bent. The stone slab they stood on defied physics, as it seemed to float in mid air without anything to support it. The whole area gained a somewhat heavy feeling; a tantamount sign of something ominous and dangerous coming towards them.

"Something really bad is coming right for us..." Ranma mumbled as he stared at the warping space with slight dread. He felt this feeling before... and it reminded him of the battle he had with the fake Deus.

Sure enough, a large swirling mass of contorted space opened up and spat out a large form. Something obscenely ugly and... with tentacles as its arms. Actually, it was some large mess of combined monster parts and whatnot, something in which Ranma had expected of a really dangerous boss monster. Why boss monster? It was... huge. Something like that. Really.

Hmmm? You can actually hear some background music pertaining to heavenly hymns or something. It was something that was pretty much out of place from the whole picture, being a grotesque monster and all. But who was Ranma to complain? He wasn't the one who made the thing, after all...

"Kid, have I told you how much I dislike you right now...?" Ranma intoned seriously, never taking his eyes off the monster in front of the group. "Really, in dangerous situations, never say that phrase you just said before. It makes things worse, much worse..."

Cloud chuckled nervously as he slowly unsheathed the Buster Sword from its holster on his back, "How was I supposed to know that will happen?"

The monster, having successfully taken itself out of where ever it came from, reared its tentacles outwards and whipped them about. Its arms glowed with quite the magical power, something which Ranma didn't fail to notice.

"Cloud..." The pigtailed hybrid called out, as he levitated off the ground thoughtlessly, eyes still trained towards the monster. His feat caused some of the people behind him to gasp, but he ignored them idly. "Cloud... better go on ahead and take care of Sephiroth for me. Take Barret, Vincent, Cait Sith and Tifa as back-up. Yuffie will stay here with Belldandy and me to take care of this one." A loud 'mew' made him rethink his statement.

"Oh, and Mew too."

When he hadn't heard anyone moving, Ranma turned his head slightly to the side and saw from the corners of his eyes that only Belldandy seemed to be quite ready for the fight. He huffed irritably and repeated his earlier words, but this time he ended his instructions with a loud, "GET MOVING PEOPLE! EXPLANATIONS LATER, FIGHT NOW!"

THAT got the rest to move, as Yuffie quickly led herself to Belldandy's side, while the rest jumped down on a lower stone slab below their current position. Ranma watched the other group as they jumped unto a much lower stone pillar, all of them except Cloud.

The blonde was about to jump but he stopped. He turned back towards the others above him who were left to fight the other monster. He knew that Ranma was capable of fighting and protecting at the same time, but he can't help but worry still. When he looked up, he saw that the pigtailed man was looking down at him expectantly.

"How about you guys? Are you gonna be okay?" Cloud asked loudly.

Ranma made a dismissing gesture with his hand as he gave Cloud a half-lidded stare. "Don't worry, kid. We'll manage."

Cloud nodded a bit reluctantly. In the end, he can do nothing but follow through with the plan anyway. With another firmer nod, the blonde mercenary turned and jumped after the other group and disappeared within the darkness of the crater's bottom.

When Ranma was sure that the rest of their little band of saviors were gone from this area, he turned back to the monster, which did not move at all. For a few seconds, Ranma thought that the monster had some sort of a skewed honor code, until it spoke.

"KSSSSSSSSSHHAAAAAAAA... YOU... YOU ARE NO HUMAN..." The monster growled out.

Ranma, Belldandy and Yuffie were taken a back a bit. Most monsters they encountered had minds that were only slightly developed; their brains were only to accommodate primal instincts. A few altered monsters could speak a few phrases and such, but fell back unto the same spiel of instincts.

This monster... it was totally different from the rest.

"WHAT ARE YOU, NOT-SO-HUMAN? SOMETHING OLD... AND HAS MUCH POWER WITHIN THAT BAG OF FLESH OF YOURS. WHY HIDE IN THAT CONTAINER?" The monster hissed as its tentacle-arms started lashing out in the air.

Ranma then decided to answer, even if he was still bewildered by this... strange phenomenon of communicating with a monster first, "I dunno what the heck you're talking about. I trained for this power, so this body of mine is the result." (("As well as good genetics, I guess...")) He amended in his thoughts after a bit.

He was taken out of his musings when Mew mentally shouted at him an urgent warning. Ranma quickly phased himself near Belldandy and Yuffie, grabbed them, and teleported a bit further back of the meager land they were on as the monster's tentacles exploded from the rock flooring itself. Mew materialized above the battle area, whose mission was to warn her master of any surprise attacks.

The monster roared in anger. "SUBMIT TO ME, AND ALL WILL BE ONE!"

"This monster..." Belldandy whispered in shock, "This is JENOVA..."

"Impossible!" Yuffie cried out as she threw her shurikens at the monster. They stuck unto the monster's skin and stayed there for a moment, before they were absorbed into its skin. "But we already defeated JENOVA! How many are there!"

Belldandy shook her head. "We only defeated parts of JENOVA. The purpose of the Reunion... those people Doctor Hojo injected with the JENOVA cells... I understand everything now!"

Without waiting for her companions to ask for more information, she supplied them with it, "Those people... they have JENOVA in them. When they spoke of Reunion, it meant that those cells in them contaminated with JENOVA were trying to reunite with the others. That's why they were so adamant in coming together as a group! The contaminated people became parts of JENOVA once its cells were introduced in their bloodstream!"

"Like a virus..." Ranma murmured as he looked troubled at the revelation. "JENOVA infects like a damn virus... takes over the specimen's circulatory system, and makes them an extension of its own body. That's so... sick..."

Yuffie looked between Ranma and Belldandy. "But... but why is that here, in this place?" she pointed a shaking finger at the hulking mass of the monster, which was now known as JENOVA.

Belldandy casted Yuffie a hooded gaze and replied, "The Northern Crater is where JENOVA crashed into this world. This JENOVA is probably the remnant of its main body, before scientists of the pre-apocalyptic world and Shin-Ra came to collect samples. Those samples then became other lesser JENOVAs, the ones we fought earlier."

"The specimens used by Doctor Hojo..." Ranma growled out, "They were guinea pigs to test how JENOVA will react if its body was in pieces. The Reunion... just like any other organism in the universe, the parts wanted to become whole again. United as one."

Belldandy nodded. "That's correct. It's like a wound trying to mend itself back to its original form. That's the true purpose of the Reunion."

"No way... that's... that's just so wrong!" Yuffie shrieked in terror of the thought, as she slowly backed away from the two.

This became their undoing, because the monster, JENOVA, caught the ninja girl's movements and locked on them.

Suddenly, JENOVA's tentacles became a whirlwind of death, which forced Ranma and the other two women with him to dodge frantically. One almost caught Belldandy, but Ranma was there to teleport her out of the attack range. The monster became quite agitated with the lack of its success, but Ranma cannot fight back as well. He was too busy dodging and keeping the others alive.

The status quo shifted when one of JENOVA's tentacles drew back and glowed bright blue. Ranma immediately felt the magical power gathering in that lone tentacle and scrambled to get Belldandy and Yuffie out of the magic's range.

JENOVA fired off a high-level Ice spell from that tentacle, which blasted a terrible Blizzard that battered and froze the area where the trio were before.

"Damn...!" Ranma huffed as he materialized with Belldandy secured firmly on his right arm, and Yuffie draped indignantly over his left shoulder. He floated way above the monster's reach.

"This isn't doing us any good." Yuffie commented as she squirmed to get into a more comfortable position on the hard shoulder she was on.

Ranma agreed with her. "You're right..." he said as he turned towards his beloved, "Bell-chan... I will take you to a much safer place out of that monster's range of attacks while Yuffie..." he now faced the younger short-haired girl on his shoulder, "You will be with Bell-chan to guard her."

Belldandy huffed angrily, "I can help you, Ran-kun!"

The pigtailed hybrid shook his head. "Not in your condition."

Yuffie looked at him in confusion. "Condition? What condition?"

"It's nothing!" Belldandy snapped at her.

"She's pregnant with my child." Ranma deadpanned.

"Oh my god!" Yuffie squealed happily and tried to congratulate the brown-haired girl, but it was cut off when Ranma continued his explanation.

"I don't want to risk you and our child, Belldandy..." Ranma intoned seriously, "So I'm gonna make sure you're safe. I can deal with JENOVA on my own, trust me."

Belldandy's face became angered for a moment, before it softened, "Oh Ran-kun..." she whispered as she kissed the man's cheek, "I'm sorry for being bitchy... I trust you, and I also want our child to be safe."

"Thanks, Bell-chan..." Ranma smiled at Belldandy lovingly.

A quick teleport and a short conversation with Mew and the girls later, Ranma left the three on one of the topmost floating rock ledges near the top of the crater, just enough for the trio to witness the fight at the safest distance possible.

"Heh... now we can fight without any restrictions..." Ranma muttered darkly as he reappeared once again on the battlefield, a few feet away from the flailing monster.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The battle was taking a long time, and both combatants were becoming a bit frustrated. Especially Ranma, who knew that he could've finished this one with a much lesser time than he's taking at the moment. He wouldn't dare fire off the big guns, because the structural integrity of the place was quite questionable. Which was why Ranma was trying to finish off JENOVA with much smaller ki blasts and his martial arts.

So far, he's failing. JENOVA was a pretty fast healer, and was absorbing most of the energy he used to fire off his attacks.

"This is insane..." Ranma sweated as he felt his reserves waning a bit. Normally, he wouldn't have so much trouble with an opponent. He now understood the advantages of the battle ground in a fight. JENOVA was taking its time on beating him, but it fired off magic attacks like it wasn't even worth its time!

Ranma dodged another flurry of attacks from JENOVA's tentacles. Damn appendages, they kept on regenerating as fast as he cut them. If only he has his own magic... attacks... gah! How stupid!

JENOVA growled as its target managed to phase out of its trap, only to back off of its attack range. It had half the mind to pursue, but it knew that it was only a matter of time before the young fleshy upstart would tire and succumb. Being connected to Mako Energy, JENOVA has virtually unlimited access to power. But this... mortal... impressed it a bit. So much power...

Ranma resisted the urge to slap his forehead. He DID have magic attacks! How could he have forgotten about the Masamune!

But his momentary distraction caused him his advantage at the moment, as he found himself wrapped with those slimy tentacles of JENOVA's. Once it managed to secure the pigtailed hybrid with its arms, the 'Blight of the Planet' bombarded him with poison.

Too bad for JENOVA though, because Ranma wasn't affected by the poison much. He did slow down at a moderate scale as some of the exotic poison's effects started overloading his senses. It was a good thing for Ranma that his body's healing factor was off the charts. His ailments were being healed on par with the damages the poison wrought on his body.

"Great..." The former amnesiac warrior groused as he struggled against his bind, "My reflexes still felt sluggish. Gah... stupid amnesia... after living for years without using my skills, I got a bit rusty."

JENOVA for one never cared at his plight, as it continued to try and squeeze the life out of its victim. Ranma proved to be quite stubborn, as the man refused to simply die. Yes, Jenova was quite agitated at the moment.

"As if I'm gonna die like this..." Ranma grumbled to himself as he idly watched JENOVA grew impatient at its efforts. He quickly powered his strength with ki and broke off from the grapple and somersaulted out of range once again.

"Okay..." The raven-haired man assessed as he rubbed a particularly painful spot on his upper arm. Sure, he was stronger than most, but it still hurt being crushed by JENOVA. "Hmmm... JENOVA's arms generate elemental magic, its body releases a very fatal poison, it can also suck energy outta me, and it regenerates pretty fast. I can't use my more powerful moves because the crater might have a premature cave-in. Yup... I have to go with the Masamune..." he concluded as he concentrated on his right arm. The Chaos Gems embedded within Ranma's body glowed fiercely as the crystals shifted and melded together. The Masamune slid out of his arms gracefully.

"Have to finish this fast..." Ranma surmised as he draped the long katana across his shoulders, "Who knows how long this cavern can last with all this energy and fighting?"

To point out this fact he thought up of, some of the floating slab of rocks started disintegrating into nothing. It was as if the entire area wasn't able to hold unto its shape. He was idly worried about the state Belldandy and Yuffie's area was in, but a mental reassurance from Mew quelled his thoughts. Mew told him to concentrate on defeating the ugly monster, and that she will handle the situation when the need arose.

((Mew... oh yeah!)) Ranma crowed in his mind as he sliced the offending tentacle that wanted him caught again. Of course, the same tentacle grew back, typical. ((Mew can generate a really powerful shield... maybe if she puts up her barrier, I can probably use my more powerful moves...)) he noted, and dodged another barrage of ice and fire magic.

Mew apparently caught this train of thought from her master, and sent back that she will put up the shield before he fires of his stronger attacks. Generating the shield will be a taxing experience for Mew, since in her own home world, she only puts up her barrier for short intervals at a time.

With this type of 'back-up insurance', Ranma was now ready to face his enemy with more than what he's thrown at it so far...

"CEASE YOUR STRUGGLES, MORTAL..." JENOVA's voice rumbled out as it tried to pummel Ranma with her magic attacks, but the red-tailed man was too quick to hit.

"I don't know about you, slimy..." Ranma somersaulted and held his upside down pose for a few seconds before doing a reverse triple axle and landed on the ground perfectly, "But I know I won't surrender to you."

JENOVA was beyond pissed. Black lightning coursed along its glistening skin as it tried to catch Ranma with its elongated limbs. With a sudden insight, the monster managed to 'feel' the presence of the other three individuals who were with this foolish mortal just a few moments ago. For some reason, the mortal managed to whisk its other targets out of the battle area, but not completely out of the crater itself. Now that it was able to concentrate for a bit, JENOVA found the other three hiding out on one of the rock copse above the duel zone.

Ranma had no time to react, even with all his skills, as one of JENOVA's tentacles managed to divert his attention to the monster's true purpose. The other tentacle blurred and sped towards where Belldandy, Yuffie and Mew were, its skin glowing with bright red magical energy. The only thing he heard was Belldandy's scream of fright as the tentacle was already more than halfway towards the trio above the fighting duo.

The red-tailed man tried to move, really, but his momentary lapse of attention towards his opponent got him snagged with the tentacle that was hell-bent on capturing him. He watched in horror while entangled in JENOVA's clutches as the other errant tentacle managed to strike its mark, with the girls' screams echoing all over the large cavern.

Everything went into a near-standstill as Ranma and JENOVA waited for the dust of the destroyed floating rock where Belldandy and Yuffie were before was totaled by the sharp end of the limb. Small rocks and dust showered Ranma and JENOVA...

"No..." Ranma whispered as he renewed his struggles to free himself from JENOVA started anew, but then he stopped when he felt a sudden change in JENOVA's mood. The monster seemed to have remained paralyzed from its position before, its other tentacle still outstretched towards the rapidly dissipating dust cloud above them.

The limb that was thrown into the girls' direction was caught half-way by a pink bubble of force that now surrounded a slightly awed Belldandy and Yuffie, as well as Mew. The tentacle has a bit of its length inside the bubble on the girls' side, a proof that even a little delay with the shield's activation would've allowed JENOVA to succeed in its goal.

Ranma wasted no time though, as he quickly flexed his arms and made the tentacle that held him to snap, literally. JENOVA's arm whipped back violently as the red-tailed warrior leapt back from its range once again, with a silver energy ball gathered at one hand. When he landed, Ranma released the ball and fired off a series of attacks similar to the first one at a rapid pace. JENOVA's Barrier magic and Shell magic activated at the same time, but as the attack went on for more than five seconds the shields cracked and groaned in protest. Eventually, they broke down, but only a few ki balls were left to actually hit JENOVA. The monster was thrown back for a few feet, but its healing ability mended the damage done unto its personage without much problem.

The pigtailed man glowered at the lack of better results as he floated into the air. Ranma shot a really weird look towards the direction where Belldandy, Yuffie and Mew levitated inside the force bubble, a look that none of the three targets of that look missed. Belldandy and Mew were the only ones who understood that look, and frankly it made them nervous as hell. Mew responded by tripling the strength of the shield. No sense in not playing safe, right?

Yuffie was just dumbfounded as the bubble that surrounded her and her companions flashed rhythmically. Also, the expression on Belldandy's face as she looked at the battle wasn't really promising.

The obsidian bracers around the pigtailed alien hybrid's arms were completely removed as it vanished into thin air when Ranma threw them aside. Washuu probably installed a special recall issue into the bracers that would make them go into Ranma's personal subspace when he removed them.

Power exploded from Ranma's body when the man called to it. The bracers were his limiters to his true power, something which he hasn't fully controlled yet. But he's getting there. The gems on his forehead glowed brightly as the Masamune waited patiently for its master in mid air from where it was released a while ago.

Color washed over Ranma's raven-black hair as it turned into a bloody red color. The spiky hair was everywhere as the back length quickly became apparently elongated, but it still maintained the pigtail. His red tail became agitated as the now red haired young man threw back his head in a silent scream. Feathers exploded from his back as the Light Hawk wings formed from him. The shockwave of power destroyed many of the floating rocks surrounding the battle area. Even Mew was hard-pressed in keeping the shield intact, so Belldandy eventually opted to help the poor pink cat, even if the woman's power was still pretty weak. The shield was buffeted by the winds of power coming from Ranma.

"Playtime, is over..." The newly-transformed demi Saiyajin's voice growled out as Ranma got out of his power-up frenzy. He reached to his side and plucked his long-bladed katana from mid-air. "Dammit, I'm sick and tired of everyone trying to kill me. But then you involve my friends, and my love, and my unborn child... while I understand that it's literally Anything Goes in a battle like ours, you shouldn't have involved them especially since I took them out of our battle field."

Ranma lifted the katana easily as he pointed the sharp end towards the monster known as JENOVA, "Someone is gonna die for this, and it's no question that it's gonna be you."

JENOVA grumbled loudly as it lashed out with its arms, but it was all in vain. The monster could do nothing but scream as its tentacles were stabbed by Ranma's wings when the pigtailed man batted JENOVA's arms aside. Ranma used his wings to bat the tentacles aside, and the razor-sharp feathers cut into JENOVA's skin like hot knife through butter. The tentacles were pinned to the ground, effectively paralyzing them for JENOVA' use.

"Now..." The red-tailed warrior lifted his sword and poised its sharp end aimed straight towards JENOVA's midsection, "This is your defeat, JENOVA."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile, just outside Planet Gaia's (formerly called Earth) atmosphere...

A large tear suddenly ripped right across the space between Planet Venus and Planet Gaia. A silvery crystalline object emerged from the rift as the tear slowly closed itself off. It was a large ship, but its built emphasized speed. Although, one can never know what a ship such as this one would hide as secrets. After all, never judge a book by its cover...

Inside the silver ship, the occupants sat amongst the floating fluffy chairs they have conjured for themselves. They formed a semi-circle around a large table-like structure in the middle of the ship's bridge. The top-most part of the 'table' showed various star maps and such, until one of the people around the thing switched the view into Planet Gaia's current resource stats and other important tidbits about it. Not only that, but a succeeding effort to map out the surface already began when it was activated.

"Finally... I thought we'd never get out of that wormhole..." One of the persons commented, "By the way, turn on the lights, will you Rin-Ohki?"

"Miyah!" A cutesy voice echoed all over the bridge as the lights flickered on once again. The whole area was illuminated, and exposed that ALL of the occupants of the ship were humanoid females, except two furry cat-like things that had ears of rabbits. One of the animals was colored black, while the other was slightly shiny silver.

"Rin-Ohki's pretty excited..." The same woman who talked earlier observed as the group watched the silver cattish animal known as Rin-Ohki flittered around the bridge's computer consoles. This woman stood up and followed the silver cabbit around the area. She was revealed to have long light blue-green hair, faint dark purple lipstick, and red eyes. Her skin was pasty white, and had quite a few number of patterned tattoos. She wore a skin-tight bodice that showed her great figure, and the golden halo-like thing around her head gleamed in the ship's artificial light. Her staff made a metallic noise as it was tapped against the ship's floor.

Another woman piped up, "Relax, Ihadurca. Rin-chan's just excited at seeing her partner again..." and settled down on her comfy chair. This one has golden cat-slitted eyes and teal-colored hair that was spiked around the crown of her head carelessly. Her body was covered by a tight red and black body suit that didn't hide her great figure. Her ears were a bit more pronounced than the other girls in the bridge, and a bit of fangs showed from her mouth. Her arms had armbands with them that held a pair of red gems. Her throat had a choker around it that held another red gem, which was bigger than the others.

On this woman's lap, a little girl was curled in a fetal position. The sleeping child has spiky red hair, and her body was also covered in a form-fitting black full-body suit. She moaned as she shifted into a much comfortable position on the teal-haired woman's lap. The woman smiled gently as she looked down on the little one. On this woman's shoulder was a creature similar to the silver cat-rabbit from before, but this one has black fur. It was currently slumped on the woman's shoulder, sleeping quite deeply.

"Soon, Ranko-chan, you will see your father soon..." The woman caressed the girl's hair, whose name was now revealed as Ranko.

Lea, or Ihadurca as the others called her sometimes, also smiled at the scene. Her eyes were a bit wistful, though. "Ryoko... I really envy you sometimes, you know? Ranko-chan's so cute..."

The teal-haired woman, Ryoko, snorted as she sat straighter on her seat. "Ranko-chan's cute when she's asleep. When she's awake, she's as much a troublemaker as her father. Like father, like daughter, I guess..."

"Please be nice, Ryoko-chan..." A violet-haired woman commented from the other side of the formation. Her outfit was colored white, and was currently sporting white wings around her lower back. Her skin was ash-gray, but no one was really paying attention to it. "I'm sure Ranko-chan just misses her father..."

"As if..." Ryoko snorted once again after glancing at her sleeping daughter, "You remember that incident in Planet Toengiri, right Raven?"

"The rat-people..." A light-green haired woman piped up from the violet-haired woman's side. She wore a black body suit as well, but was overlapped with a dark-green colored breastplate. A dark-red muffler was wrapped around her neck, which covered half of her face from view. Her skin was darker than most of those in the group. "Those vile creatures... they tried to kidnap... Ranko-chan..." she said haltingly.

"Ranko blew the planet up, Emeralda-chan..." Lea deadpanned at the light-green haired woman. Her eyes were lit with mirth, however.

Ryoko sighed helplessly, "Who knew Ranko could assemble a planetary destruction bomb with the bare essentials anyhow? If you wanna blame someone, blame Washuu. That's where Ranko got her perks in being the scientist thing, after all."

"Excuse me, but we're here..." A monotone voice cut through their chitchat. Everyone turned to the girl with light teal hair and pale skin, who was currently handling their ship's navigation. Her body was slender and graceful, and it was built like a dancer's body. Her red eyes stared right back at them as her hand gestured at the screen on their 'conference table'. Everyone saw that, indeed, they had arrived at their target coordinates. They stared at the planet that Ryoko, Raven and the teal haired young woman at navigation seemed to recognize as Earth.

Around the planet was a ring full of space debris. Most of them were remnants of something large and mechanical, and must've been mostly comprised of metal. The planet's atmosphere has a dull look in it, but the presence of some green patches and blue on the planet's surface showed promise of the existence of life on it.

Oh, and let's not forget...

"Hey Vanilla-chan, is that a really big meteor heading right straight for the planet we're supposed to look Ranma in for?" Ryoko asked as she looked at the projected image of an incoming meteor towards their target destination.

The girl at the navigation, Vanilla, nodded slightly at the former space pirate. "Yes, Ryoko-san. It will strike this planet within the hour. I would suggest an immediate evacuation of the planet's living inhabitants within a thirty-minute time period. Even so, that would be cutting it close."

"Or, we could shoot it down..." Lea's brow lifted as she tapped on the meteor's image on their electronic view screen on the conference table.

Emeralda shook her head in unison with Vanilla. "Not recommended..." The dark skinned jade-haired girl disagreed, "Power backlash... might cause... irreparable damage... in star system's... gravitational orbit..."

"Bah!" Lea hmphed as she crossed her arms under her... gifted chest, "Then what do we do?"

Vanilla sighed as she looked at the screen blankly. New information filtered in, and it already brought hundreds of different scenarios into her mind. Of course, there's the most prominent information that was now flashing on the screen, and the other girls would be thrilled to find this one out. She had half the mind to keep this one to herself, but...

"Excuse me..." The red-eyed young woman informed them anyway, which effectively drew the attention of the bridge back to her, "Ranma-sama has been found."

"WHAT!" was the general sound the other girls made from this news, which sadly partially woke the poor red haired girl on Ryoko's lap rudely.

Ranko-chan whined softly as she tried to bury herself deeper into her biological mother's warm lap.

The cyan-colored spiky haired woman gasped softly as she noised an apologetic sound towards her bundle before she focused her attention towards the subject at hand once again. "Well, what are we waiting for! He's probably in danger or something. Rin-Ohki, contact Ranma-kun with your mind link. Vanilla, try to translate the data into a viewable file so that we may be able to communicate with Ranma as well, via Rin-chan though."

"Miyah!" was the cheerful reply from the silver cabbit.

Vanilla only nodded soundlessly as she turned to her console to ask Rin-Ohki some questions.

Ryoko nodded in satisfaction and turned towards the black-furred cabbit on her shoulder, "Ryo-Ohki, try to boost Rin-Ohki's power since she's still drained from the trip. Also, try to tap into the information about the mind link cabbit ships have with their owners, and how to have them being visualized for the rest of the crew to see, will you?"

"Miya-o!" Ryo-Ohki pumped her small paw into the air as she hopped towards the now-serious Rin-Ohki near the main computer of the ship.

The cyan-haired woman blinked when she noticed her peers looked at her incredulously. She huffed and said haughtily, "What! You got something to say, say it!"

The other women in the room shivered slightly at the irritated battle aura Ryoko generated. They all figured it would be best to allow their future co-wife to cool off for a bit. After all, twenty long years were such a long time to go without sex, even if more than half of those years they were in stasis.

Which also reminded them; they had to make sure their errant would-be lover would never try those suicidal stunts again.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back on Planet Gaia's surface, in the Northern Crater...

JENOVA, the huge and ugly deformed monster was currently pinned to the floating ground that was used as the fighting arena. It was being held firmly to the ground by the multitudes of white semi-transparent feathers. It was struggling weakly, but it only made the odds against it worse than before. The feathers were unmerciful, each struggle made the seemingly harmless feathers gather large amounts of energy and disperse the charges simultaneously against the wriggling JENOVA. In short, it was a nearly unending torture...

In front of the subdued monster was the red-haired bane of its existence. The red-haired man's power multiplied exponentially after he 'transformed' from his original raven-haired form. Ranma, in his own version of the Super Saiyajin first form mode, stood over JENOVA. The Shin Masamune was currently resting across his shoulder as the red haired man stared at something above them with faraway eyes. His red pigtail waved lazily at his backside as Ranma underwent something similar to an internal monologue, probably to those who can see him.

The psychic Mew, however, knew that her master was currently talking to someone else in another psychic link. Something similar to what the pink pokemon and Ranma shared, but she couldn't listen into it without his permission.

A few minutes ago, Ranma was in the middle of... 'punishing' JENOVA some more when his mind felt a familiar tingle. A mind link was currently trying to make itself known to him, and he knew that this moment was to come sooner or later.

Sure enough, it was his cabbit partner, Rin-Ohki. Their link remained cut off during the duration period of his amnesia. It was only until that time when he fell off that high cliff was he able to recover his memories, as well as reactivate his telepathic connections with Rin-Ohki and Raven. So far, the dark purple-haired woman named Raven hasn't demanded herself through the link as of yet, probably she opted to prioritize Ranma's link with his cabbit ship first.

Nevertheless, Ranma felt elated when he heard the familiar high-pitched "Miyah!" that came from his cabbit partner's side. Although... Rin-Ohki had been so excited about their reestablished mind link that the cabbit literally crammed two decades of memories and scenarios Ranma missed when he had amnesia.

Ranma groaned as he felt a huge migraine coming on.

Still, Ranma placated his cabbit partner by 'downloading' his own memories of the two decades they were apart. Secretly, Ranma hoped that the girls wouldn't react too harshly over the news about Belldandy's 'condition'.

Speaking of which... he was in the middle of a battle, wasn't he?

Ranma's attention refocused itself unto the battle at hand once again. He noticed that the surrounding terrain started deteriorating on its own. It would seem that the instability of the place has become worse. He idly wondered if Cloud and the group with him managed to beat Sephiroth already, and at the same time Ranma glanced up and gazed at the pink bubble that protected Belldandy, Mew and Yuffie.

"I really have to finish this soon..." Ranma muttered to himself as he tightened his grip on the Shin Masamune. He had just concluded his mental conversation with his 'other' psychic-linked partner, one whom he hasn't introduced to the other partner yet. Sadly, that would have to wait until this whole mess with Gaia was finished.

Most of Ranma's communication with Rin-Ohki were more on the side of instructions, with a few bits of information about his two-decade life on this version of Earth. Rin-Ohki, surprisingly, was demanding an explanation regarding the recent development with Belldandy's condition. But those concerns had to be waved off to get to the heart of the matter.

Ranma sent Rin-Ohki the severity of his situation. He relayed his coordinates to Rin-Ohki, but instructed the cabbit not to get too close, else the entire construct of the Crater might give out and bury those still inside it alive. He also gave Rin-Ohki the specific coordinates of the ones the transformed cabbit just HAD to teleport out of the area. But he warned Rin-Ohki not to include him in the transfer. At least, not at the moment...

Ranma still has a score to settle with JENOVA, as well as having to wait for Cloud and the members of the party who went after Sephiroth deeper into the Northern Crater. Of course, the irritated cabbit became quite adamant at pulling Ranma out of the fight anyway, but the pigtailed hybrid promised an explanation afterwards. Rin-Ohki had no choice but to follow Ranma, because she knew she couldn't teleport Ranma without his permission anyway. Also, Ranma has a point about the whole situation.

The now red-haired, red-tailed warrior stood proudly as he watched Belldandy, Yuffie and Mew were captured in a silver pillar of light. Belldandy has a look of surprise and confusion in her face, while Yuffie was slightly terrified. Mew was slightly scared according to his and the pokemon's mind link, since the feline cannot escape the beam for some reason. Ranma placated Mew and promised an explanation for later as well. He also mouthed an "I'll explain later!" to Belldandy, whose confused look slowly abated from her face as she was slowly disappearing from his sight. Before the three inside the silver beam completely vanished, Belldandy mouthed "I love you, Ran-kun!" towards the red-haired hybrid.

"Good..." Ranma murmured as he turned his gaze back to his quarry, "They're safe now, kaijuu-san (monster). How 'bout that?"

"WHY..." The monster rasped, as it ceased its struggles to get up from its predicament. Instead, the monster tried stalling for some time in order to recover from its injuries. But due to the damages on its body was done by the Shin Masamune, healing those injuries were next to impossible.

JENOVA continued to converse, in a vain hope to slightly heal anyway, "WHY DO YOU INSIST ON HELPING THESE MORTALS?" it burbled as what's left of its arm waved around. "THEY ARE SCUM, ARE THEY NOT? THEY BETRAY ONE ANOTHER, HURT ONE ANOTHER, KILL EACH OTHER... THEY DO THESE DEEDS TO ANOTHER OF THEIR KIND EVEN TO THE SIMPLE REASON OF PERSONAL GAIN. IT IS IN THEIR NATURE, AFTER ALL. YOU OF ALL MORTAL SCUM SHOULD KNOW, YOU EXPERIENCED THIS FIRST HAND. SHOULD YOU NOT SIDE WITH ME, YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THEIR MORTALITY..."

"Save your speech, JENOVA..." The red-haired Saiyajin hybrid sneered as he thrust his sword into the monster's 'chest' cavity, which caused JENOVA to screech painfully. "These so-called 'scum' are the ones who should exist in this world. True, they might be traitorous to the other, but this is their own existence to live in. Besides, even with all the darkness in this world, there are always those who wanted nothing more than to live their lives peacefully with one another."

Ranma leaned unto the Shin Masamune's hilt, an action which drove the blade deeper into JENOVA's body. The monster started squirming once again, but it was all in vain, being pinned like it was right now. "You say they're all scum, but there are still some who wanted to stop you and your stupid plans of being fully revived. You're still planning on continuing with that stupid test for humanity, well, I say you're pretty much idiotic in doing so."

The alien hybrid snorted as he leaned back from the sword hilt, but left the blade where it was. He continued, "I'm really not sure on why you're testing humanity. You're probably sent by some god or whatever. But right now, I really don't care for the reason you're here. It's the fact that you're here that bothers me..." Ranma adopted a melancholy look on his face as he went on, "And besides, there're still those few individuals who wanted nothing more than to live peacefully. So they struggle against insurmountable odds set by you and those other so-called 'scum' to oppose them. It's because of those same few individuals that made me fight you, JENOVA."

"FOOLISH..." The scourge of humanity rasped as it ceased struggling once more, "FOR SO FEW MORTALS... YOU SAVE EVEN THE MAJORITY OF SCUM? HOW PITIFUL... AND SO 'MORTAL' OF YOU... RAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Its sentence was cut off when it suddenly convulsed in place. The sheer volume of its cry destroyed the last few of the floating rocks that decorated the cavern they were in. Ranma just looked at the monster in confusion, but he felt a spike of power that seemed to have lost its flare almost at the same time when JENOVA started its throes.

"SEPHIROTH... YOU HAVE FAILED ME! STILL... IT IS YOUR DESTINY TO DISAPPEAR, MORTALS!" JENOVA screamed as it tried to free itself once again from its confinement. Ranma's ki-enhanced feathers remained impassive at the monster's thrashing.

"Well... according to your sudden lurch, Sephiroth must've been defeated by Cloud..." Ranma allowed a small sigh to pass through his mouth as he stared at the depths of the darkness within the Crater itself. He looked into the direction where he perceived Cloud and the others have gone through earlier, and mentally congratulated the party for finally beating his former friend. JENOVA must've felt its connection with Sephiroth severed when the silver-haired madman was beaten.

A low snicker escaped Ranma's lips, followed by audible chuckles, then by his loud belly-aching laughs. The man with the red-hued pigtailed hair laughed loud and free, unable to control his emotions any longer. Relief was foremost in his mind, relief that his former blonde student in the sword arts managed to defeat a stronger enemy, his relief over the fact that Cloud may be able to set everything that happened to him in the past behind him. Everything was in place.

Everything was all right in Ranma's world, until he felt the entire Northern Crater shudder dangerously. The danger was accented when the walls of the Crater started breaking apart. Not only that, but Ranma actually saw something greenish coming from the bottom of the Crater. He felt an immense amount of planetary energy bubbling to come out, kind of like a volcano waiting to erupt.

"That can't be good..." Ranma muttered to himself as he turned to his enemy warily.

The monster had the gall to start chuckling, but it turned into short gasps of pain as the ki-feathers that held it in place responded with Ranma's stress. The feathers blazed with arcs of Ranma's power and sapped JENOVA of its struggles.

Just as Ranma was about to hold the Shin Masamune for the deathblow, the Crater suddenly exploded all around him. The ground he and the monster were on slowly disintegrated into nothing. JENOVA was released from being pinned, but without its power it wasn't able to do anything but fall into the greenish substance that bubbled upwards from the Crater's abyss-like bottom, with the Shin Masamune still stuck across its middle part.

Ranma has a sudden frightful premonition. He finally recognized the green energy as the same power he found in Mideel. It was the Life Stream, a concentrated source of Mako energy. If JENOVA managed to fall into the stuff, then it would become a near unlimited power source for the monster.

"Crap!" Ranma scrambled for a teleport, but the interference from the saturated amount of power flowing all over the place sabotaged his senses. He has no choice but to rely on his flight ability.

The red-haired warrior blurred in his haste to get to the falling monster, and totally ignored the white airship known as the Highwind speeding out of the erupting volcano of excess Mako of the Crater. Inside the Highwind, Cloud, Tifa and the rest of the party who went after Sephiroth were all right and all accounted for. Most of them were bewildered when they saw a red blur pass by their airship at great speeds, but they had no time to consider it since the pressure of the energy underneath the Crater was about to explode outwards.

Back to Ranma, the pigtailed one finally reached the monster. Instead of blasting JENOVA away with one of his ki blasts, Ranma opted for a slightly better approach. As he clutched at the hilt of his sword once more, he threw the monster a mocking grin.

"You're not gonna escape me that easily, JENOVA...!" Ranma shouted amidst the loud roar of the energy trying to escape towards the surface. The wind from the deep fissure within the Northern Crater started to pick up violently, but he paid no heed to any of it. As Ranma grasped at the Shin Masamune, the gems on his forehead flashed their own respective colors in sync with the glow of his ethereal eyes. The Shin Masamune slowly became luminescent as well, in response to Ranma's power being released. "You're like a virus, JENOVA! And guess what! I'm the CURE! Take this... Ultimate Magic... ULTIMAAAAAA!"

The loud shout of the pigtailed hybrid drowned out the noises from the background, as the Shin Masamune exploded in power. Dark yellow-green energy erupted from Ranma's sword that encompassed both the caster and the monster. JENOVA's shrieks of pain were reduced to the sounds of the background once more as its molecular composition slowly broke down.

Ranma wasn't out of the woods yet, as the flood of toxic Mako came rushing up to his position. He quickly glanced at the Crater's opening and saw the looming form of the Meteor on the atmosphere.

The red-haired pigtailed man frowned grimly. There was only one thing left to do in this situation. He has to summon... his 'armored angel'.

As the still raging Ultima spell completed its wreak of destruction, the Northern Crater was lit in a fiery inferno... along with JENOVA's parting words...

"IT IS DESTINY FOR MORTALS TO DISAPPEAR...!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile, the Highwind was in danger of being reached by the sickly green energy that raced out of the Crater.

Cid Highwind, the designated pilot of the airship, already activated the rocket boosters that would've pushed the Highwind's speed triple of its original one. Sweat poured down his face as he struggled to keep the airship on course, but Cait Sith and Barret's shouts to make the pilot go faster let him know that the backlash from the Crater's explosion was about to reach them, even with the added speed. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Tifa holding unto a worried Cloud as the pair stared out of the Highwind's window.

The spear user's fears grew when he spied upon the tendrils of the Life Stream shooting out from the side windows of the Highwind's cockpit, testament on how close their escape was going to be. And frankly, Cid felt that his luck was about to run out.

The white airship shuddered as one tendril of energy lashed out unto one of the rocket booster's gas tanks, which caused quite an explosion off to the airship's side.

With the sandy-haired spearman's prowess in anything that flew in the air, Cid developed some sort of a 'connection' with the Highwind. Thus, Cid had to grimace when he felt the once great airship stolen from the Shin-Ra slowly fell apart against the powerful energy torrents originating from the Northern Crater.

Tifa Lockhart just clutched at Cloud Strife's powerful arm as the Highwind shuddered and groaned more than before. The raven-haired female martial artist was quite regretful of her apparent loss of chance to get reacquainted with the young man who managed to save her all those years ago in their hometown of Nibelheim. The blonde swordsman just stared at the incoming green goo with slight trepidation in his eyes. He was almost drowned from the similar stuff back in Mideel, and it still brought him some bad memories from the experience. Nevertheless, he felt so powerless at the moment, and just hoped for a miracle. Looking at the horizon however brought Cloud's optimism down a notch, as Meteor's image slowly enlarged in sight.

Cait Sith, the combination of the black robotic feline perched on top of an equally robotic white roundish creature was currently slumped at one corner. At the end of the wireless radio controller of the animatron, Reeve was quite depressed at the predicament of his somewhat teammates.

The angsty form of Vincent Valentine still stood rigid at one side of the frantic Cid, as he glared at nothing outside of the window panel in front of him. He was reminiscing, however, about the better times of his life, and about the betrayal of Lucrecia against his person. Sadly, the love of Vincent's life chose to be with that scum Hojo, he had no other choice but to let her go for her so-called happiness. He felt that everything that happened up to this point was partially his fault, but what was the point in all of the blame? Vincent did feel that he tried his best to fight and save his... party mates, but sadly the effort wasn't enough to save them from this situation.

AVALANCHE member Barret Wallace was panicking, an exact opposite of the stoic Vincent. The dark-skinned roguish hulk of a man was yelling his head off as he ran hither and yon across the deck of the airship. His most prominent thoughts were of his daughter Marlene, and that he felt he failed her. They did successfully defeated Sephiroth, but Meteor wasn't stopped at all.

The canine-feline hybrid named Nanaki, also known as Red XIII, watched Barret panic in front of him. He idly wondered if he would go to where his grandfather, Bugenhagen, has gone after the old man died. The red-furred former experiment sighed as he gazed at Meteor. It was a depressing sight.

The entire party inside the Highwind had no choice but to watch helplessly as the tendrils of power slowly washed over them. But a miracle happened.

Just before they were completely encompassed by the power backlash, the entirety of the airship was surrounded by a pillar of silver light. No one managed to react about it or utter a word as they vanished from within the almost-prison of the backlash.

Cloud and the others found themselves teleported in a different place. It was still a bit dark, and they recognized the city of Kalm below the battered airship. The only thing that bothered them, which Cid shakily pointed out above the Highwind, was the shadow of a much larger, and vastly different kind airship. It was something none of them has ever seen before. Surely, even the now-ruined Shin-Ra Corporation wouldn't have developed such a ship. After all, the Highwind was already the corporation's greatest achievement to date.

Above the white-hued broken-down airship, the silver crystalline ship known as Rin-Ohki hovered above the city that the newcomer woman named Belldandy indicated. Rin-Ohki wasn't about to disobey the woman fully endorsed by her master. And also, the brown-haired woman can really cook! But the other one... the short-haired girl named Yuffie... acted like they were pod people or something! Well... they really WERE aliens in context, but please! Rin-Ohki chose to ignore the slightly panicky girl as she concentrated on the poor little ship that almost got swallowed up by the inferno from the Crater.

The other women inside the silver crystalline ship were really not surprised at the current situation. In fact, some of them seemed to be a bit amused. Especially towards Yuffie's indignant shout of fright when Rin-Ohki's avatar form nudged the ninja girl's ankle. The women of both sides, the ones from space and the ones from Gaia, introduced themselves diplomatically. The women from space were a bit fascinated at Mew's appearance though...

In fact, Mew and Rin-Ohki's avatar stared at one another in silence. The entire bridge hall fell silent as the air seemed to have gotten heavy with tension. Mew, the pink floating feline pokemon, was fascinated and a bit jealous at her rival as Ranma's faithful companion. After all, according to the memories Ranma allowed the pokemon to view, Rin-Ohki was the first one to have a connection with Ranma and stuck with him inside limbo. When compared to Mew, Rin-Ohki was a veteran. On the other hand, Rin-Ohki felt threatened by Mew's presence, since this young upstart was with her beloved master for twenty years. That was not something to sneeze at...

While the two 'pets' stared each other down in the background, Belldandy finally noticed the battered Highwind's appearance underneath the cabbit ship. It helped that the flooring can be turned into a translucent viewscreen, and it clearly showed how damaged the airship was. The brown-haired reincarnated goddess implored to the women, particularly the one who's at the helm, Vanilla, to teleport the rest of the people inside the airship into their location. Belldandy told them that they accompanied Zack along his travels while he stayed in this world, and that those people were friends of theirs.

Several pillars of silver light appeared on the cabbit ship's bridge. A blonde spiky-haired man with a large sword strapped on his back appeared, hand-in-hand with a long raven-haired girl with gloves, white sleeveless shirt underneath a dark red jumper and short shorts.

A red-furred tiger-like animal appeared a little further behind the first two, along with a dark-skinned unshaven man with a body that has a large build and a gun-arm. A man dressed in red and black appeared as well, with eyes cold and unemotional... his large red scarf covering most of his face, and the flap draped behind him like a small cape.

Near this man, a frantic short cropped sandy haired man with goggles over his head appeared as well, still frozen at a position which seemed like he was gripping something in front of him with two hands. A long spear was strapped at his back. At his side, a large stuff toy-like creature appeared, who 'seemed' just as shocked as the others were. Nobody really knows, since its face was set into a goofy smile on its face. If looked upon closely, it was actually two stuffed creatures; the top one was a small black cat, and at the bottom was something white and big.

Again, the stupefied looks from the newcomers made the others giggle. Another round of introductions later made them feel at least a bit more at ease with one another. Belldandy, however, was an instant hit to the women from space. Especially when they learned she was now part of the family, and was expecting a child on the way.

Their slight festivities were interrupted when the Northern Crater erupted in a fantastic miasma of green and white energies, much to everyone's horror...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Inside the 'Rin-Ohki'...

The psychic floating pink pokemon named Mew and the telepathic silver-furred cabbit named Rin-Ohki forgot their beef at each other for the moment, as they both stared at the view screen in front of the ship's bridge in trepidation.

They were not the only ones. The brown-haired woman named Belldandy clasped her hands over her open mouth as she looked at the images. A petite young ninja with short black hair named Yuffie gasped beside her as she too joined Belldandy in viewing the screen. The blonde haired man with an enormous blade, Cloud, grimaced at the pandemonious explosion that occurred at the Northern Crater's opening. The raven-haired martial artist and Cloud's childhood friend, Tifa, felt her knees buckle as she tried not to look at the event. The large-bodied dark-skinned man with the gun-arm, Barret, bowed his head in helplessness, while the brooding visage of Vincent glowered by his side towards the screen. The former test subject in the form of a larger-than-normal red-furred wolf-tiger named Nanaki whined without meaning to do so. The big stuffed animatron named Cait Sith stayed silent at his little corner. The sandy-haired spear master, Cid, lowered his goggles from the top of his head down over his eyes.

The others however, the so-called 'aliens', currently betrayed no emotions on their faces.

The woman with spiky cyan hair, Ryoko remained in her seat as she held her daughter down on her lap. She also has a cabbit on her shoulder, although, this one was black-furred. The youngest member of the 'aliens', the red-haired girl on Ryoko's lap named Ranko, looked at the screen lazily. Vanilla, the girl with light teal hair, stared at the viewscreen impassively, while the now demonic-looking Raven leaned back to her seat with a bored yawn. The dark skinned tall girl named Emeralda was silently muttering to herself, something about babies and chocolates.

Of all the women in the room, the one with a little bit of darker shade of teal hair bore the most regal poise than the rest. Her face and upper neck has tattoos on them, and her clothes were... daring, black leather and all. The demon goddess named Ihadurca, who took the liking of the name Lea, sat on a seat on the side of Ryoko with her legs elegantly crossed with each other. On her right hand, an intricated staff was held firmly. Her brows, however, sported a slight tick on them, as if the involuntary action showed how impatient the woman was on the situation.

"How can you stand there doing nothing at all!" Everyone turned to the angrier-than-normal ninja girl named Yuffie, her dark short hair flapping wildly against her jumping around the cabbit ship's bridge, "Ranma's gonna die, and you're just watching there like you don't care!"

Belldandy gasped softly and looked at the ninja with a somber expression, "Yuffie..."

Seeing that the 'alien women' were clearly ignoring her outburst, Yuffie strode up to the nearest of them from her, who turned out to be the red-eyed pale-skinned Vanilla.

"Hey you! Ain't you gonna say something! What the hell's wrong with you!" Yuffie shouted at Vanilla's face, the latter just stared back at the little girl shouting in front of her impassively. Yuffie growled and smirked nastily and said, "Hmph! Maybe you didn't really care about Ranma at all! All you were doing was stringing---URK!"

Cloud's party, with the exception of Belldandy, gaped as Yuffie was suddenly grabbed by the petite Vanilla around the ninja's neck with her right hand. The pale-skinned girl was able to lift the slightly smaller girl and allowed Yuffie to dangle in mid-air. The poor ninja choked as she tried to remove Vanilla's hands from its grip around her trachea, but the red-eyed girl's hand was unrepentant.

When they saw that their comrade was being manhandled easily, Barret and Cid moved to put a stop to the confrontation, but the dark-skinned tall woman with light green hair named Emeralda pinned them on their positions with a glare.

Yuffie started to hyperventilate as she hung on Vanilla's arm, as her struggles slowly died down. The normally unflappable pale girl's face now sported a terrifying look of anger, something in which the 'alien girls' were surprised to see from Vanilla.

"I love him..." The simple statement was heard from Vanilla's lips. The words were soft, but firm... and they held heavy power. Yuffie's eyes widened, as well as her fighting comrades around them. The pale girl's words were filled with so much conviction.

Vanilla continued, "I love him so very much. Emeralda loves him just as much... Raven as well. No doubt Lea too, as well as Rin-Ohki. There is no question on Ryoko's love for him, their daughter Ranko's the proof of that. And also, in fact..." the girl's blood-red eyes seemed to glow as they locked on the brown-haired Belldandy's own blue-gray eyes, "You love him as much as we do as well."

The former Goddess of the Present ducked her head as she blushed hard.

"Do not EVER doubt our love for him, little girl..." Vanilla went on as her soulful stare was directed towards Yuffie once more, "You have absolutely no idea as to how much our emotions weigh for that man that is currently fighting for your world."

A metallic clang interrupted the pale girl's ire as Lea's golden staff hit Rin-Ohki's flooring quite clearly.

"That's enough, Vanilla. Put her down..." Lea coaxed her angry companion. The tallest woman of the group watched as Vanilla turned to her in slight confusion, before slowly let Yuffie's limp go.

Vanilla backed away as the ninja coughed and inhaled sharply to get glorious air into her lungs when Yuffie's feet touched the floor. Barret and Cid rushed to catch Yuffie as the small girl's knees buckled. The two men looked at the pale girl angrily.

"You have to forgive Vanilla for her actions..." Lea bowed slightly at Cloud's group. The regal woman slunk towards the still-emotional Vanilla and took the smaller girl into her arms. "She misses Lord Ranma very much. Hearing your young friend doubt her feelings for him caused a reaction..."

The demon goddess continued to hold Vanilla and she said, "It's not that we do not care for Lord Ranma's plight. Do not be disillusioned that we are not worried. The fact is, we would love to go and fight alongside him. But... it is not needed." She gestured towards the screen, which showed the Northern Crater still engulfed in the green miasma of fire.

Lea turned towards Belldandy and looked at the brown-haired girl straight in the eyes, "You were a former goddess, surely you know of Lord Ranma's capabilities, were you not?"

Belldandy nodded mutely.

"Then, you do know we have no doubts that he will not be killed in this small thing..." The former prisoner of the Null Zone commented, "In fact, you of all people should know real well how capable our future husband is in a battle. Lord Ranma is extremely powerful, much more than you think he is..."

"I never doubted Ranma..." Belldandy said resolutely as she threw a light apologetic glance towards Cloud and the others, "Ranma defeated a demigod even though he was limited into using a normal mortal's strength. He defeated a seemingly immortal phoenix avatar using only his wits, as well as his ability to rapidly adapt in a situation where normal men would consider winning as an impossibility."

"I thought as much..." Lea mused more to herself, "And even with all that power, he doesn't want to flaunt it around. That's one of the strengths he has, allowing his opponents to underestimate him."

Another loud explosion rocked the Northern Crater, which caused everyone to focus once again on the viewscreen. There was the usual green fire from earlier still enveloped around the crater, but this time, there was a silver fire that seemed to spread around the area pretty quick.

A massive arm erupted from the flames, clenched tightly as silver energy compressed around it. But its size was massive, and seemed to be metallic as the flames reflected against its skin. Its fist was black, and the arm was covered with dark blue armor that enhanced the ominous reflection of the flames against it. A loud roar followed the appearance of the arm, which shook the entire area.

Belldandy and Lea shared a look as they both understood the implications of the phenomenon.

"The Anima Seraphim appears..." The ash-skinned, purple haired woman named Raven said in awe.

Cid fidgeted as he pointed a shaky hand towards the image. "W-What the hell's t-that!"

"The Anima Seraphim... more than sixty tons of semi-organic semi-sentient Armored Module operated purely on Lord Ranma's will..." Emeralda obliged to answer, "In your terms, you may call it a Robot, a Mecha... but having sentience greatly contrasts that label. It is an Armored Module, something of a giant body armor for Lord Ranma. The Anima Seraphim is some sort of an amplification module, which can only be controlled by Lord Ranma due to its complexity. It also recognizes Lord Ranma as its one and only Master. It is operated by Lord Ranma by directly linking his mind with the Armored Module, a system rarely used due to its certain disadvantages. If the Module gets damaged, the same damage happens to Lord Ranma. The great advantage, however, makes the Module move how Lord Ranma wills it to move."

Vanilla, her head still buried into Lea's chest, muttered loud enough to be heard all over the silent bridge.

"It begins..."

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back to the ruins of the Northern Crater...

The red haired pigtailed hybrid known as Ranma blinked as he found himself within the familiar confines of the Anima Seraphim's cockpit. He felt the same lightness of the movements even with the Module's massive weight, which made him to silently thank his immense strength. The cockpit seemed to be unchanged, but what did he expect? All that was there was the three hundred and sixty degrees of complete visual environment. Aside from the seat that was within the cockpit to make himself comfortable, as well as the snake-like appendage now latched at the back of his head, there was nothing much.

Still, the feeling of sudden awareness of the entire area was welcome to Ranma. He realized that he missed this; his link with the Anima Seraphim somehow gave him a sense of great hope and kept his mind at ease.

Ranma decided that he has no time to ponder about this, especially when he has a large hunk of rock to destroy. He thought of establishing a link with the Rin-Ohki, but decided against it. He knew that the girls will be pretty worried of his situation, and he did not want them to be burdened more of his problems.

He steeled himself as he felt more of his old power coming back to him. His abilities were suppressed when he had the amnesia, but now that the familiar feeling of the Anima Seraphim enveloped his whole being, he recovered his old self, plus the additional memories. He couldn't stop the low growl that emitted through his mouth as more energy gathered in his body.

Nevertheless, Ranma still felt a bit awkward. Sluggish was more like it, after all, he was out of practice, as was the Anima Seraphim. The Module hasn't been maintained ever since that fateful day a couple of decades ago. Although, he will manage, because he cannot afford to fail. The chances of his success was around fifty percent. Of course, Ranma wasn't about to brush off the reality of things. Even with all the power everyone perceived he has at his disposal, he was still mortal.

"MUUUUHHHHRRRRRRR..." The entire cockpit that encased around Ranma's form rumbled as the Anima Seraphim showed its sentience to the world. On one side of the cockpit's screen, there were pictures that flashed quickly like a colorful mosaic as well as words at random, nevertheless Ranma understood the whole thing anyway.

"I missed you too, Sera-chan..." Ranma smiled fondly as he caressed his seat's armrests, as the giant he was in rumbled once more.

The red haired man nodded to himself and said, "That's right. We have to protect this planet, because no matter how much it gets battered, it's still Earth, somehow. We will protect it, as well as those people who wanted to make this world a better place."

In response, the Armored Module growled dangerously as it gave off a burst of silver aura, something which synchronized with Ranma's own power as well. The symphony of their energies swirled around the Anima Seraphim as it continued to float just above the ruined Northern Crater, covered in silver light.

To everyone who were watching the show, it would seem that the Anima Seraphim was actually a gargantuan demon which rose from the fires of hell itself.

Still hovered above the village of Kalm was the silver-hued interstellar battleship Rin-Ohki. Even from that distance, the spectacular view of the Anima Seraphim's revival was visible. Inside the silver crystalline cabbit ship, some of the people grew panicky, particularly, those who weren't used to such phenomenon in their lives. But the self-proclaimed 'crew' of the ship were watching the proceedings with rapt attention.

"The Meteor increased its speed..." Vanilla's flat voice sliced through the loud chatter of Cloud's group.

Ryoko glanced at the screen showing Meteor's progress worriedly. "The planet's gravitational pull has snagged this monster already."

Emeralda nodded slightly. "And with the Meteor of that size... it would totally wipe out the entire population of living beings on the surface."

"I just hope Ranma knows what he's doing..." Raven muttered off to the side, already transformed in her demonic form. The newcomers were quite shocked at the change at first, but once again Lea managed to stave off any fighting from either group with her diplomacy.

Barret twitched as he slowly made his may towards the screen and said, "Whaddya mean? I thought Zack has this under control!"

Lea shook her head as she sighed loudly, "Lord Ranma can easily destroy the incoming projectile, if he were allowed to freely use his power."

"What the hell's that supposed ta mean, lady!" The dark-skinned man growled out as he stamped his massive fist against the conference table.

"It means..." The animalistic Nanaki replied, "Zack can't just blast the Meteor from its path."

Before Barret could ask another question, Cid intervened irritably, "What he means is that we can't just go on blasting the Meteor with too much power. If Meteor blows up at that range, say bye-bye to this planet."

"I see..." Vincent muttered loudly, "The explosion of opposing forces would definitely wreak havoc on Gaia's surface."

"The vortex of the opposing forces imploding against one another will be tremendous..." Vanilla intoned ominously, "It will create a force similar to a gigantic vacuum. Everything will be ravaged on the planet."

The planet's inhabitants in the bridge swallowed hard at the same time when they thought of the devastation.

"That's not a very nice picture..." Cait Sith piped up as it waved its arms wildly.

A chorus of "Gee, you think!" made the doll duck its head in embarrassment.

"In any case..." Lea said helplessly, which caused the others to focus on her words as well as the viewscreen, "We just have to wait and see what happens. We cannot interfere, since it will definitely destroy this planet."

Yuffie hopped up in irritation, "No way! Ain't gonna happen!"

Raven snorted as she pulled the hyper ninja down to her seat once more, "That's why we can't do anything but watch, idiot."

Back to the smoldering remains of the Northern Crater, the Anima Seraphim looked up towards the incoming projectile of doom named Meteor. It was summoned using the Black Materia Sephiroth managed to acquire from Cloud when the blonde was emotionally unstable. Sephiroth has this vision of a new world without humans, because he believed that they were the cause of the planet's degrading resources.

The pilot of the Anima Seraphim, Ranma, glared at the Meteor. While he has the necessary power to demolish the gigantic meteorite, he can't just fire off those attacks haphazardly. With Gaia's planetary structure already in jeopardy, he might just set off a chain of events that would eventually destroy the planet anyway.

There was no way in hell he would allow that to happen.

"We've got little options left, Sera-chan..." Ranma mused to the Armored Module, "The only thing we can do right now is to stall that thing 'til it runs out of power."

"MMMMRRRRHHHHHH..." The dark blue knight-like mecha responded in its own way.

Ranma snickered sadly. "I know it's not an ordinary meteorite. It's made out of magic... something we can't fight with just anything. Sure we can blast it out of space with a massive attack, but what about this planet? There's no sense in erasing Meteor only to let Gaia die along with it, ne?"

"RRRRRHHHHH..."

The red haired pigtailed hybrid adopted a thinker's pose, his left arm crossed holding at his right arm's elbow and his right hand cupping his chin. This pose was mimicked by the giant mecha that protected its pilot, since they were connected through the mind.

"So... we just need an attack to push it back or something..." Ranma commented as Meteor started to flare up in the atmosphere. While normal space debris burned as they entered the atmosphere, Meteor's magical nature removed this obstacle.

The red haired pilot's attention was focused on the right side of his three-sixty degrees viewscreen, which suddenly brought up a bunch of ideas and catalogues of weaponry that was currently available for his disposal. Ranma dismissed most of the weapons because they were too destructive, which narrowed down his choices to three; the Anti-Matter Shot, the Pulse Wave Gun, and the Graviton Cannon.

Ranma smiled grimly as he mentally pulled out the specifications of the weapons.

The Anti-Matter Shot, while effective against slow moving objects and stationary targets, might have a severe backlash effect if it hit Meteor. With only a sixty-six percent chance of wiping out the gigantic piece of rock, the odds were too weak for Ranma to capitalize upon. This weapon was a severely toned-down version of a black hole, which added to the negatives of using the weapon on the planet's surface. If the Anti-Matter shot and the Meteor met at the planet's atmosphere, the sudden loss of matter might contract the entire area where the Meteor was blown into a miniature vacuum, which would greatly trigger a global catastrophe. Not a viable option at this time...

The Pulse Wave Gun was electricity and static based, and would've been effective in fending off objects consisted mainly of metals and other things conducive of electricity. But it's too weak to even consider using right now, and it would probably only punch a large hole on Meteor and not stopping it. With only twenty-two percent of success rate, if fired simultaneously, the chances were too low to even consider.

Now, the Graviton Cannon on the other hand... the prospects were good. With a ninety-two percent chance of success rate, the odds were clearly on his favor on this one. The cannon also fired at a continuous wave form, not a projectile unlike the other two options he had before. The firepower can also be adjusted even as the cannon was amidst firing, therefore he can actually tone down the power if it was too much, or up it if it's too weak. In other words... we have a winner, folks.

"Graviton Cannon..." Ranma murmured to himself as he chose the third weaponry option. The Anime Seraphim grunted as it acknowledged the pilot's choice, and probably, this was also a sign of approval as well. A slight sound reminded him that the weapon charge was completed. ((Heh, only five seconds and it's full power, huh? Cool...)) Ranma thought to himself happily.

The hulking figure of the Anima Seraphim glowed as it looked up towards the direction where Meteor was coming from space. The huge comet sped towards Gaia without remorse. Meteor gained a lot of speed when it touched the planet's gravitational pull, elevating its destructive power to a global level. The roaring flames of the comet was reflected against the techno-organic dark blue armor-plating of the mecha as it stood stoicly with its massive right arm now raised towards the Meteor. Its open hand pointed towards the gigantic projectile of death, with a dark-purple crystal seemingly hidden underneath its palm. The crystal on its palm now glowed darkly as it cackled with dark-colored lightning.

Inside the cockpit itself, Ranma's aura blazed bright silver as he fed power into the Anima Seraphim's system to support his personal giant armor. It seemed to empower the weapon that was now charging at the palm of the Anima Seraphim.

Ranma breathed in deeply as he closed his eyes. He made himself comfortable as he calmly recollected his thoughts at the moment. "We've got one shot at this, Sera-chan..." the redhead muttered loudly, "We only got one chance in making this right. We gotta make this shot count."

The red haired pigtailed hybrid felt the whole cockpit rumble as the Armored Module allowed him to feel its response to his determination.

Ranma gathered himself as he continued pouring power into the attack. He also fed power in preparation of releasing a powerful barrier, so as to protect the Anima Seraphim as well as the surrounding area from the backlash when his attack and the Meteor hit each other.

"Well..." The red-tailed redhead grinned slightly in anticipation, "Let's get this show on the road!"

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The gigantic hulk of the dark-blue giant known as the Anima Seraphim stood poised on the former location of the Northern Crater, which by now suffered a new landscaping job. The whole area was now of a semi-flat surface because of the power emitted by the giant.

It wasn't too surprising that everyone around the immediate area surrounding the former crater braved outside the safety of their homes, if only to see the breath-taking spectacle. Even though the arrival of the Meteor into the planet's atmosphere created a vision of darkness and gloom to the people, they saw the silver light emanated by the dark-blue giant knight from the edges of their vision. That alone gave them some hope.

Especially in the town of Kalm, where the cabbit battleship Rin-Ohki was currently 'parked', nobody even paid attention to the ship's odd presence above them.

Inside the silver crystalline battleship, the people situated at the bridge looked on at the events with trepidation. Those native of the planet were bewildered and nervous to the outcome of this new development, while the 'visitors' were excited at the prospect of seeing their beloved once again after around two decades of separation.

One person stood apart from the others, since this young woman stood near the window at the right side of the bridge. It was the side where the Anima Seraphim was most visible. This female has long brown hair cascading down her back, her bangs covered most of her forehead hiding the three dark-hued gems embedded into her skin and skull. Her form-fitting pink ankle-length skirt outfit was doubled by the smallish jacket around her bust, which covered most of her assets perfectly. Her blue-gray eyes flitted in concern as she concentrated on the Anima Seraphim, the armor that held the future father of her children. Her hands were clasped tightly in front of her chest worriedly as she observed what the future may bring.

The future that everyone was hoping for now lay in the hands of one man... as well as one techno-organic Armored Module. The glow on the blue mecha's right hand increased its intensity, and the lightning around it cackled faster. The crescendo of power seemed to have reached its desired plateau, and the whole world held its breath as time seemed to have stopped between the Anima Seraphim and the Meteor...

A baritone voice, which came from the dark blue giant, echoed across the land, "This is our hope... GRAVITON CANNON!"

The intense wait has been justified, as the Anima Seraphim's arm reared back a few and was thrust forward once again, but the swirling ball of dark death that festered in front of its hand shot out into a black continuous beam. The dark wave of energy traveled into the air straight at the incoming Meteor. The two forces collided with a powerful jolt, the shockwave of the collision rocked the whole continent rather violently.

Unfortunately, when the cloud of dust cleared from the collision point, the Meteor was still in one piece and was still hurtling towards the planet. Although on the positive side, the Anima Seraphim's Graviton Cannon stopped Meteor's descent cold in mid-air.

Inside the cabbit battleship, the bridge was devoid of any sounds whatsoever. After a few moments however, it was broken by a young ninja-girl's cry of joy.

"He... he did it!" Yuffie crowed triumphantly as she pumped her right fist into the air, "He... Zack stopped Meteor! We're saved!" she turned towards Cloud and her other fellow inhabitants of the planet.

Tifa breathed a sigh of relief as she clutched at her blonde haired companion's arm tightly, "Finally..." she murmured.

"Man... that was so freakin' unbelievable!" Barret whooped as he patted a disgruntled Red XIII on his head with wild abandon, which made the poor former experimental specimen whimper.

Red XIII rubbed a paw over the area on his head where that brutish giant of a man he called friend gave his poor fur a massive noogie. He declined to put his two cents in, since his own physical health was more prioritized as of now.

Cid stared at the giant blue mech longingly, "Man, I gotta get me one of those things!"

Cait Sith seemed... overwhelmed. The white robotic doll was quite limp as it stared at the events outside the ship. Somewhere in Midgar, the robot's operator, Reeve, was riveted at the scene being transmitted to him by his 'eyes' on the field.

Vincent was... in a word, 'stoic'. But even he couldn't stop his eyebrows, both of them, to rise up dramatically as he watched the black beam lance out from the dark blue giant's hand. It was an unfamiliar sight, even for him. And what a sight it was... for him, at least, it was impressive.

A monotone voice abruptly ended their preemptive celebration however.

"It is far from over..." Vanilla's red eyes seemed to gleam dangerously as she gazed at the people partying in front of her. It was far too soon for them to be happy anyway, since the threat of the Meteor has just been halted temporarily. While she trusted Ranma more than anyone else in the universe and beyond, there was always the slight chance of possibility that a mishap might occur at any moment. A slight slip, a wrong moment of power shortage... those kinds of things happen in a situation. There were no guarantees, after all.

Emeralda was livid, however. She had wanted to jump out of the ship aboard her own mecha, the Crescens, to help Ranma achieve victory. But alas, the Crescens was hidden alongside the Anima Seraphim in Ranma's personal subspace hangar. It was the expanded space Ranma used as his own version of a laboratory, a feat taught to him by his aunt Washuu. With Ranma acting so... 'macho', he didn't want anyone else to get involved and be exposed to danger. So, Emeralda wasn't able to do anything but watch, and pray that her love may be able to win over the overwhelming odds that seemed to pile up against this world.

These same thoughts were shared morosely by the man inside the Anima Seraphim. Inside the mecha's cockpit, Ranma was sweating slightly at the strain of controlling the power he fed into the weapon. He was slightly dejected to note that a magical attack such as the Meteor cannot be destroyed easily with the way he was handling things at the moment. But he knew he mustn't let up, for fear of allowing the massive hunk of rock to plummet into the planet's surface.

"I always get myself in these situations... ah, curse my helpful nature..." Ranma muttered dejectedly as he surely felt his body slowly tiring for maintaining the beam for so long. It was minuscule at first, but this was slowly draining his energy for sure. It wouldn't be long before he does run out of power, as unbelievable as it sounded, but nevertheless he was still mortal.

"Bah..." Ranma snorted blithely as he struggled on his quest to eradicate the Meteor... safely. The seriousness of the situation became moot when his stomach growled in protest of its emptiness. "I'm hungry..." the red haired youth glared at the offending body organ, "I would kill for a good roast beef right now..."

As he earlier predicted, the push of the offending projectile from outer space became stronger, which caused Ranma to strain more power into his attack without much effect. The Meteor was more powerful than Ranma thought it was, and it showed.

Unlike most space debris that Ranma was aware of, the Meteor was special. It was born out of all the hatred and scorn of JENOVA and Sephiroth, fused into one gigantic mass of magic and dark energies. While normal meteorites can be eliminated by one good solid hit from a land-borne targeting weapon in strategic locations of the projectile, the Meteor was held together by something far more powerful and sinister. It was empowered by the Dark Materia, an opposed elemental materia from the one carried by Aerith all throughout her life, which was the White Materia called Holy. This dark matter of destruction was the materialization of the summoners' will to eradicate all life on Earth because of some twisted notion of fate.

Meteor evidently pushed against the Anima Seraphim's Graviton Cannon's beam, and was slowly but surely gaining ground against the continuous onslaught of the defensive line on the planet's surface. Of course, this little setback did not wane Ranma resolve to push it back into space one bit, although the young man knew that he was fighting something akin to a losing battle.

This sentiment was shared by those inside the cabbit ship Rin-Ohki. The avatar of the ship had wanted to help her master resolve this situation with a swift strike, but calculations proved that this action would eventually affect the planet's surface to a disastrous degree.

Amidst the ship's avatar and passengers' growing anxiety upon the deteriorating dilemma, one person already had an idea of what would definitely help the ailing planetary defender. Aerith Gainsborough, the reborn mortal form of the former Goddess of the Present Belldandy, sifted through the pockets of her outfit. She fished out a semi-translucent white stone, one that was normally tied amongst her ponytail's band. Belldandy eyed the white stone, the Holy Materia, her final hope to save this planet from its destruction. When she was within the Temple of the Ancients, she prayed in the altar grove to start the Holy's activation. Had not been for Zack, rather, Ranma's untimely but very much welcomed intervention, Sephiroth's surprise attack would've killed her. Belldandy knew this much, and she had hoped that even after her death, Holy would've been summoned anyway. Two birds with one stone, quite frankly, as Belldandy would've activated the planet's one chance for survival, as well as having a chance to join her beloved in the Life Stream.

Of course, fate was somehow derailed once more, as her beloved managed to defy logic and halt Sephiroth's attack against her person. If the course of history was followed, she wouldn't have had the opportunity to reunite with Ranma in the mortal plane, as well as conceive their offspring.

Belldandy's unoccupied right hand caressed her still-flat abdomen with overflowing emotions, as thoughts of the uncertain future came across her mind. The left hand that gripped the white stone visibly tightened as the normally calm woman's resolve strengthened to a terrifying degree. No, she surmised, death wasn't an option for her anymore. She has a life to protect now, and she will be damned sure to protect it, just as much as her mate was trying to protect it at the moment. The future was in their hands to mold, and she will not allow some madman to try and take that right away from them.

The dark gems upon Belldandy's forehead blazed with unknown power as the Holy materia resonated with it. The woman's desire for life, as well as her passion for a fruitful future fed power into the stone. The materia glowed magnificently as her hopes and dreams grew into a feverish pitch. The cries of worry around Belldandy from her fellow passengers were ignored by her, concentrated was she on her mission to aid her ailing mate. Belldandy's vision slowly warped and distorted, making her feel a bit nauseous at the body-wrenching sensation of a telltale teleportation. Her body, unaccustomed to the sudden influx of knowledge and skill of the new ability, was slowly being crushed by the tremendous force of the space she transversed at the moment. The gems on her forehead flashed momentarily, and the woman felt the soothing calm that befell on her person.

Was she dead? No... Belldandy could still feel the pull of the teleportation on her body. It would seem that somehow, her body adjusted to her body's slow deterioration. But she had no time to dwell on her body's sudden transformation, as the literal light at the end of the tunnel appeared on the horizon of her sight. Belldandy opened her arms as the end of the transversed space opened to the sight of a red haired man's grimacing visage inside some sort of a cockpit. Ranma, her mate, was pale and somewhat sweaty, which urged Belldandy to will her teleportation to speed up. She was elated when she felt her consciousness bursting forth quicker than before, and she had to close her eyes to the oncoming light...

The other people inside the silver crystalline ship stood rooted around the place where Belldandy had collapsed a few moments ago. Then Yuffie started panicking, which of course was followed by the others in her group from Gaia. They were unused to these sort of things, and the gravity of the situation must've added to the growing pressure of their personal anxiety that their pent-up emotions just exploded when they saw their friend suddenly stiffen and fall on the ground, unconscious. Unlike them, however, Vanilla and the others from those who were chasing Ranma were very much used to such phenomenon, since their beloved was prone to sudden faintings due to power drains and such. They surmised that somehow, in someway, that the girl about to be added to their growing group was able to unlike a probably hidden skill due to the events that have occurred recently. They had a slight idea where the girl would appear, and they hoped Belldandy was able to help their future husband. The all-women entourage however began to soothe the other group's wailings, because the noise was becoming too disturbing, especially towards Rin-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki.

Meanwhile, the red-haired Saiyajin hybrid named Ranma was currently struggling against releasing his full potential on the predicament he was on at the moment. Sweat started to fall down the sides of his face as he fed a bit more energy into his link with the Anima Seraphim. It was short of the transformation beyond the second level of his Saiyajin trait, a form he had used a few years back during that fateful battle against Kagato. While he was still unused to the form, he will have to suck it up if he wanted to save this planet, else Meteor would easily overpower his efforts and lay waste on Gaia.

Ranma already gave up on being called a 'normal human'. After all, the presence of so much power in this little body of his, as well as the unknown energies still left uncovered within his genes and the eons-long memories of his past incarnation, it was hard to ignore the facts. Instead of wallowing in his own pity like normal people would in his situation, he dared to improve upon himself and use the situation to his own advantage. After all, his zest for life was clearly similar as to how he handled his martial arts. Anything Goes.

As of the moment, he felt that he was fighting a losing battle. Ironically, the situation somehow exhilarated him. He figured that with all the power at his disposal, he would not be challenged in a very very long time. But alas, right now, he was sweating profusely. Such a welcomed change of pace.

Ranma grunted as he felt the ground he braced the Anima Seraphim on breaking off a bit. The odds were clearly against him. Even if he could've finished this off with a dramatic increase of his power level, the price was the planetary mantle's integrity. Not a good thing to think about, especially with all those people he somehow felt was hoping for his success. Another grunt from the man and he fell to one knee, his outstretched hand almost slipped off course. The ground he was on was unstable in the first place, after all, the ruins of the Northern Crater wasn't a sturdy flooring in the least.

It was at that moment in time, that Ranma felt a sudden shift in his surroundings. He spared the offending space a curious glance, which was just a few inches to his right INSIDE his spacious cockpit, and saw that the air rippled into a very familiar outline of a person, a woman in fact. A goddess... that's what Ranma thought he saw when the form materialized into a semi-translucent form. She was familiar though, the trio of dark gems blazing upon her forehead was a unique pattern available only to one other person he knew, aside from his own.

Belldandy... in her full goddess form...

Those blue eyes of hers looked into his yellow ones, full of love and compassion that it almost overwhelmed him. Unbidden, a few tears leaked out of their eyes, as time seemed to have stopped for the both of them. The raw emotions that emitted from both persons electrified the entire cockpit.

"Bell-chan..." Ranma's breath hitched as he was forced to swallow his spit in shock, "W-What... h-how...?" he was about to continue, but his voice faltered when the ghostly form of Belldandy filtered to his side. For some reason, the pale hands that now held the side of his face were warm and compassionate, which had Ranma speechless. Those same hands were now pulling his head towards her own, and without a word from the girl, their foreheads touched each other... and their lips met...

It was then that Ranma felt a different kind of power filling his body up, which caused his Light hawk Wings to unexpectedly come out of his back. The wings soon transformed into eight elegant glowing tendrils, which in turn latched into eight different parts of the cockpit.

In the Rin-Ohki, everyone bore witness to the Anima Seraphim's silver aura slowly becoming metallic green. It seemed that a green aura of power exploded from it, which spread into the desolate land around it. The tendrils of green entangled with the parched ground, and as amazing as it sounded, it has spread quickly across the entire continent. The green energy filled the entirety of the planet, and was actually concentrated on feeding their power into the Anima Seraphim.

Silver wings exploded from within the Anima Seraphim's back. It greatly surprised everyone who bore witness to the events that occurred, and they were entranced how the wings intertwined with the green tendrils that shot out of the earth. The green veins seemed to envelop the dark blue mecha in their embrace.

Back in the silver cabbit ship, a few of the spectators recognized the green shroud that encompassed the blue giant. One such person was Cloud Strife, who was acutely aware that those tendrils were the same ones that ran in the town of Mideel. Another was the person who also fell into that chasm a few weeks back with Cloud, Tifa Lockhart. Ryoko clutched at her daughter's smaller form as she gazed at the scene. The pull of the planetary energy was immense, and she could feel it. Somehow, Ryoko felt that little Ranko felt it as well. The green energy felt peaceful, at the same time, it was a force to be reckoned with.

They all in turn glanced at the unconscious form of Belldandy, who now rested at the lap of the dark-skinned green haired Emeralda. The insensate brown-haired woman was glowing soft green, in contrast with the dark shimmer that came from the gems on her forehead. The planet's inhabitants threw a questioning glance to the 'aliens', who seemed to be too relaxed at the situation to their liking.

"Must be astral projection..." Ryoko remarked in admiration, as she now stared at Belldandy with respect. Beside her, the demonic Raven nodded in comprehension.

"Excuse me..." Red XIII's slightly frustrated growl broke into the hollow silence that followed, "Can anyone explain to us normal beings just what's going on here?"

The cyan haired former space pirate snorted as she levitated to get a firmer grasp of her daughter in her arms and replied, "It's just a matter of projecting one's consciousness and spirit into a semi-translucent form. This girl must feel so much love for Ranma that she threw almost her entire life force just to reach him."

Yuffie huffed as she hopped in place, "I don't understand!"

It was Vincent who explained this time, "It's like throwing your voice. Aerith was compelled to force her way into Zack somehow, and managed to separate quite a bit of her spirit from her physical body, just enough for her to become ghost-like. Most likely, her spirit form is inside that giant robot, currently in contact with him."

"Precisely..." The demon-goddess of the Evil Zone named Lea agreed at the brooding man's intellect, "If one's will is strong enough, one could achieve seemingly impossible things."

"Mew!" Everyone's ruminations were halted when the pink floating feline named Mew pointed a smallish paw towards the former Northern Crater.

"The Life Stream..." The cabbit ship's passengers turned to Cloud as the young man voiced those words in slight awe. Beside him, Tifa was nodding in great reverence as well. The rest of the pair's compatriots were understanding, but the 'aliens' were a bit confused since they have little to no information about the events they got themselves into.

Tifa took over the explanations, seeing that Cloud was too engrossed at the view beyond the windows of the ship, "The Life Stream, is basically the energy vein of the Planet. It is said, that every life on the Planet came from the Life Stream, and when they finally expire, they return to becoming energy and join up with the Life Stream again. Probably to be reborn again..."

"Ahhh..." Lea nodded sagely, "The idea somehow ignores the idea of heaven though... and I know that there is heaven, and hell for sure..." The tall woman eyed the unconscious Belldandy speculatively.

"Then..." The small ninja girl growled ominously, as she pointed a shaky finger towards the window that overlooked the entire phenomenon, "What the heck's that!"

"Oh, that..." Raven deadpanned, as she looked at her fellow 'aliens' with an inquisitive brow raised. Vanilla just blinked back at her, typical. Emeralda blinked in unison with her paler future co-wife, no help there. Ryoko was pointedly ignoring her look, as the cyan-haired girl cooed at her daughter, why did she even bother thinking Ryoko would help anyway? Ranko was of no use, since the little girl, physically anyway, acted the same way her mother did. Lea though had this mysterious smirk on her face, nope, there was no chance Raven was getting help from any of these women at the moment.

"Anyway..." The demonic-looking girl sighed as she rubbed her ash-colored skin at the nape of her neck in askance, "I really don't know much about it. But the way I see it, those green planetary ley lines, the ones you call the Life Stream, were currently helping Ranma. One could only guess at the moment..." She paused to gesture towards Belldandy's form, "Because the only person who knows anything about it is currently out of commission. So... we have to wait for her to wake up from her trance."

"Great..." Most of those in Cloud Strife's group muttered helplessly, while the blonde mercenary gazed at the brown haired woman with worry.

As if to answer them, Belldandy began mumbling in her trance, "Please, oh mana of Gaia... protect him. Please... Life Stream... protect my beloved Ranma..."

"Couldn't have said it better myself..." Lea murmured appreciatively.

Of course, Cloud was less pleased with that one. Not that he can do anything about it.

Heh.

They did not know who did it first, but Emeralda seemed to have touched Belldandy's body and was now glowing soft green as well, with Vanilla on her side. Lea and Raven were on the other side of Belldandy, who had closed their eyes as they concentrated their own energies and sent them through the unconscious Belldandy's body. Ryoko, with her daughter Ranko, sat at Belldandy's feet and was also sending her own via her touch upon the brown haired girl's legs. Mew was also found touching Belldandy on the other side of Ryoko and Ranko, her tail half-coiled around the calf of Belldandy's sleeping visage. It was as if it was instinct for them.

The others can only watch in awe and slight fear as the green glow between these seemingly powerful women appeared to have gotten stronger as time passed by.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

If anyone could've measured the power readings which emanated from the Anima Seraphim at the moment, he or she would've found out that the readings were immeasurable. It was fortunate for the Anima Seraphim AND the Planet that the Life Stream intervened in the effort to stop the Meteor, because the Life Stream's appearance was a two-fold convenience for everyone.

For one, the Life Stream offered more power for the Anima Seraphim. Planetary energy was nearly inexhaustible, which made the Shin-Ra Corporation rich since they gathered Materia as well as harnessed Mako Energy - both were outcomes of massive concentrations of planetary power. Another was that the Life Stream now gave some measure of protection for the Anima Seraphim when it basically cocooned the dark blue mecha. Not only that, but the whole planet was currently being cocooned by the Life Stream, which gave Gaia its own protective shell as well. This allowed the Anima Seraphim to unless more power at its disposal, and it seemed that it knew this subconsciously.

The Planet probably deemed its defender worthy of its help, and also, with a bit of help from the prayers of the last 'Cetra' as well.

Inside the Anima Seraphim's cockpit however, Ranma was ignorant of these things. He was, in a word, awestruck. It wasn't the fact that Belldandy's astral form was currently naked, nor was it because Belldandy was in her goddess form. It wasn't even from the fact that there was overwhelming power that flowed not only all over his cockpit, but also outside and ALL-OVER the Planet itself. Nope, it was from the unconditional love and devotion being thrown at him by the forces that wanted him to succeed. It was scary enough that Belldandy's emotions were so strong for him, but coupled those with the rest of the women waiting for him in the ship... the emotions were choking him, but not in a bad way. Ranma was just unused to being the core of a lot of women's existences, and they projected those feelings to him in waves at the moment.

Ranma has been subjected into physical abuse when he was younger, mostly by those who pursued his affections. While he later on understood that they only did those things to claim him and his love, he was still... wary and confused by such. While those girls in his past wanted to 'claim' him for themselves exclusively, the women he's with at this time were more than willing to share him amongst themselves just to show how much they were devoted to him and only him.

Frankly, it quite scared him. But at the same time, he felt like crying happy tears. These females wouldn't want him to choose one among the other in their group just to satisfy their own selfishness and cause his own anguish of the dread in having to hurt the others he wouldn't choose.

It was a very heartfelt gesture, that he can't help but feel his own love for them grow in such a feverish pitch and was now combining with this power that currently shrouded the cockpit. The Planet seemed to feel it too, and the desire for his and everyone's survival was Belldandy's ultimate wish to the Holy Materia.

Outside, the foliage all over Gaia seemed to have flourished tremendously, which reacted to the intense emotions currently being fed by the individuals who lay their wish upon the Holy Materia. Flowers mutated and bore new buds instantaneously. Old trees were shredded and sprouted new stronger species. A lot of vicious monsters wailed in agony as they seemingly evaporated. The various volcanoes that seemed to have erupted when Meteor reached the atmosphere quieted down, as new terra firma formed all over the continents, all the while the green shroud of the Life Stream formed a shell around the Planet. It was to prepare for the final reckoning, for the destruction of the blight known as the Meteor. All in the span of a few measly minutes...

Back inside the cockpit of the mecha, Ranma's attention was finally diverted from Belldandy's nude form currently perched on his back towards the Meteor.

The pressure of the power which now encompassed everything in sight seemed to come to a standstill, and Ranma heard Belldandy's ethereal voice whisper into his ear, "It's time, our love..."

"But..." The red-haired Saiyajin hybrid balked slightly at the tone of finality, "What if I used too much? I can cause more damage..."

"Trust us, love..." Belldandy's voice filtered into his ear once again, this time the feelings of assurances accompanied it, "You do not have to be alone in this. Can't you feel them? Lea... Raven... Emeralda... Ryoko... Ranko... Vanilla... Myself... we will always be here to help you. Trust us, love... we will not abandon you. The burden of saving this planet will not be yours alone. Even Gaia seemed to think so, since the Planet granted us its boon..."

"It's true, isn't it...?" Ranma seemed to ask himself breathlessly, "I am not alone... not anymore. I thought that... if I get to carry this burden alone, I will keep you all safe..."

"We know that, love..." Her voice reflected a bit of amusement in it, "But remember, as much as you wanted to protect us, we also wanted to protect you."

At that moment, Ranma's doubts were totally crushed by the absolute certainty that came from Belldandy's resolve. That, or probably Belldandy's ghostly hand that stroke the base of his tail sensually. Not that he cared at the moment.

With confidence soaring to unbelievable heights, Ranma straightened on his seat and declared, "I understand... Sera-chan, prepare to open the hatch for, THE WEAPON..."

'The Weapon' was one of the Anima Seraphim's greatest weapons, and probably one of the most physics-breaking arsenals to date. It was nearly impossible to control, especially if this weapon was mounted unto a different mecha instead. The weapon was located at the chest of the mecha, exposed only when the Anima Seraphim opened its chest cavity. Three small cannons surrounded a bigger one, but these were no ordinary cannons. These nozzles fired off massive amounts of quantum singularities. The three smaller ones were to stabilize the bigger one. In other words, a Black Hole weapon.

Black Holes were made from a star's death. These swirling holes of death created a gravitational pull so powerful that even light wasn't able to pull out of it. The three smaller outlets created smaller bursts of powerful gravity based beams, while the bigger one fired off the self-induced Black Hole. It was only coincidence, probably, that the three nozzles were arranged in an inverted triangle position, with each nozzle at points, and the main gun was at the middle of it all. Ranma was quite adamant on not using this weapon in the first place. It was quite obvious to anyone that the weapon would rip the planet apart when fired. But now...

Well, the Anima Seraphim seemed to growl its delight as it opened the hatch for The Weapon, as it carefully calculated the needed power to totally obliterate the offending piece of trash that caused to much trouble for its pilot. Ranma knew, and by proxy the mecha as well because of their connection, that even with the Planet protecting itself, too much would still cause irreparable damage.

Ranma then 'felt' that it was time. The culmination of powers gathered around him seemed to indicate that it was the perfect moment to strike. Years of battle instinct ingrained this skill on Ranma, and it hasn't failed him yet. Or maybe it was because of the amount of dark matter already spinning inside the nozzles of the guns situated upon the Anima Seraphim's chest. Maybe.

The red-haired man hadn't noticed Belldandy's astral form slowly dissipating with a smile on her face, as he concentrated on feeding power upon the mecha's conduits. A grin graced his lips as he felt the freedom of releasing this much power at one sitting.

"Decreasing Graviton Cannon power to zero..." Ranma intoned as he slowly lowered the first weapon's output, as the beam outside that held the Meteor at bay temporarily trickled to nothing.

"Each one of us have great power in our hands..." His eyes narrowed as he clenched his left hand in preparation.

"The power to build... the power to destroy..." This time, his right hand clenched in anticipation.

"But the greatest power we mortals have... is to guide our own fates..." He pumped his aura into the Anima Seraphim, which bathed the immediate area with a silver glow.

"Our future... is to be shaped by our own hands!"

Everything seemed to have come to a standstill at these words, as the whole world waited for the final judgement to pass.

Ranma screamed with all of his heart, as his red hair lengthened up to his lower back, "At this twenty percent power... get out of my sight, Meteor! BLACK HOLE CLUSTER, FIREEEE!"

Everything seemed to have started moving once more, as a black ball of vacuum seemed to hover a few inches from the main gun nozzle. As the three graviton beams that surrounded it fired off, they carried the ball of dark matter as it grew in its intensity and size while it transversed the space between the mecha and its target. The slowly growing Spatial Displacement used the trio of graviton beams as its pathway for a precision strike, as well as its stabilizing current.

Light seemed to dim as the Black Hole ripped outwards the Planet's atmosphere. The air seemed to distort as clouds wavered and disappeared into the void when it passed through them. Sound became garbled as the universe's strongest gravitational force of nature was suddenly recreated by Ranma and the Anima Seraphim.

The void of doom has finally reached its quarry, true to its target, and literally ripped into the Meteor. No sound escaped the collision, but the shockwave of the impact was testament to its power as the wave was clearly felt by everyone on the Planet at the moment. The only thing that protected the planetary surface from the force of impact's destruction was the green shroud produced by the Life Stream, which in itself still strained to contain the power. The entirety of Gaia shuddered as the black hole paused where Meteor was and literally ripped the magically-created comet apart, and systematically absorbed the pieces into its inky darkness just like its space-born counterparts. The void continued its carnage until every last piece of the Meteor was absorbed into it, before it slowly collapsed into itself and closed with a terrifying finality.

The darkness that encompassed the entire planet lifted slowly, as a slight sign of normalcy emerged when the rays of the sun filtered into the ground once more. The Life Stream's tendrils of energy slowly abated from their hold all over Gaia. They slithered back into the lone standing figure of the Anima Seraphim. The dark blue giant stood triumphant amidst the newly regrown foliage made possible by the power of the Life Stream, its semi-organic wings losing its glow as the mecha slowly powered down.

The Life Stream's energy finally relinquished its hold on the Anima Seraphim, as the mecha's movements ground to rest.

Inside the cockpit, Ranma was quite surprised to notice that he had closed his eyes in the process. He was alone in the cockpit, and he surmised that Belldandy, whatever she did back before, was finally back in the safety of his other partner, Rin-Ohki. He also found that he has reverted back to his normal form; shorter black hair and all that. He noted, much to his chagrin, that he would have to replace the tie that held his hair into his favorite hairstyle, a pigtail. He silently vowed to himself that he would try to invent something to remedy that soon. Ranma tried to move, but found himself too tired to even wiggle his toes. It was dark in the cockpit, probably because most of his energy as well as the Anima Seraphim's has been drained from that last burst of attack.

"Well..." Ranma muttered drowsily, as he fought to keep his eyes open, "At least the viewscreen's still working though... and what a wonderful sight it is..."

Indeed, the sight he was seeing at the moment was a drastic change in comparison with what he witnessed a while ago. The dark, foreboding atmosphere was gone, replaced by the sky-blue cloudless skies that brought comfort to his soul.

The extremely exhausted alien hybrid managed to chuckle loudly amidst his loneliness in the cockpit, "Heh heh heh... take that, JENOVA! Score another one for the good guys!"

The last scene Ranma was able to make out of the viewscreen was the glorious image of the crystalline cabbit ship he has sorely missed for at least two decades appearing in his vision before he finally succumbed to his exhaustion.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In the Yggdrasil, center of the Heavenly Plane...

It was one of the most intricate and most important part of Heaven, or Asgard, itself. The World Tree, Yggdrasil, was the main component of Heaven's control over the fate of those in Midgard. Midgard, or Middle Earth, was the home for mortals and other slightly supernatural beings.

The Yggdrasil spoke for itself, its greatness was well known throughout several realms of power in reality. It was where Fate and Destiny were programmed for mortals, as well as the data holder for almost every living being in the known multiverses. In itself, the Yggdrasil was also known as the World Mainframe Computer, operated by various gods and goddesses whose innate powers were in tuned to Fate and Destiny.

Once, there were three goddesses who governed majority of Yggdrasil's network. They were the Norns, the three goddesses of fate. Urd, the Goddess of the Past, Belldandy, the Goddess of the Present, and Skuld, the Goddess of the Future. Skuld, the youngest of the three, took over 'debugging' certain errors that the Yggdrasil must've made in its operations. Urd was one of the lead programmers, while Belldandy was their back-up.

Alas, one day Belldandy was pulled out of the Norns' jurisdiction, and somehow disappeared into the myriad of realities of Midgard. Rumors has it that the main timeline Belldandy, the almost original version of all Belldandy's available within the multiverse, was expelled from her duties due to some unforeseen event. Nobody in Asgard nor Nifelheim knew what had occurred, only that the Almighty Himself only knew what really transpired... and He was not sharing the information to anyone. With only two Norns left, Urd and Skuld were hard pressed at keeping Yggdrasil in check. Skuld's debugging sessions became more frequent lately, while Urd became a near-permanent stand-in as the lead programmer for the World Tree.

Urd was currently in the main console of the Yggdrasil, her haggard visage was testament to how gruel her job now was. Gone was the usually-drunk goddess of the Past, as she was now needed nearly full-time inside the Yggdrasil to keep it running smoothly.

It was this scene where another powerful entity found the platinum-haired goddess of the Past. For some reason, the alarms for various intrusions of the World Tree hadn't detected this entity, who was visibly female. She daintily stepped into the room for the main console of the Yggdrasil, and paused for a few moments to admire the view that hasn't been seen by her eyes for how many eons past.

This entity has long, curly silver hair, which was held together by a dark pink and blue headband that almost encompassed her whole head. A couple of golden-hued hair clips shaped like balls clamped some strands of her shiny hair. Her skin was bronze in color, and her clothes were dark, leathery and skin-tight, laced with dark pink undertones at the back. Several spine-like appendages trailed behind her, which were connected to her clothing as well. Her blemish-free skin reflected the flickering lights of the various operating systems within the console room. Her generous bosom bounced within the confines of the black corset she wore as she half-skipped, half-danced towards the center of the room. Her white high-heeled shoes noiselessly stepped on the damp surface, while golden bracelets and anklets decorated her wrists and ankles respectively. Her face was of an ageless and exotic beauty, with a starburst symbol on her forehead and a pair of five-point stars on her upper cheeks. Her almond-shaped eyes were soft and alluring, as her pupils changed colors every now and then... but most of the time, they were in purple.

This entity, was Hild... the Nightmare. She was the FORMER Queen of the Demons... the FORMER Head Honcho of Nifelheim. It was never revealed to the public of all realms that the foremost leader of Nifelheim disappeared from the sight of even the Almighty.

Hild continued on her merry way towards the center of Yggdrasil, where an enormous elevated technological throne of some sort was located. The entire area was more like those found on stock market offices, but the surrounding smaller computer consoles were vacated at the moment. The only active console was the main one, and that was the one used by the elevated seat. And the one who currently sat at that seat was none other than Urd herself.

The platinum-haired goddess of the Past was currently busy recalibrating some important settings for the Yggdrasil operating system, since the Norns now lacked a certain important member of their sisterhood. The balance created by all three sisters has been upset when Belldandy vanished, and for now certain steps were to be made to ensure the optimum running capacity of the World Tree while the goddess of the Present's location has been found. The Almighty was pretty much tight-lipped about the situation, and Urd was somehow frustrated at the sudden hush-hush from the higher-ups regarding this dire event. In any case, she would do anything in her power to keep Heaven's computer running, until they find Belldandy.

Urd suddenly stiffened on her seat when she heard a VERY familiar giggle within her vicinity. A voice she hasn't heard for quite some time now, and she never would have expected to hear that voice in the Yggdrasil! Urd quickly swiveled her elegant seat around towards where the voice was heard, hoping against hope that she was wrong in her assumption...

But sadly, her luck must be rotten lately, as her hopes were dashed when the familiar sight of the High Lord of Demons greeted her eyes in the most unprecedented of locations.

"HILD!" Urd's strangled gasp echoed all over the now-empty Yggdrasil mainframe room.

Hild giggled as she performed a half-bow towards the dumbfounded Urd. "My, my... working late, Urd-chan?"

Urd sputtered incoherently, "B-But... how! I mean... the alarms! What... wha..."

The former queen of Nifelheim pouted cutely, as she levitated off of the damp ground and floated par the level of elevation where Urd sat. "Oh, please do relax, daughter. I'm not here to do anything bad, or something like that."

Not really waiting for a response, Hild continued, "Well... a very nice place you've got here, daughter. Finally, a promotion for you, huh? Anyway... you must have a lot of questions..."

The goddess of the Past finally got something out, "Yeah... like what are you doing here! How did you get in!"

"Well, as to 'how' I got in... through the gate, of course..." Hild deadpanned as she twirled slightly in mid-air, "As to 'what I am doing here'... well, to talk to you, actually."

"Talk!" Urd's voice cracked, "What's there to talk about!"

"Oh... I dunno..." Hild mused, "Probably something in the lines of... what's really been going on in the multiverses... and where Belldandy is at the moment..."

At this, Urd stood from her sitting position. "WHAT!" she exclaimed as she narrowed her eyes towards the woman who was also her biological mother, "What did you do to Belldandy! If I find out you hurt her..."

Hild huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, "Oh, do relax, Urd dear. I didn't do anything to Bell-chan. In fact... it was Deus, the Almighty's real name by the way, who took the liberty of banishing the poor girl into mortality."

"WHAT! FATHER BANISHED BELL!" Urd screamed, but then adopted a thoughtful look as she continued, "Wait... Father's real name is Deus? I didn't know that..."

Hild nodded absently, "Yes, well. Don't worry... Belldandy's all right at the moment, and is in the best of care. Oh, and dear? Deus is NOT your real father..."

Again, the silence of the near-empty room of the Yggdrasil's mainframe was disrupted by a loud female shout of "WHAT!" from Urd.

Hild winced as she slowly removed her hands from covering her poor ears, as she gave her totally shocked daughter a bored look, "Hmmm, yes. You know, it started eons ago... but first..."

The voluptuous woman smirked slightly as she whipped up her laptop computer, typed into it for a few seconds, and then closed it with a giggle. Her pet project, the world full of magic, sorcery and swords, was thriving well. Not only that, but there was one particular sorceress that she needed to check from that world. Now that the sorceress' true form has been revealed, it was time from the girl to be whisked away from Hild's pet universe. After that though, Hild still needed to handle her daughter Urd's curiosity of the truth regarding the younger woman's parentage.

And so, Hild's story was told once more...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Meanwhile, in the Alpha Prime Point of Existence...

The Almighty, whose real name was actually Deus, was currently staring at the sealed off planet of 'where it all began'. He was in his real form, the bishonen-esque form that has captivated multitudes of women throughout the ages. But sadly, the woman he wanted to win over was never attracted to him. In fact, said woman actually had the gall to disappear from his sights and betray him over that... that... glory hog!

Deus knew that what he just thought was... petty. But for someone who took the initiative to rebuild the entirety of Existence from its nearly non-existent state after that great war with the Elder Gods, he received a bit of a lesser extent of thanks.

He was actually excited at the prospect of reviving his brother, really he was, but now... everything just went under for some weird reason. He just doesn't know whether he should blame his own actions for trying to revive those who have moved on in the past, or was it the chaos factor? He had no idea which one to blame.

Which brought him to the present, and what his present course of action would likely entail. Ever since Deus brought his brother Chaos' dark gems back into that blasted boy Ranma Saotome, Chaos' genetic physical manifestation, the Almighty's firm hold over the ongoings in Reality has been definitely skewed many times over. He glanced upon his clenched fist, and spied upon the strands of silvery hair that belonged to Hild. The truth was, he has no idea what enticed him to come here in the first place, but if he was to restore his former power he has to have some allies. Was he about to do something that would make things worse? Was he this petty?

Deus drew his free hand over his chest. It has been a long time since he felt something akin to these emotions... envy, jealousy, and a bit of animosity, everything aimed towards his irksome reincarnated brother.

The Alfadur's musings were cut short when a loud rumble emanated from one side of the sealed planet's barrier. When he shifted closer into the source of the sound, he found a small hole where he could actually fit both his arms into.

"So... the seal has been weakened to such extent..." Deus muttered, "The Elder Gods have been... busy."

But what else would they do in their imprisonment anyway?

The Almighty squared his shoulders. "There is no turning back now. I need to gain control over the excess chaos. And the Elder Gods will help me... for a price."

Chaos' final gift to the Elder Gods was his own life to power up the seal. Chaos' Seal became the ultimate prison for the powerful beings, as his life banished the entire planet in which was the former center of the multiverses. Up until now, it became a forgotten memory, only a handful of beings remembered Chaos' final sacrifice.

And the only way to nullify it, ironically, were parts of both Order and Nightmare, whom were both spawns of the Abyss itself.

And here Deus poised in front of the very barrier his brother offered life into, in his hand was the genetic material he acquired from the vanished Empress of Nightmare. While he originally wanted some more time to think things through, his time ran out as a very grating voice mocked his very presence in the area.

"-Hooo... and what do we have here?-" The voice from beyond the small hole on the barrier mused, "-Is this the Almighty Alfadur I see beyond our measly prison?-"

Deus had to stop himself from making a biting retort as he took calming breaths. "-Yes, Chronus...-" he replied in the oldest language of eons past, "-It is I, Deus.-"

"-Hmmm...-" The monstrous voice noised, "-And to what to do we owe the pleasure of your... visit? I would have invited you in for some pastries, but as you can see... it is impossible at the moment.-"

Deus sighed. "-I came here to ask for your... fealty, Chronus.-"

Loud boisterous laughter emanated from beyond the barrier.

"-And why would we offer our services to the ones who put us in this filthy lodgings in the first place?-" Chronus' voice sounded... skeptical and sarcastic.

The Almighty narrowed his brows as he glared through the barrier. "-In exchange for you services, Chronus... I will grant you... Freedom.-"

Silence followed Deus' remark.

"-Interesting...-" Chronus replied, "-Very interesting, indeed.-"

A great foreboding feeling rippled across the entire multiverse as the Elder God's laughter echoed all over the area.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

In Hild's 'pet' reality...

A certain abandoned temple housed a lot of secrets. Various myths about the place floated all over this continent filled with magic and mayhem, which caused most of the locals to avoid the place. The more interested adventurers, who seek certain recognition and rare treasures, tended to try and brave this place anyway. But they soon found this area to be... nearly inaccessible due to topographical decay and the more powerful monsters which guarded it. Their failures only added to the stories about this temple, whose name has been unknown ever since it was discovered in the first place.

But now, it would seem that the stories were going to be put to shame, not that it would be publicized in any way. A certain pair of weary travelers did manage to accomplish something none of the earlier spelunkers did. The duo reached the center of the empty temple. From their figures, they seemed to be both females.

"Are you sure we have to be here, Luna?" The taller of the two figures whined as they unloaded the burdens of their belongings on the hard ground. She has blonde unbound hair that reached up to her lower back. Her full-body dress was a bit filthy from the dirt accumulated on their journey, but it was formerly white in color. Underneath the hem of her dress, an ornate mace was securely clasped around her right calf. There was also a strange appendage jutting out from her back... a yellow-skinned serpentine tail that had a pink ribbon tied a few inches near the tip. Her blue slitted eyes flitted around the temple nervously.

The shorter of the two nodded. "Of course, Filia. This is where I was instructed to go by my dreams..." the woman named Luna responded. She has reddish-colored eyes and light purple hair. A few months ago she still wore her waitress outfit, but she has abandoned them for her off white slightly-fitting vest and pants with its ends tied around her ankles. Her waist was surrounded by a dark blue belt with a golden buckle. Her arms were covered with sapphire-colored bracers, as well as her knees. Dark blue shoulder pads held the light blue cape that fluttered around her back. Her shoes were black, and Luna opted the lighter but durable kind instead of heavy boots. Around her forehead was a white bandanna, only to cover the trio of golden gems arranged in an inverted triangle on her forehead.

The golden dragon transformed into human huffed lightly as she took another cursory glance around them, "I'm really skeptical about your dream. I mean... there's nothing here. Besides... didn't you hear the stories about this place? It's giving me the creeps."

The sorceress inclined her head absently as she inspected the supplies they took with them, "I understand your concern. But I don't really know what we can do next. I mean, we've been chased by really powerful beings lately, and even with our powers, we can't hold them off forever."

Filia sighed morosely as she sat on top of her backpack. "Seriously though, are you going to tell me more about your dream, now that we're here?"

Luna frowned a bit, but continued to rummage on her pack anyway, "Well... you might find it weird, but I've been contacted in my dreams by someone who claims to be the Lord of Nightmares."

The dragon gasped as she struggled to balance on her seat. "You mean... L-Sama? But why? I mean... aren't you a disciple of Cepheid?"

"That's what I'm curious about too..." Luna mused, "But it's also what got me interested. To tell you the truth, I'm found some disturbing texts from the Dragon Spire's library's books. There's more to the legends of the gods than what was taught to us, Filia."

She looked up and saw her companion's inquiring look. Luna continued, "There are far too many discrepancies. In fact, there are some texts that suggested that the Lord of Nightmares was but one of the three major powerhouses of gods in reality. One was the Lord of Order, while the other was the Lord of Chaos. Anyway, that's not what we're really here for though... we really need to shake off our pursuers if we want to survive, and I was answered by my dream."

"I'm a bit suspicious about your dream, but I trust you Luna..." Filia intoned seriously, "I just hope you're right about this."

"I hope so too..." Luna muttered, as she pulled out some jars of unrecognizable stuff, as well as some special ink and a brush.

Filia walked over to the crouching Luna, who was inspecting the items the sorceress pulled out of her bag earlier. "Hey Luna, what are those for anyway?" the golden-haired girl asked, "Those are some pretty mean ingredients. Very rare too."

Luna shrugged slightly, "They're all from my dream. L-Sama told me to bring all these and left some pretty distinct instructions in my head on how to do this certain spell..."

"Uhm... are you sure it's safe to cast a relatively unknown spell at a time like this?" Filia asked nervously, her tail twitched agitatedly behind her.

Again, the powerful sorceress shrugged nonchalantly, "No, but at the rate things are going for us at the moment, I'd rather go for this spell."

"Oh, good point..." The female dragon blinked dumbly.

"Now..." Luna huffed as she glared slightly at her ditzy companion, "Help me with these runes, will you?"

It took them a good two hours of daylight before they finished drawing the complicated magic circle. It wasn't much of a spell, but more of a ritual, they had realized now that the circle was done. They double checked their runes from Luna's memories with the help of several candles, since it was finally nighttime when they got done. The outer circle itself was around twelve feet in diameter while the inner circle was about eleven feet in diameter, with several phrases written in an unknown language around the perimeter between the outer and inner circle. Actually, it was in the ancient dialect used by the ancient gods, but L-Sama never really got into explaining that to Luna. Inside the smaller circle was a six-point star instead of the common five-point star. It actually represented the six elements comprising the universe. The usual Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, but the last two were ignored by the newer generations. Light and Darkness were as much important as the other four were, and their presence allowed the caster access to certain high-leveled forbidden spells.

"By Cepheid..." Filia breathed as she stood back after the last rune was drawn into place. The magic circle was unlike anything she has ever seen before, and it gave her the shivers just by looking at it. Somehow, she could actually feel the intensity emitted by the strange circle, and it was extremely high. She just hoped that this wouldn't explode in their faces, since her and Luna have been involved in pretty wild stuff lately already. All because of the strange appearance of those mysterious golden gems on Luna's forehead.

Luna Inverse strode up beside her, the sorceress' face also etched in slight shock at the intricate symbols she drew out from her dreams. "My word..." she whispered urgently, "I don't even recognize any of these texts. But I know that this is pretty much very high level, and the magical focus is a bit different compared to the normal orations. And look here... see this?" The light purple-haired woman pointed at one side of the circle, "This one, I think I recognize a bit. It's something of a portal of some sort..."

The transformed golden dragon embraced herself as a slight tremor filled her being, "I don't know about this, Luna. What is your dream really about? What if it's just a ruse to get us into a place and we get captured? What if they use our powers for evil?" Although, due to her shivering, the final ingredients she held for Luna spilled into the circle, and mixed amongst the other rare ingredients Luna has already placed on the symbols. Filia gasped in surprise when she realized what she just did.

"Well..." Luna drawled out, as she sighed out of the stupidity of it all when the runes flared with bright lights. Both her and Filia were immediately encompassed by the lights.

"Don't move, Filia..." Luna warned her companion when the panicking dragon tried to leave the circle, "We're not in a normal circle. Because of its complexity and high level, the symbols were designed to keep its targets in and anyone who tries to disturb the ritual out. Meaning, while we're stuck here, we can't be disturbed too."

"WAAAAAHHH!" Filia wailed as she turned her teary gaze towards Luna, careful not to move too abruptly in fears of being obliterated, "Luna! I'm soooo sorry!" For some odd reason, Filia has her tail in her hands, and she was actually biting lightly on it while she looked at Luna with a piteous expression.

"Bah... we can't help it now, idiot..." The sorceress mumbled as she felt the magical energies started its work on them. She hadn't noticed due to the glare of the rays surrounding them, but the gems on her forehead were shining ever so brightly as well.

A bright flash of light followed by a loud bang filled the entire cavern.

When the hoard of Mazoku that were chasing Luna and Filia entered the cavern, they found no trace of their targets.

Hmm... one would wonder where those two went, ne?

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

Back in the reality where Ranma currently resides...

A certain black haired pigtailed man groaned softly as he opened his eyes. His blurry vision slowly cleared, and he found himself in a slightly familiar situation.

"Eh... I recognize this place..." The man named Ranma muttered to himself as he tried to reorient his senses. "Damn... this is getting to be a real habit of mine..."

The air inside the room was clean and fresh, unlike the polluted environment he has grown accustomed of for at least twenty years. The wooden ceiling with silvery paint that reflected back his image, and he saw that he was on a quite large bed, probably good enough for several people to fit into. A soft light blue blanket firmly set him in place, as it covered him up to his upper chest.

When he tried to move, he found that he could not. It might have something to do with the fact that there was something that held him in place, he really wasn't sure, although there was a suspicious bulge on his side within the blanket that covered him. He slowly lifted an arm to lift the heavy cloth up, and a patch of dark red silky hair attached to his other arm. Not only that, but his movement seemed to have dislodged something else, as a growth of silver fur covered half of his face, while a pink tail dangled over his left ear. Ranma looked up to the ceiling, and saw a silver rabbit-like creature curled just above his head on his pillow, as well as a pinkish creature beside the other.

"Huh... oh. The silver fur must be Rin-Ohki..." Ranma surmised, "And Mew is the pink one..." he pointed out to nobody in particular, "But... who has red hair?"

The last question made him look back on the red-haired one on his arm. Further investigation proved that it was a girl around probably eight to ten years of age.

Ranma scratched his slightly spiky black hair as he tried to remember who has red hair from the girls he met before. The only ones he knew were his female form, and Elhaym... so who was this girl?

"Wait..." The pigtailed one scrunched his face in thought, "I remember someone else... oh... OH!" He almost jumped at the conclusion, "Ryoko... I mean... her daughter... err, my daughter... ah, OUR daughter!" He crowed in triumph, but then he fell silent as the implications started to dawn on him.

Ranma's sudden movements and raised voice were enough to awaken the small redhead, as a childish face suddenly looked up towards him. A rather pale face greeted him, but what caught his attention was the girl's eyes. Still half-closed due to being awakened prematurely, he still found that the eyes were golden in color. Not only that, but they were slitted as well, like a cat's.

((Ryoko's eyes...)) Ranma thought to himself absently as he gazed at the sleepy visage of his daughter. Said sleepy girl's eyes suddenly opened fully when she realized her 'pillow' was now awake.

Ranma's gaze went from the girl's face to the rising bump on the blanket. He quickly tried to feel his... crotch... with his free arm, and was relieved to find that he wasn't... excited. It wasn't his tail too... which was currently limp on his free side. So, what was... oh...

Said bump started wiggling like mad as the girl's face slowly lit up with a wide smile. Oh look, what cute little canines! And she has this cute little red gem on her forehead too! Neat!

No time for Ranma to ponder any more, as the girl slowly opened her mouth and squeaked, "PAPA! You're AWAKE!" before she glomped at his arm tighter than ever.

((I remember... Ryoko named our daughter Ranko. And geez, what a grip this girl has!)) Ranma thought furiously as he endured his daughter's affections. He has a handful of years being absent to make up for, after all.

It was like a domino effect. When the little girl screamed, the twin balls over Ranma's head shot up and floated around, probably trying to spot any intruders that might've entered the sanctum. But when Rin-Ohki and Mew spotted him awake, they immediately darted towards him and started making a whole lot of noise.

"GAH!" Ranma sputtered as he was accosted on all sides, his vision filled with silver, pink and red as the trio of excited loved ones showered him with affections in their own unique way. "Wait... gack! Rin-Ohki, I missed you too but... urk! Mew! You too of course! Waah! That's my mouth...! Pbbthh... dang... so much... fur... erk... hairball!"

The noise must've been real loud, because it definitely attracted the attention of the other people in the place he's staying it at the moment. The door on the far side of the room slammed open, and Ranma strained to gaze upon several female figures, and at a few males, who tried to cram into the room at the same time. Ranma wanted to laugh at the sight, really he did, but the constant barrage of fur and his daughter's death grip was still taxing his energy at the moment. The new group finally reached an impasse, and the women Ranma hasn't seen for at least two decades claimed first priority of entry into the room along with Belldandy.

First came the pale teal-haired Vanilla, then the tall green-haired Emeralda, followed by the regal Lea, then Raven in demonic form, also the floating cyan-haired Ryoko who has a black-furred cabbit hanging off her shoulder, who was followed by the light brown-haired Belldandy.

Oh, and the beloved women of Ranma's life looked quite ticked off at him.

Heh... must've been all those years he's had amnesia...

Oh boy.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

After a nearly two hours of non-stop sermon sessions with his future wives, Ranma received a few bruises already healing at the moment, some bumps on his head also already becoming smaller due to healing ability, and a really scared expression that would've probably become permanent to normal mortals. But Ranma wasn't normal, in any case.

The pigtailed man understood that he needed to endure this at least for the moment, because he knew he should allow these women to vent on their frustrations on him. He felt that he owed them that much and more, for searching his whereabouts as well as even waiting for his reappearance. He expressed the feeling of inadequacy for their presences in his live in the middle of the rant session, but they just smacked the thought out of his mind.

After things finally calmed down, Ranma was informed that the girls were able to retrieve him from the Anima Seraphim when it became immobile. The mecha disappeared after his body was removed from the cockpit, and Ranma knew the mecha just went back into storage within his subspace hangar. He was brought while unconscious into the town of Kalm, where he has let Barret's daughter Marlene stay with Belldandy's foster mother Elmyra earlier during the Meteor's siege for safety.

After a few more hours, Ranma found himself propped up on his bed with Ranko still clutched at his arm tightly. Mew and Rin-Ohki were on his shoulders along with Ryoko's cabbit Ryo-Ohki, each one with a different side while the latter in the middle. The room Ranma was on was big enough to fit at least twenty people, and it was now filled by both of the girls who came for Ranma and those who went and fought with Sephiroth. The division of the two groups were quite visible. Vanilla, Raven, Ryoko, Lea, and Emeralda were on one side, along with Belldandy as well. Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Barret, Red XIII, Vincent, Cid and Cait Sith were on the other side of Ranma's bed. Near the door of the room, Elmyra Gainsborough and Marlene Wallace sat with their own chairs as they observed the proceedings with rapt interest.

Everyone lapsed into silence, as they seemed content in staring at one another. One could cut the tension with a knife.

"Well, this is a bit awkward, isn't it?" Ranma laughed weakly as he tried to break the tension feebly. The others turned towards him with varied looks of surprise and incredulous expression on their faces. He ignored the stares pointedly as he ventured on, "I guess everyone has their own questions, ne? To start off, has everyone been introduced to each other?"

The ever-stoic Vincent spoke up, as he flung his red scarf over his shoulder, "Not entirely. We know the others' names, but we haven't been briefed about where they come from. It would probably help explain certain... circumstances that happened."

"Yeah, yeah!" Yuffie piped up, her short dark hair bobbed wildly in the air as she nodded excitedly, "Like, where did that giant robot go anyway? After we got you outta the thing, it just vanished into thin air, ya know?"

"Screw that!" The sandy-haired spear-user named Cid interjected, "I wanna know where the silver ship came from!"

Just like that, the planet's inhabitants exploded with questions of their own, and Ranma doesn't know which one to turn to.

"Please!" Belldandy raised her voice over the questions, "One at a time! And also, please allow Ranma to answer your questions one at a time!"

As usual, the sight of a slightly flustered Belldandy caused the talk to die down and allow Ranma to speak.

"Err, well..." Ranma cleared his throat as he threw the light brown-haired girl a grateful glance, "To start things off... Vanilla-chan, can you and the others start your introductions? I don't wanna get some things wrong."

The pale-skinned, light teal-haired girl blinked her ruby-colored eyes when the crowd's attention turned towards her. "Uh..." she floundered a bit, not used to being the center of attention all of the sudden, "I am Vanilla Ash."

Another lapse of blissful silence ensued. The crowd from Gaia were still waiting for more from the girl, while her companions tried to stifle their laughter.

When it was obvious that it was all Vanilla would say, Red XIII drawled out, "Excuse me, but can you please elaborate? Like, where you come from, and why you said you were searching for Zack?"

Vanilla blinked once more, and turned towards Ranma with a questioning glance. When the young man nodded, the girl sighed and explained, "Ranma-sama saved me from a life of solitude. He came into my life, just as I have resigned myself into my own lonesome. I love Ranma-sama, whom you have come to know as Zack. I came because I want to be with him. As for where I am from... it would be a long and grueling story so complicated that it will shatter your world view. I'm sorry, but that part of my life is private. All you need to know is that I've been searching for Ranma-sama for a long time."

"Uhm... okay..." Cid finished lamely.

"I guess it is my turn, then?" Lea raised a delicate eyebrow in amusement as everyone turned towards her, "My name is Lea, but my original name was Ihadurca. I was the majority of the personality of an entity that was banished into a dimension called the Evil Zone, where my Ihadurca side was trapped into. I am one would call a demon goddess, however ironic it may sound. I was in a death-sleep stasis when Ranma found me. In short, he woke me up from my near-eternal slumber. I chose to pledge my existence for Ranma-sama's pleasure. He is my all."

Everyone made a synchronized blink at the explanation.

"Whoa..." Tifa breathed, "Talk about loyalty..."

"Same goes with me, apparently..." The demonic Raven muttered loud enough to be heard in the room, which turned everyone's attention towards her, "I was... cursed at birth. Don't ask too many questions about it, I can tell you that it wasn't fun. I wasn't able to use much of my emotions in fear that I would release my father, as well as lose control over my magic powers. Oh, and guess what? My father's one major pain-in-the-ass demon. A high level one, apparently. Cool, huh? Anyway, Ranma came into my life, accidentally got into my head, beat the crap out of the link I had with my father, and caused a bit of a side-effect. I can use emotions now, but I randomly change between my demonic-looking form and my other ditzy-minded goodie-two-shoes angelic form. Now, don't look at me like that, it's not very bad. It's just... weird at times. But this is better than the alternative. Believe me, this is much better."

"We can see that..." Red XIII remarked drolly, "But... doesn't it get annoying? Don't you have any regrets, none at all?"

"Nope..." Raven stated without second thoughts, "I'd most definitely choose this than how I was before with no doubt in my mind. I was slowly losing my self-esteem as well as my sanity before, but now I regained it when my father's shadow disappeared. As I've said, I can't express extreme emotions before, because my powers go haywire when I do. But now, I'm free to feel the things I didn't allow myself to have when I was young. And to top it all off, I finally met someone who doesn't care what I was or how I look. I am happy with him, and I will follow him to the ends of the universe just to be with him."

"Anyway..." Yuffie rolled her eyes as she gestured towards Emeralda, "What about you? Why are you so... silent? I mean, sure I heard you talk, but only a couple of times..."

"I dislike talking without much of a reason..." The green-haired Emeralda intoned, "I am Emeralda. All I can say about myself, is that I was not organic before."

Lea took over the explanation when she saw Ranma's inquisitive look, "Your Aunt Washuu happened, Ranma-sama. Her final gift to you and Emeralda before she wandered off once again... she made Emeralda a body. I think I remember her saying about Ctarl-Ctarl DNA strands. Her insides, her innards, are now organic... self-grown by Washuu-sama in VAT tubes. Emeralda's outer skin is still nanomachine though... but her insides are organic. Believe me, I saw the whole process myself."

Ranma shook his head in exasperation. "Washuu-baachan probably took it as a challenge. It's a good thing for Emeralda though. How's it going for you, Emeralda?"

The tall jade-haired girl blushed slightly, a sign of the correct nerve synapses from the organic side of her body, "It is all right, Ranma-sama. It was... a little bit uncomfortable during the first few months, but I managed to get used to normal bodily functions with Washuu-sama's help."

"Also..." Raven interceded, after she gave a rather amused glance over at Emeralda's blushing form, "You haven't seen anything yet. Emeralda, kindly lower your muffler, please?"

"Uhmm..." Emeralda remained flustered, but opted not to move an inch, "I would rather not... he might not be ready, and..."

Lea groaned as she stifled the urge to throttle the girl, "Oh for crying out loud, just get it over already!" and with a flourish, the regal-looking woman moved with deadly precision as she grabbed the dark brown cloth that covered over half of a rather surprised Emeralda's head. Without another word, the demon goddess pulled the muffler off, which elicited a whispered squeak from the green-haired girl.

Everyone gaped when what they thought were Emeralda's oversized hair sideburns flopped upwards. Apparently, they were ears, but not just any type of ears...

"Cat ears..." Tifa gasped as she marveled at the aforementioned appendages. She squealed slightly when the same ears twitched at the sudden attention.

Emeralda's blush became darker in hue as she felt everyone stares bore down on her. Her new oversized feline ears stretched from the top sides of her head, and reached to the lower sides of her cheeks. The hair on her ears were actually fur, and was dark green in color as well. The fur in the inner ears were light brown. A green-furred tail was also hidden underneath her belt made out of red cloth, only the alien women and Ranma could actually notice the slight twitching from it. Combine all these with her slight blush and dark green eyes, she was currently an epitome of cuteness. But all these were useless, for this girl has been waiting for only one person's opinion.

Said current person was gaping at her. Emeralda has no idea what was going on inside Ranma's mind, though Raven, Mew and Rin-Ohki knew. Mind links were such useful things...

After a few minutes of silence, Mew was suddenly struck by inspiration as she smacked her pink tail against Ranma's head. The pigtailed man squawked as a red welt momentarily appeared in the middle of the multicolored gems stuck on his forehead before it slowly faded. But the action gained some progress, as Ranma was finally revitalized from the trance he was on earlier.

"Uhh... sorry about that... the staring, I mean..." Ranma tried to amend himself as he gave the expectant girl a dazzling smile, "The new look really suits you, Eme-chan... in fact, you look really cute."

Emeralda seemed to redefine the color of a blush as she turned redder.

Vincent coughed softly as he interjected, "Shall we continue with the introductions, please?"

"Hmph... I guess it's my turn then..." The cyan haired woman with golden cat-slitted eyes snorted as she crossed her arms across her chest while seated. "I am Ryoko... former space pirate..." she elaborated, but she got miffed when she was interrupted.

"SPACE!" Cid stood up from his seat, while pointing a twitching finger towards Ryoko.

The spiky-haired woman glared at the sandy-haired blonde man and stated, "Yes, space, as in the huge thing beyond this planet's sky. And don't point your finger at me, if you wanna keep it. Didn't your momma ever taught you it's bad manners to point fingers, jerk?"

Mortified, Cid slumped back down to his seat.

Ryoko nodded, "Anyway... to continue, Ranma here freed me from my prison. We've been together for quite some time during our travels, until my mother invented something that caused an accident that sent Ranma far away. He was lost to me for such a long time, and I've been searching for him ever since. Before he disappeared though, we... got intimate. Our daughter, Ranko, is the fruit of that night..." she gestured towards the red-haired child curled underneath Ranma's arm.

Ranko just waved a hand in the air casually. She did not even bother to raise her head from her father's chest.

"Yep, like mother like daughter..." Ryoko stated proudly. Everyone sweatdropped when Ranko's hand curled into the universal sign of 'The Finger'.

The cyan-haired mother bristled at her daughter's audacity. "Little brat! You've been spending too much time with your grandmother!"

"Whatever mama..." Ranko's small and droll voice caused Ryoko to snort irritably. The mother slowly relaxed once more on her seat, but not before throwing another irritated glance at her daughter's back.

"Oh my..." Everyone turned towards Belldandy, who has her head tilted off to one side as she stared off to... somewhere, "I wonder how my child will be like when he or she grows up...?"

Cloud decided to speak up. "How about you, Aerith?" The mentioned girl turned towards him as he asked the question, "What's the real story with you?"

The beautiful blooming young woman smiled as she shrugged a bit in response. "Well, I was born on this planet and was given the name Aerith Gainsborough. My biological mother was Ifalna, an Ancient as you call them, but more specifically a Cetra. They are actually humans who were... unchanged even after the catastrophe of the Third Impact and the dreadful reign of Kagato. But if you wanted a specific explanation on that, it would've been a long and dreadful story. As they say, ignorance is bliss. So, truthfully, you're better off not knowing the distant past since most of what happened there doesn't really affect your time."

"Geez... now I'm interested..." Barret muttered.

Cloud pressed on, "So, what can you tell us? More about yourself I mean..."

"Ah..." Belldandy nodded, "Well... as I've said from earlier, I am a reincarnated soul. I was a goddess in my previous life, in particular, one of the Norns."

"A goddess, Aerith... I mean... Belldandy?" Elmyra Gainsborough, Aerith's foster mother, asked hesitantly.

Belldandy smiled at her. "Yes, mother. You see, there has been an event in the another reality that led me to be reborn in this place. Actually, the reality I was from was the distant past of this timeline, in particular, about several thousands of years ago. Before you ask, there are different realities... each reality line breaks off from the original based on certain key persons' important decisions. Ranma is one of such people on a lot of these realities. His decisions can alter realities and make alter universes. It's pretty much a complicated matter when explained to those not well-versed to temporal mechanics, so for the preservation of your sanity, please don't ask too much about it."

"Ugh... I wouldn't have believe it if I wasn't living it..." Ranma groused as he combed his daughter's red locks with his fingers.

Belldandy gave Ranma a grateful glance, "Precisely. Only those who intimately knew about such deviations were even aware of them. Anyway... back to the topic... I was banished by God Himself because I recovered my memories of my past."

"Eh?" Red XIII was perplexed, "How can recovering one's memories be bad?"

"I am not most people, Nanaki-san..." Belldandy reminded everyone, "I am a goddess, serving under God and his doctrines. But when I discovered that my past memories were altered by the same god I revered, there was a chance that I will rebel. And I was planning to, especially since the one who erased my memories was God."

"But why?" Yuffie asked curiously.

The brown-haired girl sighed as painful memories flashed in her mind's eye, "My mother, the one who bore me as a goddess, was actually Tokimi, Goddess of Chaos. Due to other divine entities' envy and fear of her power, my mother was sealed into another dimension, alone. She was jailed for the absurd reason of being who she is. I was born without a father, as my mother fashioned me out of earth and breathed life into me. God took me away from my mother and sealed my memories. He gave me new ones and had me serve under him, as one of his goddesses of Fate. I was given the title Goddess of the Present. I govern the Present, while my 'sisters' were given the jurisdictions of Past and Future accordingly."

When they saw the pained expression on the normally cheerful reincarnated goddess' face, they became hesitant at asking more questions. It just wasn't a normal occurrence to see that emotion on Aerith's, rather, Belldandy's face.

"You have the Gems, Bell-chan..." Ranma broke the silence, as he stared at the ailing girl with sympathy, "I would ask you how you got them, but..."

Belldandy shook her head. "I don't know where I got them. All I know is that they appeared when the seal on my memories broke apart. I even got to see your mother, Ranma-sama."

Ranma cocked his head to one side inquisitively. "Which one? Surrogate or biological?"

"Both, actually..." The brown haired girl smiled impishly, "You'll be happy to know, that your biological mother Tokimi acts the same way as your surrogate, Nodoka Saotome."

"Gah..." The poor pigtailed one hid his face with one hand. "Just what I need... two mothers who wanted me to give them grandchildren."

"Oh, you will give them grandchildren, Ranma-sama..." Lea intoned in mock seriousness, "You will..."

"Wait wait wait..." Tifa formed a 'T' with her hands, "I'm confused. I thought this... Tokimi... is Aerith's mother? Doesn't that make you... brother and sister?"

Yuffie's eyes widened dramatically, "Ooooohhh... incest! How kinky!"

Belldandy giggled slightly. "Tokimi is my mother in my past life, Tifa-san. I am reborn as a mortal, therefore Tokimi being my real mother is moot point."

"Besides..." Raven pointed out, "The way things are going, Belldandy will call Tokimi 'mother' soon anyway."

"This... this is just so..." Cloud was at a loss of words. Everyone turned to him expectantly, as he tried to find the words to convey his feelings on the matter. "Gods... goddesses... demons... space... everything's so vast. I feel..."

"Small, insignificant, at the tip of an iceberg?" Red XIII deadpanned. The reddish former Shin-Ra experimental subject sighed and ignored the slight glare Cloud threw at him, and raised a paw towards the three creatures near Ranma's head, "What about them? What's their story?"

"Hmmm...?" Ranma hummed as he half-turned to gaze at Rin-Ohki, who just blinked back at him lazily, "Oh... well. Mew, as you know, just appeared to me one day, and we formed a bond..." At this point, Mew let out an exuberant 'Mew!' while Rin-Ohki's brows narrowed at the back of his head, "Anyway, the silver one's Rin-Ohki. She's among the species called Cabbits, which are usually not without partners. They forge links to their chosen partners so that they may work more effectively together. Cabbits are very helpful and affectionate... and they have special abilities. Hey Cid, that silver ship you were on? That was Rin-Ohki's cabbit ship form by the way..."

Cid bristled at that. "What? How can a pipsqueak like that become so big..." he was forced to abandon that statement when he instinctively ducked as a narrow red beam passed over where his head was earlier. The sandy-haired man swallowed audibly as he took a glance behind him. A smoking hole the size of a Materia stone now decorated the room's wall. The angry silver cabbit hissed at the flinching man.

Ranma chuckled in embarrassment. "Oh yeah, and they're very easily irritated by comments like those, Cid. She's telling me to relate to you that she could squish you flat if she wanted to. Uhm, the other things she says after that can't be mentioned in front of children..."

Everyone except Cid had a small laugh at that.

"Anyway..." Ranma said as the laughter died down, "As you can guess, Rin-Ohki's my partner. The other black-furred cabbit is Ryo-Ohki. She, however, is Ryoko-chan's partner. And yes, she can fire off beams like Rin-Ohki, so be careful."

Vincent spoke up, "There's something that's bothering me a bit..." he directed his gaze towards Ranma, "How is it that you have records here on this... planet... that dates as far back as at least twenty years past? Doesn't that mean that... these women have been searching for you at the same length of time? How is it that they still look so... young?"

"Very observant of you..." Lea muttered loudly.

"Err... yeah. Kinda..." Ranma scratched the back of his head, "Uhhm... to simplify things, let's just say it's the alien blood thingie, okay? There will be a whole lotta different explanations about it, but everything will sum up to that reason."

"I'm sorry to interject..." Lea spoke once more, her sharp eyes now riveted towards a slightly nervous Ranma, "I assume that the girls and I wouldn't be asking too much of what happened to the other people that accompanied Ranma. Not to be rude or anything, but we simply don't care about your history. It doesn't affect us. Now... to OUR unified question... what happened, Ranma-sama? Twenty years, give or take... that's how long you've cut off your link with Rin-Ohki and Raven."

The silence seemed deafening as everyone now turned their stern gazes towards the one person who has most of the answers to the mysteries of what had happened for the past few years. The man in question, Ranma, blinked owlishly for a few moments before he sagged back to the comfort of his propped-up pillows.

"I... I don't know where to begin..." Ranma stammered slightly, as he opted to stare at the sheets since he was unable to meet anyone's eyes at the moment. He was slowly sinking into his guilt when he felt his red haired daughter's dainty hands slide on his cheek softly.

"Don't be sad, papa..." Ranko murmured softly as she gazed upon her newly found father's ethereal eyes.

"Ranma..." Ryoko's voice caused Ranma to flinch, "The beginning would be best. Start with when you disappeared into the wormhole with that bastard Kagato."

Ranma nodded, and thus started to enlighten the crowd of what had happened. Ever since that fateful day he crash-landed into the planet formerly known as Earth, now called Gaia...

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

It has been well past midnight when Ranma's very long story started to wind down. It was around mid-morning when he began his tale. Inside the room, most of the crowd was still actively listening to the last dredges of his story. Marlene however was already asleep on her father, Barret's lap. Same thing with Ranko, who was now fast asleep in Ranma's embrace. Ryo-Ohki also changed her position, as she was now perched on Ryoko's shoulder. The room was now a bit messier than it was earlier, because of the few containers of food that were discarded from the large group's meals.

As of the moment, Ranma was taken into answering a whole lot of questions that the entire group has. He answered them to the best of his knowledge, and he hoped they could be placated with the replies. He also wasn't so keen to reveal too much information to the planet's inhabitants, since it would take a long long time before they will be able to grasp the idea of his current lifestyle.

The questions slowly stopped, as the group's curiosities were satisfied for now. There was a moment of respite that followed, which allowed everyone to reflect on the knowledge imparted to them by the other's experience, as well as the new-found information regarding certain aspects of their universe from the female newcomers.

"To tell you the truth..." Ryoko began as she smiled softly at the lovely scene Ranko and Ranma created while the latter held to the former, "I'm not really THAT surprised, ya know? I mean... Ranma's the type of person who just couldn't help but attract chaos. Not that I'm complaining much... but it's still a tad frustrating when he disappears like that for long periods of time. I'm just glad he's safe, and now I can present Ranko-chan to him."

"The little fireball's an every-day whiz kid, Ranma-sama..." Lea smirked as Ryoko choked slightly at those words, "And she's following your footsteps. Why, just a few years ago, Ranko-chan blew up a planet that housed a civilization who tried to kidnap her. Amazing, really, what she can do with the bare essentials. She managed to create a planetary destroyer bomb using only what she could scrounge up on that planet's fauna."

Ranma gaped at his sleeping daughter. "Gaahh... can anyone tell me why nobody tried to stop her?" he asked hesitantly.

Vanilla opted to field that question, "While we would have loved to obliterate an entire civilization ourselves for trying to experiment upon Ranko-chan's person, our little girl managed to get to them first."

"Errr..." Ranma seemed to be lost at the explanation.

Raven rolled her dark-purple eyes upwards in exasperation. "It means that Ranko finished the bomb before we could actually mount a rescue operation. We were already picking up the SOS signal from the pod ship Ranko 'borrowed' from the surface when the whole planet just... imploded into itself."

The pigtailed man's eyes widened in understanding. "Ohhh..." he noised.

The crowd of Gaia's inhabitants fell silent at that, for they have no idea how to comment on that. They have one thing in mind, though...

((Destroyed a planet? What kind of people are they?)) was the common thought.

"Anyway..." Lea's tone of voice caused a stir of concern from the group. The seriousness behind the pitch wasn't meant to be ignored. "We need to know what happens next, Ranma-sama. You do remember Washuu-san's warning, right?"

"Ehh..." The alien hybrid's nervousness came back, as he scrunched his face in concentration, "Well... aside from the scientific junk and those other things she managed to cram into my head, I do remember something about..."

Everyone waited anxiously as Ranma's face grew more nervous. The reincarnated Chaos sweated slightly as the strain of thought became too erratic in his head.

"... okay, I give up... I don't remember..." he ended lamely. He sweatdropped when the group facefaulted at his answer. Well, everyone's face fell to the ground except a few handful. Belldandy's face retained its blissful expression while she looked at Ranma in adoration. Vanilla's face only bent sideways as her reaction. Barret stopped himself before his face fault, since his daughter was still sleeping on his lap after all.

((This man... is this the same Zack I met a few years back?)) Cloud thought as he picked himself up from his face fall.

As Lea pushed her face off of the ground, she almost shrieked, "The deadline, Ranma-sama! Don't you remember? Every reality that is not your original one, you can only stay for varied limited lengths of time!"

"Uhhm... wait..." Ranma started as he looked down on the white sheets of the bed he was on, "I remember that one but... I don't think it's the same thing in this timeline."

Raven snorted as she crossed her arms across her chest, "Oh, and why is that?"

The pigtailed man huffed indignantly, "Because, if I got my quantum mechanics correctly, this planet is the future of the timeline I disappeared from. Basically, I came from this timeline, several thousands of years ago, wherein I got trapped in limbo after that accident with Washuu's contraption."

"Hey... you're kinda right..." Ryoko mused as she scratched her chin in thought, "So... this is your original Reality Line, but wrong era."

Ranma nodded. "Yep..."

"But..." Emeralda cut into the conversation, "We should not be complacent that Ranma-sama's appearance in this reality line will have no adverse affects on this particular future anyway."

Lea smiled graciously at Emeralda, "That's correct. Ranma-sama's still in the wrong point of time, so there might still be some effects on reality itself if he doesn't get back to the original point of time to correct the anomaly."

Ranma sighed morosely. "Geez... do we have to go back to that line anyway? The only reason why I wanna go back was 'coz of Ryoko."

The cyan-haired woman's squeal of absolute delight was heard from the background.

"It appears so, Ranma-sama..." Vanilla continued as everyone else ignored Ryoko throwing confetti in the background, "Washuu-san explained some important facts to us, right after you vanished. It was imperative to find you because there seems to be a great reality rift in the original reality line you came from. We have to repair that first, lest the anomaly will spread and affect the other neighboring multiverses spawned from the One True Reality."

"Ugh... big words..." The red-tailed demi-Saiyajin groaned to himself as he closed his eyes tightly, "Okay. Let's pretend I completely understood all that. To summarize what you just said... I have to get back to my timeline to fix the mess created when I left that era."

Vanilla blinked in astonishment as she stared towards Ranma, "That's... basically what I've been trying to convey."

Ranma scratched his cheek. "Hmmm... cool. So, wait... what about you girls? I don't think you want to be left anywhere, so you'll be coming with me everywhere. Won't that be dangerous too?"

The demonic ash-skinned Raven was the one who answered, "Washuu explained to us that we've become so saturated with your energy that we became... freelance from the Laws of Reality. She said that..." she blushed slightly at this, "... those who you've been intimate with, always in touch with, or even those who basically tied their existence in one form of another towards you will become Freelance. All thanks to you and your chaos aura."

"Another complicated explanation..." Ranma grumbled, "And again, pretending I understood all of that, summarizing what you just said... you've been with me and been very close to me, emotionally, spiritually and mentally, so you've become part of my weird adventure. Gotcha."

"Meeeww... mew, mew..." The pink feline on top of Ranma's pillow noised.

The pigtailed man just shrugged. "Why do I simplify the explanation if I could understand it anyway? Well... for the benefit of the others who can't understand, like those from this planet."

The silver cabbit at Mew's side nuzzled Ranma on top of his head as she miya'd repeatedly. By the tone of her noises, they were her show of affections towards the man. Ranma smiled slightly as he raised a free arm to scratch Rin-Ohki's ear. The cabbit purred her gratification for the favor freely.

"Anyway..." Ranma continued, "How about you, Eme-chan? What do you suggest?"

The green-haired girl with semi-feline attributes gave him a pointed look, "I follow where Ranma-sama goes."

"Figures you'll say that..." The demi-Saiyajin muttered loudly, "Well, if that's the case, then we'll just have to find our way back, ne?" He turned his head towards Rin-Ohki thoughtfully, "Say... doesn't Rin-Ohki have that thing she ate all those years back...? The dimension thingie Washuu made?"

Ryoko chuckled. "Yeah, mother has been moping about it when she found that invention of hers missing. I think I remember her saying that it's supposed to transport anything through different dimensions, but the version your cabbit ate was incomplete. She said that the Coordinate Targeting System of that version wasn't calibrated correctly, so... if you use that one, the dimension you come out of will be in random."

"That doesn't sound too reassuring..." Lea groused, "But I guess we have no other choice on the matter now, do we?"

The silver-furred cabbit meowed loudly before she continued her soft purring as she draped herself over her master's head.

Ranma fiddled with his pigtail out of habit, "I think it's a really bad idea. I mean, this just spells chaos all over..." he sweatdropped when everyone turned to him with deadpanned looks, "But... I guess it's better than nothing, ne?"

"It's settled, then!" Belldandy clapped her hands together once gleefully, "Well, I better make some preparations, as well as pack. And also say my goodbyes..." she said cheerfully as she herded the crowd with all the planet's inhabitants out of the room. Afterwards, Belldandy came back along with Barret to help her carry Ranko-chan's sleeping form out of the room as well. Rin-Ohki and Mew sent their own telepathic excuses as they floated out of the rooms after Belldandy, and claimed they wanted carrots and some berries. This left only Raven, Lea, Vanilla, Emeralda, Ryoko and Ranma inside the room.

The pigtailed alien hybrid grew anxious as the tension in the air became heavier, especially when the girls gave him predatory grins as the door's lock clicked ominously.

((Eh... this reminds me of the time when Belldandy cornered me on that first day of my vacation from SOLDIER...)) Ranma's thought's ground into a halt when he fully realized his predicament. He lost any coherent thought and his intuitive perspective when all five girls leapt at him on his poor bed.

"You got another girl pregnant, Ranma-kun..." Ryoko cooed as she landed on Ranma's abdomen, "All the while you have other women waiting for twenty years, some even more than five millennia... you've got a lot of debts to pay now, dear."

His last thoughts were ((... oh crap...)) as five pairs of hands descended upon him.

It was thirty minutes later that Ranma barely noticed Belldandy inside the room and has already joined the fray as well.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

The townspeople who lived in Kalm has started renovating the town from the damages brought by the latest catastrophe. The former AVALANCHE members helped diligently in the repairs as well. There was still a few refugees arriving from Midgar City, which was probably one of the more damaged areas on the planet.

The town was relatively bustling with activity, but none compared to the action happening in one of the houses in the town proper. Although, no one dared to even investigate the strange loud noises that emanated from the said house, since there were probably two things that may happen when they disturb the performance of the people in that house. One, heavy objects hit them when they try to rouse the individuals involved inside the house. Two, even weirder was the energy balls that fried anyone who tried to peek inside the room wherein the center of the activities were focused inside the house. So basically, everyone left the house alone, even if it was just for their own safety and personal health.

It was only a week that passed when Ranma and the girls with him in Elmyra's house were seen outside once again. To the townspeople's immense surprise, Ranma looked rather calm, and not tired as everyone else predicted he would be. Although, the red-tailed young man immediately attacked the nearby restaurant with huge orders of food, most probably to replenish lost energy from the... vigorous exercise he was on for the week. The women followed him with wide grins plastered on their faces, and were able to partake with the meal that was set out for Ranma as well inside the restaurant.

It was one of those beautiful mornings, where birds chirped joyfully amongst the few trees left after the battle. The sun slowly showed its face from the horizon, and the sky only has a few wisps of clouds. All in all, a beautiful day brewed.

A certain blonde-haired mercenary trudged along a slightly widened dirt path that led towards the mountains. He was on firewood duty today, and he also wanted to get some hunting done as well. Cloud Strife's face was a mask of indifference as he chopped down a few dying trees, those that can be used as effective firewood. He finished early, and took his time going back to the peaceful village of Kalm. When he passed the small forest, he heard a faint melodious voice. Entranced, he followed the voice while bearing the firewood he has collected earlier. He found himself in a small clearing near the edge of the forest, and spied upon someone in the middle of the field. The entire area was fortified with sunflowers, and with the sun's rays reflected softly on the dew upon the blades of grass in the area, the atmosphere was soothing and clearly wonderful.

Cloud realized that the person sitting on the clearing was none other than Aerith Gainsborough... no... she was Belldandy, the reborn goddess. She was singing a soft tune that seemed to energize the flowers more around her, as well as Cloud himself. He was about to leave Belldandy to her privacy, but a log from his burden fell on the ground. The sound attracted Belldandy's attention, and caused her to pause in her singing to turn towards his direction.

"Cloud-san!" Belldandy smiled brightly, "It's nice meeting you here. Isn't it such a beautiful day today? Come here and stay with me for a while!"

Cloud felt torn between running away and granting this pretty woman's request. In the end, he opted the latter as he slowly walked towards the girl. He set his burden down a few feet away from where Belldandy sat and took his seat upon the logs. The girl with light brown hair inclined her head towards him and turned back to what she was doing. He found that she was making a headband made out of flowers.

Belldandy seemed to have felt Cloud's curiosity. Without turning away from her work, she informed him, "It's for Ranko-chan. I tried teaching her how to do it the other day, but it was a bust. So I'm making her one to make her feel better."

"I see..." Cloud muttered as he broke his gaze from the back of Belldandy's head, and chose to stare at the slow-moving clouds above the clearing.

For the blonde-haired man, he felt very tense around the girl nowadays. While he felt strong emotions towards her, their situation has clearly changed, and not for the better. At least, that's how it felt for him. She was probably the first woman he felt love for, and he felt quite inadequate, especially when he failed to protect her from Sephiroth's surprise attack. Without Zack... no... Ranma's intervention, things would've gone differently, and this woman would've most likely died in that encounter. He... he felt that he was a total failure...

"Cloud-san?" Belldandy's soft voice cut through the fog of despair in Cloud's mind. He turned to gaze at the girl, who was still riveted in her work, "Is everything all right?"

"Huh...?" Cloud noised uneasily, his insecurities clearly reflected in his cracking voice, "What... what made you think that?"

He heard the woman snort disbelievingly. "I was once a goddess, Cloud-san, even if it was a lifetime ago..." she deftly ignored the mercenary's full-body shudder, "I can identify tension easily. Besides, I could feel it as clear as day, you know?"

Cloud lowered his head in shame. It was true, he was trying to avoid this conversation in such a long time, and now, there was no escaping it. Not from this girl. "I... I'm sorry."

"Things have been awkward between us, right? It started after Ranma showed up when he saved me from Sephiroth..." Belldandy surmised as she continued her tedious work, "Ever since then, you kept it to yourself. Your emotions... you did not want the others and me to notice how you felt on the matter. But I do know about it, Cloud-san, and I was waiting for you to start and confront me about them. But... I somehow knew you weren't that kind of person..." she smiled as she held the half-finished wreath in the air for inspection, "So now... can you tell me? Your feelings about this matter, I mean."

Another bout of silence filled the air, but Belldandy was an epitome of a patient woman. She sighed softly as she waited for the young man's answer. She knew of the turmoil Cloud felt whenever she was near, and she just had to fix the situation before it affected him in the future in a very negative way.

"I..." The young woman almost paused in her work to hear the rest of Cloud's answer, but she continued weaving the flower stems without missing a beat.

"I... I dunno..." Cloud's uncertain voice was almost painful to the ears. "I tried ignoring it... but... it hurts, you know? I... I..." ((Say it, idiot!)) the blonde berated himself, as he continued to struggle with the words, "I... I l-love... I love y-you... and... it's hard for me to cope..." he slumped on his seat, and waited nervously for the girl's response.

"Stop fidgeting, Cloud-san..." Belldandy chided gently, "And I do know that you're in love with me. I'm... sorry... if I gave you some sort of false hope that I'm to return that life. I do like you though, like a younger brother. Not the same way you probably felt for me..."

The brown haired girl turned her head slightly to the side to look at the flowers, "I have to admit, when I first met you... I felt something spark inside. I saw Zack in you, but as I spent more time with you, I finally saw some character flaws. I mean, you were pretty good imitating Zack, but... it wasn't perfect."

Belldandy smiled softly as she turned to face Cloud's forlorn face, "I began to realize there was something wrong with your memories. But, I don't want you to confront that yet. I just didn't know the extent of the damage, so I let it go on. I felt that you loved me probably because Zack has been telling you snippets of our relationship, and you got the idea in those stories. You've had mental difficulties, Cloud-san, and the only way you were able to overcome the grievous after effects was to imprint Zack's personality. But as I've said, it's not perfect."

The girl shrugged slightly as she went back to her work, "The thing is, Zack, rather, Ranma, is a very complicated man to understand. Never take everything coming from him at face value. While you've got some of his mannerisms right, like his seriousness in the battlefield, he was not like that when he's around me. If I were just an ordinary girl who just lost her boyfriend and found someone who has nearly the same attributes as him, I would've latched unto that person. But... clearly, I'm not."

"I trust Ranma-kun wholeheartedly, Cloud-san..." Belldandy intoned in an endearing voice that speared pain into Cloud's heart, "That man, even with all his powers and abilities, was simply not perfect. But, he tries his best at all times. By the memories I've gained from my past life, record of Ranma's life has... made me very curious of him. So many challenges... so many heartbreaks... so many difficulties, and yet, Ranma-kun still manages to go on with his life. He takes his promises very seriously, most in which have brought him sorrow, but he still persevered in them."

She paused once more in her work and inspected the nearly finished wreath on her lap, "When I got into Gongaga, Ranma's village, he was the only one who accepted me, weirdness and all. In fact, I remember him cheering me up by proving that he's a lot weirder than I ever was. And his tenacity... and his resolve... in making me feel loved even if he didn't mean to... that was probably the time when I felt I loved him. I was with him in that village, and watched him grow stronger each day. I know what he can do. So... a little fall off a cliff wouldn't kill him. I know that, which was why I kept my hopes of seeing him again."

Belldandy looked up and flashed him a bright smile, "And there he was. He swooped down just in time to block Sephiroth's fatal strike against me. I felt... that I fell in love with him all over again."

Cloud slumped even further on his seat. He supported his lowered head with his hands as he stared at the ground in sadness. He felt a hand pat his calf companionably, which caused him to look at the woman curiously.

"Besides, someone else likes you, and I feel that she's the one for you..." Belldandy grinned mysteriously as she pulled back her hand and continued finishing her work, "Just let someone else inside that closed heart of yours, Cloud-san. That person who's really for you, and only you, is actually nearer than you'd think."

"Eh..." Cloud scratched his chin in confusion, "I don't think I can be in a relationship at the moment."

Belldandy tilted her head to the side slightly, "You don't need to worry. I think this girl's very patient. She will wait for you to the death. How adorable!"

Cloud sweatdropped slightly when the girl squealed softly and clutched at the flower wreath on her chest.

"So..." Cloud broke the euphoric Belldandy out of her daze, "You're really... with child, huh? Za-Ranma's, right?"

Belldandy immediately calmed down and caressed her still-flat stomach lovingly. "Yes... I am. And yes, it is Ranma-kun's..."

The blonde scratched his chin, "But, are you okay with the situation you're in? He's got kid from another woman, as well as those others that were after him..."

The girl waved a hand in the air dismissively. "I really don't mind it..." she threw a shrewd glance towards Cloud, "In fact, we cemented our relationship with our... activities for a for nights."

Cloud's eyes widened marginally. "O-Oh..." he stuttered as he blushed heavily, "You were... loud."

"Yes!" Belldandy chirped happily, "Ranma-kun's very energetic. It took us a few days before we managed to wear him down!"

"Too much information I didn't need to know..." Cloud groaned as he slapped his forehead with his palm. His face grew somber though, as a thought ran across his mind fleetingly, "Oh yeah... so this means you're gonna go with him when he leaves this world, right?"

The former Goddess of the Present nodded, "Of course... I will go with Ranma-kun."

"I'm... I'm gonna miss you..." The blonde-haired mercenary smiled sadly at her.

Belldandy returned the gesture with one of her own. "It's going to be all right. You have friends now, so you will never be alone. Your friends have been with you all this time. You just have to be there with them as well, all right?"

Cloud nodded at her request. They continued their conversation about other smaller trivial things. After a good twenty more minutes, Belldandy finally finished her wreath. Both of them went back to Kalm together.

Belldandy smiled to herself as they walked along the narrow dirt path towards the town. At least, she was able to remain friends with Cloud. Now, she's ready to leave this place with Ranma, without the burdens of the past.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

With the help of everyone, including the visitors, the town of Kalm regained some of its former tranquil environment. A small but rigorous celebration followed the night the repairs were finally finished... in honor of the planet's heroes.

The next morning, however, marked another somber occasion for everyone. It was the time for Ranma, Belldandy and the rest of the 'alien women' were scheduled to leave. The entire population of Kalm, along with Cloud, Barret, Cid, Tifa, Yuffie, Vincent, Red XIII and Cait Sith assembled outside the town gates to witness the departure.

A tired Ranma in female form stared at the assembly of people dully. Ranma's 'curse' was already explained through the storytelling, and it was passed on to the other townspeople of Kalm. Still, it was a sight to behold, to see a very manly Ranma turn into a rather smallish but rather 'gifted' female. He turned female the other day before, in an attempt to at least try to have some breathing room from too much sex. Sadly, it wasn't effective against Lea and Ryoko, who broke Onna-Ranma in bed quite soundly the night afterwards. It was a new experience for Ranma, but still quite tiring. Right now, it took all of her willpower just to maintain standing.

Onn-Ranma's clothes have been modified. She still wore her outfit that she had on as Zack over her tight-fitting black body armor. Her right shoulder armor has been discarded, and was replaced by larger black ones that seemed a few sizes too big for her shoulder, even in her male form. Also, the shoulder armor now has a twin on her left shoulder as well. Her ever-present obsidian bracers glinted against the rays of the sun, and her choker was exposed proudly around her neck. Her anklets were hidden underneath the oversized pants she wore. In addition to this outfit, she now has a dark purple cloak around her. It has an oversized collar that stretched enough to cover half of her face. The collar can be closed at the front, but it was currently open to display her slight smile. Her dark-tinted glasses were once again present to cover her unearthly eyes.

"Well..." Onna-Ranma drawled out as she combed back the stray strands of red hair over her face. She discarded the use of the bandanna to cover the tri-colored gems on her forehead because, quite frankly, the fabric itched when used for long periods of time. She still wore her dark-tinted sunglasses though, since the sight of her unusual eyes still brought uneasiness to the townspeople. "Uh... I guess this is it, then..." she continued as she gazed at the sad visage of the people around her.

Lea, Vanilla, Belldandy, Emeralda, Ryoko, Ranko and Raven all stood behind Onna-Ranma, most of their expressions were somewhat neutral. Except for Belldandy, who has a sad smile on her face directed at the former AVALANCHE members who were her companions for a short while. Rin-Ohki was being held by Ranko against the little girl's chest, while Mew was hugged by Belldandy lovingly. Ryo-Ohki was with on her mistress, Ryoko's shoulder, watching the scene with great interest.

"Hey hey, now don't be sad and all that...!" The red-haired busty girl crowed as she crossed her arms across her chest arrogantly, "Look at it this way... you're now free from the Meteor! It's gone! And you're finally gonna have a peaceful life! Believe me... if we stayed here, we might attract some really powerful beings and probably accidentally destroy the planet in the process. So... I guess it's better this way, really."

"Big brother... don't go!" Barret's small daughter, Marlene, squeaked as she ran towards Onna-Ranma and hugged the latter around the legs.

Onna-Ranma let out a strangled 'Eeep!' as the little girl latched around her legs. The redhead windmilled her arms frantically, as she attempted to maintain her balance. When the worst was finally over, she sighed and patted the crying girl on the head. One of Ranma's greatest weaknesses, even with all her strength and power, was the sight of crying females... especially cute ones. And cute children were also part of Onna-Ranma's list of 'Do not make them cry' people.

"Oh, come on now... don't cry..." Onna-Ranma started to panic, as the little girl continued to sniffle into her loose dark-purple pants. She threw a pleading glance over her shoulder towards the women of her life, but to Onna-Ranma's askance, the women just smiled gently at her and shook their heads in eerie unison.

The red-haired busty girl sighed morosely as she turned her attention towards Marlene once more, "Don't worry, Marlene-chan... you don't have to be sad anymore. You're going to live a healthier and wonderful life now that there are no more threats. I and the others however have to go away, since staying here will attract a lot of bad guys. While I'm more than happy to defend you from them, I'd rather not take the risk and get you hurt in the end."

Marlene pulled up short and looked up at Onna-Ranma. "But... B-but I'll never see you again! That's... that's not fair! I want you to stay, big brother!"

Onna-Ranma smiled at the girl sadly. "I know, but if I stay here, a lot of trouble will come. I know that you don't want that too. Do you want those bad men to come and destroy things again, just like what happened a few weeks ago?"

The little girl shook her head wordlessly.

"Now go on, little Marlene... your new friends and loved ones are waiting for you..." Onna-Ranma ruffled Marlene's hair playfully, and pushed her gently back into Elmyra Gainsborough's waiting arms.

The former AVALANCHE members approached, their faces reflected a grim visage of sadness.

"So, you're really leaving, huh?" Yuffie asked sadly as she scuffled her dainty foot against the dusty ground.

Belldandy spoke up, "Yes, as Lea-san mentioned a few days ago, any delays on leaving this dimension might leave an irreparable damage. We must leave."

"Man, it woulda been cool if I got those blueprints for that big ship of yers..." Cid grinned sheepishly as he scratched his sandy-hued hair.

"Highly unlikely..." Vanilla interjected in monotone, as she bore a really scare gaze towards the slightly panicked Cid, "Rin-Ohki-chan is not an object to be tinkered with. She is Ranma-sama's partner."

Barret waved his organic hand in the air to placate the seemingly irate red-eyed light teal-haired girl, "Bah, ignore the idiot, little lady. Anyway..." he grinned as he stepped forward and patted Onna-Ranma's shoulder, hard. The red-haired girl wasn't even fazed by the force.

"You did good... you saved a whole lotta buncha folks here. I jus' wanna thank ya for all yer good work, man... err... girl... whatever. Thanks!" Barret gave her a thumbs up and stepped back in place with his fellow former AVALANCHE members.

Yuffie eyed Onna-Ranma curiously. A few days back, the self-proclaimed 'Materia Hunter' has been trying to cajole Ranma into... donating the materia in his possession. Sadly, it was no use... even if Ranma did want to give her the stones, the materia themselves became incorporated quite intimately into Ranma's 'Shin Masamune'.

The small ninja gave the pseudo-girl a sad smile, "Well, I guess this is goodbye then. I hoped that you can give me those materia of yours... they're pretty rare."

Onna-Ranma shrugged helplessly. "You know I can't. My sword somehow assimilated the materia into itself. Anyway, I already gave you the other mastered materia I have ya know."

"Hmph..." Yuffie pouted playfully as she crossed her arms across her chest in mock anger, "Excuses, excuses... heh. But seriously though, thanks for all your help. I'll save those materia you gave me as souvenirs..." The dark-haired girl smirked and flashed Onna-Ranma a V-sign with her fingers, before she turned and ran back behind the crowd. If Onna-Ranma was a bit more observant, she should've seen the tears that escaped Yuffie's eyes as the petite girl ran.

Vincent scoffed lightly as he spoke, "It was... interesting, to say the least. I learned a lot of things from your story. For that, I am grateful."

"Feh..." Onna-Ranma snorted, "It ain't even the full story, but if you knew everything... it would spoil the surprise, ne? Life's really unpredictable like that. All ya can do is face it head-on."

The brooding dark-haired man nodded grimly as he fell silent.

"Well, I still say you're really weird, Zack... Ranma... whatever your name is..." Red XIII growled as the red-furred former specimen cocked his head to one side, "It's gonna be pretty boring without you mucking things up around."

The red-haired demi-Saiyajin grinned at the red-furred wolf-tiger reject. She swiftly moved forwards, her overflowing dark purple cloak fluttered behind her, and patted him on his head. "I'm sure with Yuffie around, you're gonna have a lot more misadventures even without me, Nanaki-chan."

Red XIII growled at the honorific after his name, while Yuffie's indignant yelp was heard from the far back of the crowd. The former huffed as he turned and trotted to... place himself strategically behind Tifa to contemplate on the events that had happened in the past as well as the present... not to mope, mind you! Seriously!

Laughter erupted from most of the spectators. But the moment of mirth died down when Cloud stepped up from his position with his group. The blonde eyed the red-haired pigtailed girl with no expression on his face, but Onna-Ranma knew of the turmoil that's going on in the mind of her erstwhile student and friend.

The women from Ranma's group tensed when Cloud reached over his back and unclasped the Buster Sword, but relaxed when the blonde merely presented the blade to Onna-Ranma. "I guess I have to return this to you..." Cloud said as he eyed the blade somberly, "After all, this sword belongs to you..."

Onna-Ranma pushed the blade back into Cloud's possession and shook her head with a sad smile on her face, "You don't need to do that, kid. I trust that sword with you. Do you know why I gave you that sword in the first place?"

When she saw Cloud's bewildered look, she continued, "That sword is to protect those who are important to you. A weapon remains a tool if it's used kill without reason, but for us that sword is more than just a tool. It's also a shield... to protect our loved ones. Don't ever think that just because the battle's over, there will be peace forever."

Onna-Ranma placed her dainty hand over Cloud's shoulder protector, "Peace is a fragile thing, and it is by no means a permanent one. There will always come a time when you'll need to fight to protect in the future. Don't look at me like that... you and I both know this is true. Humans, as well as any other mortal in the universe, are unpredictable. Many would want to take advantage of this moment of respite in order to claim more power, and in the process hurt those who wants peace. That's where this sword comes in the picture... think of it as a legacy. Believe it or not, the moment I took you as a student, you became one of my heirs. We are protectors, kid, and this sword will be your instrument to protect."

The blonde mercenary nodded as he clasped the Buster Sword on his back once more, and shot a grateful look towards his former teacher.

Tifa smiled as the dark-haired girl stepped up to Cloud's side and clasped at the blonde man's shoulder tightly with her hand. She flashed him with a slight smile before she turned towards the travelers and said, "This is really goodbye, isn't it? We're not going to see you anymore after you leave..."

Belldandy, Aerith Gainsborough's newly christened name for herself, approached them. The young woman has a serene look on her face, as she hooked her hand into Onna-Ranma's face. The red haired girl squeaked a bit and blushed.

"Don't worry..." Belldandy smiled at Tifa and Cloud, "Who knows what the future may bring? As far as I know, Rin-Ohki already recorded this dimension's coordinates. So, when we get to fix our dimensional transporter, we may be able to go back here as often as we please."

"Eh, that's right..." Onna-Ranma blinked and scratched her head, "I kinda forgot about that... heh."

A chorus of 'Of course you did' came from behind the two women, which caused Onna-Ranma to sputter a bit at them.

"Uhh..." Tifa noised as she, along with the ex-AVALANCHE as well as the townspeople of Kalm, sweatdropped heavily at the... childish but totally cute pout now present on Onna-Ranma's face, though the males were disturbed when they felt something akin to... loving affections... towards the pseudo female. Scary.

Rin-Ohki squirmed in little Ranko's grip as she noised, "Miyah! Miyah miyah!" and looked at her currently female master pointedly.

The silver cabbit's cries caught Onna-Ranma's attention, as she tilted her head towards the cabbit without turning around. "I'm just about done with the goodbyes, Rin-chan..." the red haired alien hybrid called back.

Everyone knew of the telepathic connections Ranma has with the silver-furred cabbit, the pink floating kitty, and the weird abruptly-changing-mood angel-demon girl. Sometimes the four would end up in a private four-way conversation in their minds without speaking, which caused those not used to the idea to be wary of them. The 'alien women' didn't mind it though, as well as Belldandy... not that anything would phase the woman.

Onna-Ranma's smiling face slowly melted into a serious visage, which definitely helped burden the already heavy atmosphere that slowly developed ever since the thought of the otherworlders' upcoming departure sunk into everyone's minds. This was especially hard for Belldandy, who has lived in this world as a mortal for more than twenty years. She was also Aerith Gainsborough, part of the near-extinct race of the older beings known as the Cetra. Well... soon to be extinct anyway, since the last Cetra will be departing soon.

Elmyra Gainsborough, adoptive parent for Aerith, was actually prepared for her pseudo-daughter's leave. She knew ever since the moment she took Aerith from the dying Ifalna's arms, that Aerith was meant for greater things. Even with that future insight, Elmyra's inner turmoil was very evident when tears sprung from her ironically smiling face.

"Mother..." Belldandy began as Onna-Ranma sidestepped to set the brown haired woman in the front. The others did the same with Elmyra, and now the mother-daughter pair stood face to face.

"My daughter..." Elmyra chuckled while more tears sprung from her eyes. She wound her arms around the now slightly taller Belldandy and embraced.

Belldandy's immaculate face was now swarmed with her own tears, as she hugged her adoptive mother back just as tightly. "I'm so sorry mother..." she sobbed into the older woman's shoulder, "I have to leave you... I'm so sorry..."

"Shhh..." Elmyra soothed her crying daughter as she rubbed Belldandy's back, "It's okay, daughter. I'm... I'm actually prepared for this. Whether it be you doing greater things in the future, or to go and be swept away by your future husband. I just... I never thought you would end up using both reasons. I don't even get to see my future grandchildren!"

The taller light brown-haired woman blushed as she burrowed her head deeper into her adoptive mother's shoulder. She was mortified and embarrassed at Elmyra's outburst. She was also a bit relieved that her mother's usual jesting personality asserted itself into the situation, and somehow elevated a bit of the heavy tension that suffocated the area with sadness. But still, most of the depression was still present, and everyone could literally taste it in the air.

The pseudo-mother-daughter's tearful goodbye slowly trickled to a stop as it became evident that Ranma's group needed to leave soon. There was an aura of deep confusion and... out-of-worldliness that seemed to combine with the depressing environment. There seemed to be something... odd and out of place around them, and it greatly unsettled everyone present.

Apparently, the collection of Ranma's unusual companions already felt the dimension's slow deterioration.

"Ranma-sama..." Vanilla began softly as Belldandy ended her goodbye session with Elmyra, "We only have a few more hours before this universe slowly crumbles into itself."

Soft as the pale-skinned girl's voice was, it was still enough to be heard across the small clearing in front of the town of Kalm. The planet's inhabitants grew a bit worried at the implications of Vanilla's statement. As much as they wanted their new friends to stay a bit longer, they also had to think of their world's safety. After all, it was what Ranma taught them.

Onna-Ranma looked at each of her companions in a serious demeanor. "I understand, Vanilla-chan..." she said slowly, as she flashed the young-looking woman with a wan smile. The red haired alien hybrid then schooled her features as she turned towards the inhabitants of Gaia.

"We need to go soon..." Onna-Ranma informed them bluntly, "This universe will disappear if we stay too long."

"We understand that..." The blonde haired mercenary named Cloud spoke. He looked at Onna-Ranma pointedly and continued, "Take care of Aerith, Zack."

Onna-Ranma raised a delicate eyebrow as she shot Belldandy an amused look before turning back towards Cloud. "You don't need to tell me that, idiot. That goes without saying..." she snorted, but then smirked a bit evilly as she turned at Tifa with a sly look, "Don't forget your own responsibilities, blondie."

Cloud adopted a slightly confused look on his face. An expression that was very familiar to Ranma, who shook her head at it.

"Never mind, idiot..." Onna-Ranma grumbled as she waved a dainty hand towards the general direction of the former AVALANCHE members, "Just make sure you defend this peace you have when needed. Also..." she leaned towards Cloud and an aura of absolute malice erupted around her, which caused everyone to back away slightly in fright, "Practice your sword skills... I don't want to learn someday that the student I taught sword fighting ended up a moron about it anyway."

Cloud almost... almost squeaked, but managed to nod frantically anyway.

Satisfied for the moment, Onna-Ranma reined in her aura and smiled brightly once more. "Good, good! Now... we have to go!"

Everyone sweatdropped at Ranma's sudden one-eighty of emotions. Although the awkward situation turned into awe when everyone witnessed Rin-Ohki's battleship form.

Something in which added to Rin-chan's already over-inflated ego. Must've gotten it from Ranma, her master and partner.

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The departure from Gaia's planetary surface was peaceful. Everything seemed to be in place, and the coordinates were set into Rin-Ohki's internal computer.

Space was the perfect place to test-drive the dimensional transporter within Rin-Ohki, since it was vast and wide. There was enough room to accommodate the error that might occur when the test went into its way. After all, that apparatus was created by Washuu, and there was always a chance that something may happen during its testing. Better safe than sorry, after all. So, Ranma opted to test the device a few light years away from Pluto, since Rin-Ohki found an open space where they could do less damage if the experiment failed somehow, or backfired. No civilization for about twenty light years... so it was probably safe to test it there.

After the destination was established, the group of females including Ranko, Mew and Rin-Ohki's avatar went out of the bridge to do... stuff. Ranma wasn't interested enough to know. So, the only guy in the whole starship was left inside the bridge, which allowed him to contemplate on certain things.

Outer space always fascinated Ranma in the past. When he was young, all he knew of the universe was martial arts and his training journey. That was what Saotome Genma repeatedly instilled into his young mind, to mold him into the old man's perfect little puppet heir. The sky was something that kept Ranma's dreams alive, for he knew that there was something beyond the blue yonder of the planet he was on.

As Ranma stared at the slowly shrinking blue planet that was once called Earth, he realized that he was beyond what he was from before. He was at a bit of a loss somehow, and wasn't sure how to proceed in the future. While he has no problems just wandering around multiverses, he still felt the pangs of homesickness every now and then. He realized, that he was leaving Earth once again, as he did before. This post-apocalyptic Earth now called Gaia was his home for around two decades of Earth years, even if he was under the grips of amnesia in most of it. Nevertheless, Ranma felt happy that he was once again able to experience a... 'home away from home'.

But still... Ranma's situation was clearly unpredictable at the moment. He narrowed his eyes as Gaia slowly shrunk from his vision as he gazed out of his starship's port window. Rin-Ohki's unfinished, untested version of Dimensional Transporter was, in a word, unstable. Ranma clearly attested to that fact, since it was the same scientist who made such device created the apparatus that threw him far into this future anyway. Washuu-obaasan was clearly a genius, albeit a weird one. Though some of her works were too... accident-prone to be tested on normal guinea pigs. Again, that was why he got into this mess in the first place.

Ranma wondered idly, where he would end up next? While the wanderlust he acquired at such a young age clearly never abated one bit at this point of his life, he has a lot of responsibilities to think of now. For some weird and fate-shattering reasons he still wasn't able to explain, he managed to inadvertedly collect quite a following. Not just any following, nope... but an all-female following.

"Not only that..." The pigtailed man muttered, "I'm actually a father. And a future father of another kid..."

Ranko, the red haired imp, was his daughter from Ryoko. It seemed that their trysts in the past bore fruit. Ranma did suffer some regrets, when he realized how hard it must've been for Ryoko when he vanished that time. Luckily, he was able to avert the gruesome fate that awaited the mother and daughter pair in the end, after he finally destroyed that bastard Kagato. And now... Belldandy also reported herself being pregnant. Only a few weeks old, but surely pregnant. While her personality hasn't suffered too much the dreaded changes pregnancy produced in females, it was clearly evident whenever Ranma heard the woman get sick in the bathroom lately.

Ranma actually thought he was going to be killed by these females when the whole entourage of women met one another, but for some reason... they seemed to have bonded together. He still wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing...

The demi-Saiyajin sighed softly as he savored the brief respite of piece inside the bridge of his cabbit starship. The girls were out of the room somewhere else in the ship, for whatever reason Ranma never bothered to find out. He has only a few moments of peace in his entire lifetime, and he meant to take advantage of it. Through the years, he managed to learn how to sit still and just... meditate on things. When he was young, he was brash and hot-tempered, not that it changed when he matured, but now he was able to just lay back and enjoy the good things in life. Things he hasn't done back when he was younger.

Ranma snorted through his nose loudly as he cursed himself for thinking like an old man. He still looked like a kid, dammit! Well... he could force his body into an older physique, but he disliked the wrinkles. He wasn't about to do what Yosho did to himself, because he thought Yosho was just plain dumb at his disguise. He can't help he became nearly ageless because of what he was! He was proud of his heritage! He wasn't going to hide his magnificence behind some lame-o parlor trick old man visage!

He blinked and smacked his cheek after he had that thought. It almost sounded like Kuno Tatewake's monologue in the past. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with that idiot's... idiocy.

He shook his head wearily as he tried not to squirm in his seat. He was actually in a formal position as of the moment, with a thin pillow underneath his folded knees for support. This was a custom that managed to stick in his head, especially after the Martial Arts Tea Ceremony thing when he was young. Somehow, he found himself slipping into the custom when he got too serious in his meditations.

Ranma remained unmoved when the doors of the bridge swished open. According to the calm and peaceful aura that seemed to wash over the entirety of the bridge, the person who entered the sanctity of Ranma's current meditation room was none other than his currently pregnant beau, Belldandy.

"Are you alright, Ran-kun?" Belldandy's melodious voice echoed all over the room, which heightened the calming environment of the place. The light brown-haired ponytailed girl took off her usual clothes she wore while in Gaia. Her clothes now consisted of a peach-colored loose variant of a wedding dress, which tightened quite enticingly around Belldandy's still-small waist. The hem bloomed widely around her lower body, and reached down to her ankles. The new set of clothing seemed to enhance Belldandy's goddess-like features. If anyone hasn't thought of her as a former goddess in the previous life... he or she will now.

"Aaa... Bell-chan..." The raven-haired man nodded as he closed his eyes in bliss. Belldandy's presence always did that to any person, after all. "I was just... thinking of what has happened to me ever since I left my home dimension."

He felt the newcomer's presence stop a little ways behind him and sat there.

"By the way..." Ranma began, "Where are the others?"

Belldandy smiled serenely, "Maa... they're in the Karaoke Room."

Ranma furrowed his brows in confusion. "We have a Karaoke Room?" he asked incredulously.

The reincarnated goddess giggled slightly at the perplexed tone. "You should allow the others to take you on their guided tours sometime. You've been gone from their presence for too long, and there have been changes with regards to Rin-Ohki-chan."

Ranma nodded and heard a rustling sound coming from Belldandy's general direction. A light object was dropped on his lap, which caused him to open his eyes and stare at the minidisk that was given to him.

"Lea-chan gave this to me a while ago..." Belldandy explained, "She said it was left for you by Washuu-san. Your aunt explained little to them when she gave this, only that you are to receive it no matter what."

Ranma rolled his golden pupils in exasperation. "Washuu-obaachan's over dramatic sometimes..." he murmured softly as he summoned his transparent computer. He located the correct disk reader that should be able to read the minidisk format, and set it in.

("Ya-hoooo! My little Ranma-chan!") A loud but familiar voice boomed out of his computer's built-in speakers. Ranma and Belldandy grimaced as they simultaneously covered their ears with their hands for protection. It wasn't of any help.

Washuu's smugly grinning face appeared on the computer's viewscreen. Weirdly enough, the spiky redhead was in her adult form.

("Well well well... if you're watching this, then you've been found. Anyway, it's good that the girls found you, Ranma-chan! You have no idea how irritating they've become as time passed by.")

Washuu's image pouted playfully as she crossed her arms under her chest.

("Anyway... I gave Emeralda a gift of sorts. It was interesting how hard it was for me to manipulate those nanomachines of hers to accept the Ctarl-Ctarl DNA I've kept for further study. Made me curious as to how far humans have come in their pursuit for knowledge... and the proof lay on Emeralda. Well... you've seen the results, ne? Like them? She's now permanently a catgirl. A new breed of Ctarl-Ctarl. Come on, admit it, I'm a super genius, ne? Ne!")

Ranma and Belldandy sweatdropped slightly as Washuu's image cackled loudly.

("On to the real story here... Ranma-chan. I've got a surprise for you, specifically. I found her, Ranma-chan. I found... your biological mother's counterpart in this universe. I found my sister and your mother, Tokimi!")

That produced a stunned reaction from Ranma, and a tearful gasp from Belldandy. After all, Ranma was Tokimi's biological son, and Belldandy was Tokimi's daughter in her past life as well. In a sense, the pseudo-siblings slash future husband and wife were going to meet their mother. In both senses, it would seem.

The face of an aristocratic woman was pushed by Washuu into the viewscreen. She has dark-brown hair, cut short just beyond the nape of her neck. It was spiked though, and a couple of pairs of bangs colored red remained out of place in her hair. It was held together by a large golden orb on her forehead. She almost has no pupils in her eyes, since the normal white cataracts were dark blue, and her pupils were slitted black. The sides of her face displayed the dark-green leaves of Jurai. Her clothes consisted of the Juraian Royals Ranma saw Washuu wore once before, only in dark colors. The woman's fingers were of claw-like quality. There was no doubt in Ranma and Belldandy's minds...

This regal woman is... Tokimi of the Choushin Megami.

Regardless, it was a bit surprising for both of them to see Tokimi nervously fidgeting in front of the screen.

("Err, Tokimi-neesan? Stop fidgeting, will you?") Washuu's droll voice said from somewhere out the screen, as Tokimi glared at something beyond view.

("I can't help it, Washuu...") Tokimi's glare dissipated as the woman continued fidgeting. ("This... this is a bit awkward.")

("Aww, is little Tokimi afraid of the camera by any chance?")

("Bah, be silent, sister.")

("Then, say what you want to tell your son. This video will be received by him in the future, after all...")

At the screen, Tokimi sighed as she mustered her courage. ("I understand, sister... anyway... h-hello, s-son. Uhm... err, I think you already know who I am, since I was told you've already met my counterpart in another dimension. I'm Tokimi, your mother.")

Ranma and Belldandy were riveted to the video as Tokimi's image continued.

("To continue...") Tokimi shot a glare at the one who's probably holding the camera, ("Washuu, Tsunami and I are goddesses, that much you know. Divinities such as ourselves have no need for things such as clans, because we were considered... beyond them. But... years after I was judged to be... unstable, I learned from my own source that Tsunami started something that wasn't supposed to be done by a divine being. That is... to interfere with mortal affairs. In the end... Tsunami gave life to the Jurai, and became their patron goddess of life. Jurai has become somewhat... her own Clan. As you know, Washuu threw her own goddesshood away and became mortal, and started her own clan called Hakubi.")

Tokimi's visage grew melancholy. ("I... I never did thought that I would be following their examples. Some counterparts of mine in other universes began interacting with mortals, creating their own clans and families.")

The formal goddess of chaos' gaze focused on Ranma, as if she was really looking towards him, ("My son, even if I am not your actual birth mother technically... in more ways than one, I still am your mother. I deemed that you would need something... some sort of your own distinguishing mark... to separate you from your own counterparts. Therefore, I now announce... that you, Ranma, will be my Clan. I proclaim your new identity, as well as forming our own original family name, or clan name if you will call it that. I proudly allow you to use the name Choushin, because it is what we are, mortal or divinity. Your new name is now Ranma Choushin, my son.")

Silence permeated the bridge as the proclamation ended. Ranma and Belldandy were in shock, but for the brown-haired woman it was short-lived. She squealed and embraced the still form of Ranma, a few tears also escaped her eyes in her happiness.

"Did you hear that, Ran-kun!" Belldandy asked joyfully, as she maintained her hold on Ranma, "Tokimi-sama just gave you her full blessing. One of the greatest blessing of all... to be given your own name! Ranma Choushin, that's you! This... this is formally announcing that you are, no doubt, Tokimi's son, and that she acknowledges you openly!"

("Remember this, my son...") Both turned back to the recording as Tokimi continued her spiel, ("Whether you like it or not, you will be pursued by forces that are very powerful. Even if you're powerful as well, you will need allies. While it is common knowledge that emotions just get in the way while fighting, that's not entirely true. Because, my son... some emotions can harness your full potential, and allow it to come forth from within you in times of need. So instead of shutting off emotions, use them to your advantage. Oh, and one more thing...")

It was a tense environment as Tokimi dragged the one-sided conversation with a thoughtful look on her face. ("Since you're the first 'mortal' Choushin that ever existed in several thousands of realms in the multiverse, I expect you... to go forth and multiply. Give me lots of grandchildren!") The woman began laughing loudly, joined by Washuu's own mad-like cackling.

And then, just like that, Ranma and Belldandy face-faulted.

The duo clearly forgot all about the rest of the video, not that there was too much importance on Washuu's own lecherous inputs as well as the sisters own brand of goodbyes. When the rest of the video finally played itself out and fizzled into static, only then did Ranma and Belldandy recovered from their respective face falls.

"Great..." Ranma muttered as he straightened himself upright once more on his formal position, "I think mothers have hereditary genes of asking of their children some grandchildren. I mean... Nodoka-mama's the same way..."

Belldandy leaned a bit on Ranma, as she used her future husband's stronger body as a boost to straighten herself, "Apparently. But you've got to understand, Mother Tokimi's just excited at the prospect of getting descendants from her only son. Divine beings don't get that much of a chance, you know? Well, except for some... like those from the Greek Pantheon of divinities..."

"Whatever..." The pigtailed man sighed, "At least we'll know that she'll be ecstatic to know about her grandchildren then."

Belldandy smiled softly. "Also, it's indirectly giving you her blessings on our impending marriage... or rather, marriages in your case."

"Well, that's good to know..." Ranma retorted wryly, but the smile on his face showed his real feelings on the matter. He continued to gaze outside the window of the ship.

The now-mortal Belldandy flashed her beau another of her winning smiles and stood elegantly, as she stepped back towards the door. Before she reached the exit, she paused and turned her head back towards the lone man inside the bridge and said, "Well, I'm off to tell the others of this great news. Would you like to come?"

The light brown-haired woman's face skewed into a confused expression when Ranma remained in his position, but he did stiffen a bit. "Ran-kun?" she asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Err..." Ranma wanted to chuckle at the awkward situation, "Eh... I'll be right with you. Go on, Bell-chan..."

Belldandy looked at Ranma for a few moments, before she nodded and continued her way out of the bridge. "All right, dear..." she called back, "But try not to be too serious, okay? It's not like you." Her voice faded when the doors swished shut, which lapsed the bridge into silence once more.

Ranma scratched his head as he started to chuckle to himself, "Well... this is awkward..." he muttered pathetically, as his body tipped forwards. His body remained in kneeling position even when his face met the hard crystalline floor of the ship with a loud crunch.

"This sucks..." Ranma's muffled voice whined against the floor, "All the power in the universe, and I get done with by a leg cramp. Owwww... stupid formal ceremony positions... can't feel my legs... scratch that, it feels like pins and needles... ugh... leg fell asleep..."

Ranma sweatdropped. "I just hope you're not recording this, Rin-chan."

An amused 'Miyah' blew Ranma's pride apart.

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"((Tee-hee... now to store this into memory and create some back-ups...))"

"((Oi, cat-bunny! What the heck are you doing now!))"

"((Oh, ha-ha! Very original, pinkie! Anyway... if you're not interested in what I have... just leave me alone! But just to satisfy your curiosity, it's blackmail material of master Rannie...))"

"((WHAT! That's not nice! He's our master, cat-bunny! What the heck's gotten into you!))"

"((Relax, pinkie. I'm not gonna do anything with the blackmail material. Besides, the video's way too precious to just pass along, ya know.))"

"((... okay, now you've got ME interested. What is it about?))"

"((Eh... I thought you weren't interested?))"

"((I never said that! Just show it to me, please?))"

"((Oh my... so you CAN be polite! Okay, okay! No need to use that scary vibes on me! Here!))"

FLASH!

"((Oh, what's this? You've gone speechless all of the sudden, pinkie?))"

"((Uhm, cat-bunny? You DID notice how... firm master's butt is in this video, right?))"

"((Oho! So THAT'S why you recorded this video!))"

"((Shut-up, pinkie!))"

"((You have to admit... those buns of his are firm... very firm...))"

"((Buns of steel...))"

"((Hey cat-bunny, you're drooling for real...))"

"((Gah! Wait... you're drooling too, idiot.))"

"((Wah? Oh yeah... darn it...))"

"((Hmph... someday, when I learn to transform... I'll be able to... uhmm...))"

"((... say, I CAN transform! Hah! Take that, cat-bunny!))"

"((I still have a few more years before I gain that skill, pinkie...))"

"((Oh... 'kay... I'll just wait for that time then to reveal that ability of mine.))"

"((... thanks, Mew. For waiting, I mean.))"

"((... no problem, Rin-Ohki. For fairness' sake. After all, even if you're kinda my rival, but you're my best friend too.))"

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As the silver cabbit starship disappears into the dark rift it has created to travel across dimensions, the multiverse continues to spin. The passengers hope that this will lead them back to a specific target of destination, but sadly, this is not to be. It will lead the group into another universe still far from their intended one, and they will continue their quest.

In another universe, a certain sorceress and her draconic companion settles in an energy-filled world, which coincidentally is parallel with a certain group's point of destination. Soon, they shall meet.

In another different point of reality, a mother and daughter pair continues to watch the proceedings. They will soon join the group in the quest... oh, they certainly will. Not if the former Nightmare has anything to say about it...

Still, in another reality, the omnipotent being cements his deal with a malevolent group of individuals, each side having their own hidden agendas about the matter. Both however have their sights on a certain reincarnated being. The wave effect of this temporary alliance still ripples across the entirety of reality, whether it be good or ill, only time will tell.

The Multiverse continues to change. With change, nothing is ever peaceful.

Nothing will ever be the same. As it should be.

And so it shall.

Let the true Path of Chaos begin.

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Within a dimensional wormhole...

The silver cabbit starship continued on its travel within the rift, however, there was in... interesting conversation happening inside the medical room of the ship.

"Uhm... Bell-chan? Why do I have to wear an oversized cape again?"

"But Ran-kun... it looks cool on you!"

"Err... okay. Say, why did you want to talk to me privately again?"

"Oh... uh... Ran-kun? You know that I'm pregnant, right?"

"I think that's been pretty much hammered into me these days. Why? Is there something wrong with the baby?"

"No, not really. Well... funny you should say 'baby'..."

"Ah, Bell... you're making me nervous. You're doing the poking your fingers thingie again. You do that when you're agitated."

"I do? Anyway... Ran-kun... I received the test results Vanilla made for me to check the baby's progress. We found something interesting. Anata, I'm pregnant... with twins."

THUD!

"Ran-kun! Oh my... he fainted."

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ARC 1... THE END!

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IMPORTANT NOTES:

Corrected version. I put the wrong titles for the goddesses in some places. Sorry 'bout that.

AUTHOR RANTS:

Yup. Done. Arc 1 is DONE! Muwahahahahaha!

Err... ahem. Anyway, don't worry. The story ain't done, not by a long shot. Seriously. It's only Arc 1. This is just a precursor on future events, meaning, Arc 2.

Soooo... weird huh? Certain people became somewhat villainous, others became much more confusing. Good! That's how things should be.

So, what's there to say? Other than prepare for Arc 2? Nothing much...

Okay, fine. Arc 2 will have more crossovers, more complicated plot, more mayhem...

Arc 2 will be the focus of everything I wrote in Arc 1. Those who complained about the random crossovers I've been throwing into Arc 1... you will now find out why I wrote them in the first place when we get to Arc 2. Everything has a purpose, I'm just vague in Arc 1 because it's just a really long prologue to me.

We'll see Ranma trying a really bad Xellos imitation. I mean, really, this guy can't lie to save his life, whaddya expect? Heh... can you imagine Ranma becoming a matchmaker as well? You'll see in Arc 2.

If you think Arc 1's really chaotic, wait for Arc 2. That's where things will get messier, in a very good way. Hang on to your hats, folks. We're still very very far off from the end of this fanfiction.

Sequel on the way...

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there)  
- Final Fantasy 7 galore - Teen Titans (Raven)  
- Evil Zone (Ihadurca)  
- Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki!  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Pokemon (Mew)  
- Xenogears (Emeralda)  
- Galaxy Angels (Vanilla Ash)  
- Slayers (Luna and Filia)

Again, someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migraine she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'real time'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the siege of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land) are few of the worlds Ranma encountered in this dimension. And certainly not the last.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

But as time went on, it was revealed that another one who bore the gems of power was Luna Inverse.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear! This ain't what it looks like!" - Ranma Saotome 


	23. Arc 1 Character Profiles

PATH OF CHAOS: ASCENSION OF SUPREMACY 

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Hmm... Arc 1's done.

By the way, pardon me if I and my prereaders missed some misspelled words in the fic. I upgraded my OS to WinXP, and sadly I got the no-Office copy, meaning, I have no spell check. I'll try to do a spell check on the edit page of FF dot net instead, but don't get your hopes up too much.

Oi, if I missed something, especially on the crossover anime listing, just email it to me and I'll make the necessary changes. If I missed a very important character (take note: VERY important) then email it to me as well.

At the moment I'm making a character profile chapter that has ALL of the characters that appeared... when I finish it, I'll post it up over this one.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose and St Longinus for pre-reading this stuff. Many thanks to HolyKnight70, Norethfir, Valor Phoenix, SSJ Guyver and Silver Bullet for exchanging ideas with me, as well as semi-prereading. Special thanks to Backslash, who's been my best friend for, heck, years. Anyway, he's a cartoon, comics and anime otaku as much as I am. Kudos to you, my friend!

To my significant other, Lady Ayame... this is for us!

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): "-Ranma-"

Thoughts: ((Ranma))

Telepathy: "((Ranma))", ""((Ranma))""

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: ""Ranma""

Electronic Communications: ("Ranma"), (""Ranma"")

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ARC 1 - MAIN CHARACTER PROFILES

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CUE BACKGROUND MUSIC - "Earthship" by SweetS

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NAME: Ranma Saotome Choushin  
ALIASES: Zack Gray  
AGE: Undetermined (Chronologically more than 5000)  
EYE COLOR: Yellow pupils, blue-gray surrounded them instead of the 'whites' of a normal human's eyes  
HAIR COLOR: Black, Red (depends on transformation)  
RACE: Saiyajin, Choushin Kami, Masu  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "If in doubt, trust your own instincts, adapt, then win. If all else fail, run away... err... stage a tactical retreat to fight another time!"

Ranma was the child of Tokimi, the Choushin Megami, and Nasu, an Elite of the Saiyajin before the planet Vegeta was destroyed. Ranma was taken from her mother's womb by Tsunami, Tokimi's sister, and was magically infused into Nodoka Masaki, later Saotome's womb. Born on Earth, he was initially Saiyajin and Chuushin Kami blood only. They were supressed by a frantic Tsunami, who hoped Ranma's mother wouldn't find the child. A mishap from the Neko-Ken at age six forced Tsunami to slow time to a snail's crawl and bring the dying boy to still-sealed Washuu. The Juraian goddess knew that even if she unlocked Ranma's power at that age, the healing process won't be enough to save him. Washuu used the last remnants of her finest specimen of the Masu, a rare breed of powerful aliens that were extinct, and infused them forcefully into Ranma's DNA. The boy's ungodly luck manifested itself with a vengeance, as the almost nil possibility of fusion finally succeeded in the end. Washuu has locked Ranma's memories of the encounter, and Tsunami returned him to the pit for history to unravel.

His true age is Undetermined. He spent more than 800 Earth years awake, while more than 5000 Earth years in stasis as he floated in the abyss during one of his time distortion accident. His physical looks varied as well, but he really should have the looks of ten year old boy, due to eating the aging mushrooms. An alternate Washuu taught him how to do her aging trick, which gave Ranma the freedom to vary his physical aging as he pleased.

Ranma is the physical manifestation of Chaos' reincarnation. Deus tried to force his brother's rebirth by instilling the chaos gems (pieces of the original Chaos' energy residue) he has in his possession into the nearest perfect match of Chaos' energy signature. Ranma's personality dominated the body, with help from Chaos' memory projection. They both merged into the Ranma of now.

So far, Ranma has eight of the Lighthawk Wings because of his mother's heritage. The wings depend on the user's will, and can be molded into different forms. Ranma has used these wings for some of his attacks, as well as defense. These wings can repel magical attacks at least. Ranma also has a few transformations similar to a Super Saiyajin. He can reach three transformations for now, but is in danger of losing control in any form he takes. He uses them only when he needs more power, else he becomes too unstable and be immersed in battlelust. He needs to expel tremendous energy when he does become too feral to return to normal. He wears five limiters: two around his wrists as bracers, two around his ankles as anklets, and one around his neck as a choker.

His mind is protected by a by-product of the Neko-ken. While his mind was cured of the fear inflicted by the technique by the goddess Bastet, some of the effects cannot be removed. As a compromise, his mind subconsciously transformed this condition into a sort of mind-shield. This shield also protects the more complicated memories Ranma has of his past life as Chaos.

Ranma also gained some semblance of control of his curse. Sadly, he still transforms whenever he gets drained of too much energy as a protective protocol of his body. He also transforms when he's distracted by cold water. But generally, he can will his body back into male from female and vice versa, courtesy partly of the Masu's inherent transformation ability.

He was also personally tutored by Washuu before his transporter incident, which gave him the opportunity to learn things he never had the priviledge of knowing before his heritage's reawakening.

Ranma wields the sword Masamune, the True Weapon of his incarnation, Chaos. The Masamune was forged out of Chaos' own energy and power. Ranma can summon the sword by will. After he spent some time in Gaia, the Masamune assimilated two Materia, the Master Summon Materia and the Master Magic Materia. The sword's full powers were still a mystery.

Ranma has four offsprings in Existence. One is Ranko from Ryoko, another is Urd from Hild (in his past life as Chaos though), and then there are the twins in Belldandy's womb at the moment.

Doesn't end there though. Not by a long shot.

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NAME: Belldandy Choushin  
ALIASES: Aerith Gainsborough  
AGE: 22 (Goddess-turned-mortal, reborn)  
EYE COLOR: Blue-gray  
HAIR COLOR: Light Brown or Platinum Brown  
RACE: Choushin Megami, Cetra (Pre-apocalyptic neo-Human)  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Ara ara... cleaning, cooking, saving the Universe with my husband... what more could a woman ever want?"

Belldandy WAS the Norse Goddess of the Present, but due to Ranma's past that was unraveled, her own past was revealed. She was Tokimi's self-fashioned 'daughter', born out of the earth with no father, based on the Greek Pantheon Goddess of Love's Aphrodite's own birth out of sea foam. Kami-sama took her under His wing when Tokimi was cast out of being a Megami. Tokimi was then locked into the higher dimension by her peers.

Belldandy's memories were blocked by Kami-sama's power, and was brought up as a powerful goddess on Heaven's side. After Ranma reawakened, the seal of Belldandy's memories faded as well, giving her the full knowledge of what had happened from her past. Before she could do anything about it, she was cast out by Kami-sama from her current dimension and was flung more than 5000 years far into the future, where she was reborn into a mortal shell, under the guise of Aerith Gainsborough.

Ranma found her when the pigtailed one was flung into the future by Washuu's experiment.

She still retained her personality as Belldandy, and even adopted that name once more. She loved to clean house and cook, as well as being a good hostess. But beware... she also gained a mean right hook, and her skills using the staff were... too gruesome for words.

Her anger, if reached at that point by some miracle, was legendary in several thousand universes. Hurricane Belldandy still lived on in this girl.

Oh, important note... she's pregnant of Ranma's babies. Twins!

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NAME: Vanilla Ash Choushin  
ALIASES: Rei Ayanami  
AGE: 5128 (approximate)  
EYE COLOR: Red  
HAIR COLOR: Light Cyan  
RACE: Human, Angel, Masu  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I pray to Kami-sama as thank you for giving me another chance in life. And Kami-sama for me, is Ranma-sama."

Vanilla Ash joined the Galaxy Angels to help people. Along the way, she was drafted to take a lost technology reported in a far away area. Little does she know that it was the same place where Ranma was flung into. When they did meet, Vanilla felt something out of the ordinary for the pigtailed boy, and decided to come with him. She quit the Galaxy Angels without a second thought.

Her past was traced back to the Evangelion Wars, where she was formerly known as Rei Ayanami. As the Third Impact occured, she was saved from being absorbed into the huge goop of LCL by Washuu herself, and healed her. In doing so, Washuu had to use a bit of Masu genes, that in another universe she used for Ranma, and granted Vanilla extended life. That brought her in the distant future, where the Earth was severely damaged by unknown forces and other planets in the galaxy were colonized when Earth launched their colony ships.

She was not one to show too much emotions at a time. She considered Ranma her God, literally, after their initial meeting. She discarded everything, including her membership to the Galaxy Angels, just to be with Ranma for the rest of her life.

Her healing skills were on par with Belldandy. She loved popcorn for some reason, as well as congee. Her physical fighting prowess kinda sucked, but she has her moments.

Her personality is still being affected by her life as Rei Ayanami. She's usually cold and aloof to anyone else aside from her family, and she's a bit too sarcastic and blunt with her responses to questions. She opted to handle the battleship Rin-Ohki's navigation system.

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NAME: Emeralda Choushin  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: 4000+ (approximate)  
EYE COLOR: Dark Green  
HAIR COLOR: Light Green  
RACE: Nanomachine Colony, Ctarl-Ctarl  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "... I can do anything if I put my mind into it... literally."

Emeralda was the finest creation of Kim, one of Fei Wong's past lives, and Elly. She was to be the savior of the dying humanity. Some time in the future, humans will cease to bear children, and Emeralda was supposed to be the solution.

She was made up of nanomachines. She was later captured by an organization who killed Kim and Elly. After 4000 years of being stuck in the limbo of the test tube she was made in, Emeralda was reawakened by Fei.

She met Ranma when the pigtailed boy managed to get himself to their planet. Ranma helped Emeralda and her group to defeat and unravel the mysteries of the Zohar.

Recently acquired organic internal organs, thanks to Washuu. The scientist 'grew' organs via Ctarl-Ctarl genes using Emeralda's body as an organic VAT chamber. This event gave her the ability to bear children, which was the plan all along.

Emeralda is a girl of few words. She rarely speaks out loud, and usually only in the presence of family. Her fighting prowess is pretty good, and her outer dermis retained the nanomachine morphing skills she had when she was still fully nanotech.

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NAME: Lea Choushin  
ALIASES: Ihadurca  
AGE: Undetermined  
EYE COLOR: Red  
HAIR COLOR: Pale green  
RACE: Demon Goddess  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "It was cold in the Evil Zone. I would not want to return there again, ever."

Lea was a sorceress from her homeworld, I-Praseru. Ihadurca used her body and became all powerful. Her former friend, Kakurine, sought out the multiverses to restore Lea as she was before Ihadurca's influence.

She was recovered by Ranma from forced sleep during the Zohar/Deus encounter. When she awakened, she pledged her existence to serve and follow Ranma.

Not much information available for this woman, other than that she's pretty much devoted to Ranma. Her staff was her personal weapon, while she can fight without a staff with some powerful magical attacks, with her staff she's very formidable. She's pretty cold-hearted outside her new family.

Her staff skills were legendary, and her magic skills were formidable. She's pretty much outspoken and direct, not one to mingle with words. She's usually the unofficial leader of the female group because of her regal bearing and dominating personality.

She was the pioneer of the 'harem' idea, of course.

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NAME: Raven Choushin  
ALIASES: Rae, Raye  
AGE: 36 (approximate)  
EYE COLOR: Purple  
HAIR COLOR: Purple  
RACE: Azarath-jin Sorceress, Half-Demon  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Ah! I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention! I... what... -POOF!- the hell... what are you looking at, idiot?"

Raven was a former member of the Teen Titans, a superhero group from an alternate world. Ranma was summoned by the group's arch-nemesis Slade. In that world, there was an abundance of superheroes. The most influential and glorified group, the Justice League, has mistaken Ranma for an enemy. Due to the intervention of a future version of the Green Lantern, a much bloodier outcome was averted.

She was an offspring of Trigon the High Demon Lord and Arella of Azarath from a... forced union. Raven's chakra gem on her forehead signified her role as Trigon's future gateway into the real world, but Raven held him back with sheer willpower. But Trigon deemed it Raven's destiny to destroy the universe with his ascension.

This was proven false when Ranma destroyed Raven's mental link with her father, forever severing the chances of Trigon's freedom using THIS Raven. But Raven suffered a severe backlash as a result, which forever altered her physical form. Her body randomly changes from her demonic form into an angelic version of herself, and vice versa. But Raven accepted this price against the other...

Of course, Trigon still has other ways to get out... namely, the other Ravens in different universes... but not through THIS Raven.

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NAME: Ryoko Hakubi Choushin  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: Undetermined  
EYE COLOR: Yellow  
HAIR COLOR: Teal  
RACE: Masu, Choushin Megami  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Sure I can float, phase through objects, can cause mass mayhem and destruction most of the time... but I'm still a woman!"

Ranma met this lively woman in the Past of his original Timeline. Because of their meeting, the original timeline broke into several other paths. She was freed from her prison because of the power in Ranma's bloodline.

She's still a bit wary of people with Juraian descent, due to the fact that she was imprisoned by Juraian Crown Prince Yosho in Earth. She accompanied Ranma during his quest, and was separated for some time because of Washuu's experiment gone haywire. She was, however, pregnant at the time.

She searched for Ranma for about ten years, before returning back to the Masaki Shrine empty-handed. She was with her daughter, Ranko, at the time, and had the both of them locked in stasis to wait for any news of Ranma's current whereabouts. While in stasis, her nemesis Kagato instigated a chain of events that led to the stasis pod she was in to be acquired by the madman and used as a power source.

Ryoko met Ranma once more in the distant future of that timeline's path, and was reunited with him once more.

Ryoko is Ranko's birth mother. The woman's pretty much dismayed that her daughter adopted Washuu's quirks.

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NAME: Ryo-Ohki  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: Undetermined  
EYE COLOR: Yellow  
HAIR COLOR: Black  
RACE: Cabbit  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Miyah!"

Ryo-Ohki is Ryoko's very own cabbit partner. A somewhat sister to Ryoko, the black-furred cabbit is bonded to Ryoko as well. She is very much older than Rin-Ohki, and has basically the same abilities. She can morph into her ship form, fly, as well as having an obsession with carrots.

Because she is more experienced than Rin-Ohki, Ryo-Ohki already has access to her humanoid form, a half-cabbit half-human form.

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NAME: Ranko Hakubi Choushin  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: 30 (Physically, 8)  
EYE COLOR: Yellow  
HAIR COLOR: Dark Red  
RACE: Masu, Choushin Megami, Saiyajin  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "As long as papa doesn't know about it, it's all good!"

The uber-genius daughter of Ranma and Ryoko. She was born without her father's presence, since Ranma was involved in Washuu's transporter incident before she was born. She accompanied her mother Ryoko while the duo gallivanted around the world in search of her father. After ten years of fruitless searching, they both returned to the Masaki Shrine, where Ryoko opted to be placed in stasis to await Ranma's return. Of course, Ranko chose to be put into stasis as well.

Her growth was stunted, a trait common among those with Saiyajin blood. Add to the fact that she has Masu genes in her as well, her growth spurt was pretty much further off. She was personally tutored by Washuu, and has gotten some of the quirky scientist's weirdness in personality.

Ranko missed her father, even if she hasn't even laid eyes on him. Stories of Ranma's prowess were drilled into Ranko everyday by her mother, Ryoko.

She loved playing pranks using her intelligence, and was a bane to Yosho and the others unfortunate enough to live with her in the shrine.

Even Washuu.

So, if anyone sees this little redhead brandishing her white lab coat, they run in sheer terror of the sight. Of course, Ranma is blissfully unaware of his daughter's strange behavior when his back's turned.

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NAME: Rin-Ohki  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: Undetermined  
EYE COLOR: Blue-Gray  
HAIR COLOR: Silver  
RACE: Cabbit  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Miyah!"

Rin-Ohki is Ranma's foremost cabbit partner. She accompanies Ranma in most of his journeys. Being a cabbit, she is able to transform into a powerful starship, more like a battlecruiser. She, like her master, is always hungry, and almost ate out Washuu's lab when she was left inside without supervision. Unfortunately for Washuu, Rin-Ohki also ate the unfinished Dimensional Transporter she was developing.

As with other cabbits, Rin-Ohki also has her own mental link with Ranma.

With the arrival of a certain pink pokemon, a rivalry formed between them.

Rin-Ohki has lots of skill, most which came from her cabbit heritage. But being partly made from some of Ranma's genes, she gained some power as well. She assimilated quite a bit of technology and a few rare skills in the early stages of her life. Her ship form wasn't standard cabbit, since it changed a few times during the course of the journey. Her ship form settled into something that signified speed upon ship vessels. Her main weapon, however, was very dangerous and outlawed in several different universal governments.

She has a somewhat half-sister in the form of the mecha named Anima Seraphim. They were once unified, but they got separated when Ranma willed the separation during the battle with Kagato. The Anima Seraphim has a limited will of her own, and generally follows Ranma's orders.

She was considered Ranma's conscience most of the time, though she's gotten Ranma's habit of being careless as well. Her ego was comparable to her master's.

Her affections towards her master made her very protective and possessive of him. But she learned to get along with the other females in Ranma's life.

Unfortunately for Ranma, Rin-Ohki will gain her ability to acquire a humanoid body soon.

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NAME: Mew  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: Undetermined  
EYE COLOR: Blue  
HAIR COLOR: Pink  
RACE: Pokemon  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Mew!"

Mew is rumored to be the ancestor of all pokemon. She escaped the pokemon world when she was hunted relentlessly due to her rarety and powers.

Simply put, Mew is a powerful psychic-type pokemon. Not only that, but she can actually use almost all of the abilities used by different pokemon without fail, as well as transform into the pokemon themselves physically. This ability is later proven to be possible with other life forms as well, not only on pokemon.

Her escape from the pokemon world was instigated by the combined powers of Mew and Celebi, another psychic pokemon.

Mew easily forged her own psychic link with Ranma. Due to her presence, Rin-Ohki and Mew were usually at odds with each other. But their rivalry is forgotten during life and death battles, since the two are actually best friends as well.

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NAME: Hild, Ex-Ruler of Hell  
ALIASES: L-Sama  
AGE: Undetermined  
EYE COLOR: Purple  
HAIR COLOR: Platinum  
RACE: Divine Trinity, Divine Demoness  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Maa, I'm not really a demon, you know."

Simply put, Hild was also known as the original Nightmare of the past Trinity, and was also Chaos' lover. They had a daughter together, who was actually the Norn Goddess of the Past, Urd.

Chaos gave his life up to seal the Ancient Gods in the Alpha Prime Point of Existence, formerly known as the Planet of the Gods. This left the pregnant Hild alone, though Order, otherwise known as Deus, stayed by her side during her sadness.

Deus made some... 'passes' towards Hild to convey his feelings. Hild mildly entertained some of these instances. While the two had gone into a few dates here and there, for Hild there was no real romance. The most Deus got out of Hild was a peck on the cheek.

When Deus reincarnated Chaos in Ranma Saotome's body, Hild was overjoyed at the thought. Especially since for some reason, Ranma and Chaos have similar personalities. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Ranma was to be Chaos' body. A perfect reincarnation of Chaos.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, Ranma dominated the mortal body.

Hild doesn't care about that. She instigated a master plan that upset the balance of power in the multiverses. In a surprising action, Hild left everything partaining to her past as Nightmare, and became rogue. Deus isn't able to pursue Hild because the former Demon Queen was one of the few people exempted from the Yggdrasil filing system. To add insult to injury, Hild even took her daughter Urd with her, and manipulated her daughter's information through the mainframe Yggdrasil behind Deus' back.

All for pursuing Ranma throughout the multiverse for a 'loving' familial reunion.

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NAME: Washuu Hakubi  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: 20,000+  
EYE COLOR: Green  
HAIR COLOR: Red  
RACE: Choushin Megami  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Call me Washuu-chan, the greatest scientific genius in the whole universe!"

Washuu is Ranma's aunt in most universes. Like the rest of the family, her ego is very huge. She was the former Choushin Megami of Knowledge, before she decided to 'retire' and live as a mortal. Or at least, something close to a mortal.

Her mortal reincarnation is already around twenty thousand years old, after all.

She took a liking in maintaining her physical form of twelve years old. Her past is marred with the trauma of being separated from her child and lover, which reinforced her will to remain in child form most of the time to forget the events of the past.

Consequently, Washuu's favorite charge is Ranma. Probably because Ranma's the only one who manages to withstand Washuu's strange exhuberance, as well as the 'guinea pig' incidents.

Washuu is a constant pseudo-guardian for Ranma when he arrives in different dimensions. She usually helps him in mundane tasks that would need a great mind to accomplish. Although, the downside is that she also attracts more trouble as she can help.

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NAME: Tokimi Choushin  
ALIASES: None  
AGE: 20,000+  
EYE COLOR: Blue or Black  
HAIR COLOR: Light Brown, Dark Brown, Red Streaks  
RACE: Choushin Megami  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I am a Necessary Evil... to Balance out the scales of Power in the Universe..."

In Ranma's Home Dimension, the chaotic goddess Tokimi was his biological mother. Due to some major interference from Tokimi's sister Tsunami, Ranma was... 'extracted' from Tokimi's womb after he developed into a small fetus, and was transferred into a much more... 'loyal-to-Jurai' host with the name of Nodoka Masaki. This event caused the massive falling-out between Tokimi and Tsunami, and their huge war against one another.

Tokimi was one of the three major goddesses of the universe, one of the Choushin Megami. She was banished into an estranged dimension by Kami-sama due to her ever-growing powers and their nature.

While she seemed somewhat 'evilish' in most of her actions, her intentions were mostly for the Balance of Existence. She also rampaged all over the universe trying to find her son, but Tsunami shielded his presence with her powers.

Tokimi was recently freed by Kami-sama from her imprisonment when Ranma merged with Chaos' personality, partly due to an old debt of honor, partly also due to the fact that Ranma's emergence to Power will allow Tokimi to get out of her prison anyway. In the side, Kami-sama, or Deus, merely manipulated the situation to his advantage, making it seem that he freed Tokimi to get her under his power somehow.

And yet... it would seem that Deus greatly underestimated the power of Tokimi's love for her son after all...

Anyway, in the simplest of terms and whatnot, Tokimi is Ranma's mother.

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NAME: Tsunami Jurai  
ALIASES: Sasami (Merging)  
AGE: 20,000+  
EYE COLOR: Platinum Blue  
HAIR COLOR: RACE: Choushin Megami  
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Does Ryo-Ohki want a carrot?"

The main patron goddess of the Juraian people, she provided them with her blessings and granted them access to some of her powers. She provided noble Juraians with 'Space Trees' as a symbol of their link with her.

She was one of the divinities who... 'voted' for Tokimi's imprisonment, which led to Tokimi's well-placed ire towards her.

When Tsunami heard of Tokimi's pregnancy, with a Saiyajin no less, she immediately constructed a plan to alienate her unborn son from his mother. She has a noble reason, really, although totally misguided. She pulled out a still-developing few-months-old embryo of Ranma from Tokimi and implanted him into one of her 'subjects', Nodoka. She also manipulated some of Nodoka's memories to make the young woman forget the events.

Tokimi went into a rampage when she learned of Tsunami's treachery, especially when the Goddess of Chaos found that Earth was outside of her 'radar' so to speak.

Ah, truly, some good intentions actually yield disastrous results. Tsunami's meddling seemed to be one of the cases.

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END - CHARACTER PROFILE FOR ARC 1

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AUTHOR RANTS:

I only put the main characters in this profile page. The others... are to be ignored. Actually, I only put Ranma, his group of females, and his daughter.

Anyway, this is just for those who wanted to know who's who.

I will be updating the profile every once in a while, if I find something lacking. Just tell me who you want to know about, and I will put them in the profile, provided they're pretty important in the fic. If not... I'll just tell you by e-mail about them.

Why are there a lot of 'Undetermined' ages amongst the profiles? Well... I don't want to be killed by those women. Females are scary, no offense to the girls who read my fic. So to be safe and all that crap, I put in a very generalized answer, to avoid premature death.

That, and it must have something to do with Aya-chan currently breathing down my neck on not asking about a woman's age.

And now... Arc One is officially complete.

A preview for Arc 2...? Hmmmm... nah. I'll let everyone keep on guessing what kind of mayhem will be revealed in there. Although... I may give a few hints here and there... particularly... rare anime crossovers, some obvious crossovers but with really bizarre outcomes...

Ahem. Well... just wait for Arc 2, Chapter 1. Don't worry, it's almost done... as long as I don't get distracted somehow.

To those interested, the crossovers for Arc 1 are:

- Ranma 1/2  
- Inuyasha  
- Vandread 1st Stage  
- Vandread 2nd Stage  
- Neon Genesis Evangelion  
- Dragonball Z  
- Super Robot Wars elements  
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon  
- Final Fantasy 7  
- Teen Titans  
- Evil Zone  
- Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki!  
- Ah! My Goddess!  
- Pokemon  
- Xenogears  
- Galaxy Angels  
- Slayers  
- Saber Marionette J  
- Cooking Master Boy  
- Zoids  
- Outlaw Star elements  
- Summon Night elements  
- Magic Knights Rayearth elements

Again, someone asked me for this. I hope this will help some who had trouble understanding where is where and when is when.

1. HOME DIMENSION

The Universe where Ranma came from. Volume 1 - 38 of the manga happened. It's a sort of continuation from the Canon, but of course some information has been revealed into light to suit my needs.

2. FUTURE HOME DIMENSION

Ranma reached this dimension when Happosai threw the artifact at him during the prologue. This is approximately 700 years ahead of the Home Dimension timeline. Earth has experienced a death and rebirth, via Evangelion's plot. Dragonball Z Universe emerged in the end, where Ranma has finally popped out. This was where Ranma's true heritage reawakened. This is the timeline that went on AFTER Ranma disappeared, but since he appeared, everything in the Home Dimension's future splintered. Sailor Pluto, eat your heart out!

3. PAST HOME DIMENSION - DIMENSION B

This Universe was reached when Ranma used the splintered Nanban Mirror. This WAS the past of the Home Dimension, until Ranma got into it. Upon appearing into the timeline, it has veered off its course towards the intended Home Dimension Timeline, creating a new path in itself. This will give Sailor Pluto all the migraine she needs. This was supposed to be approximately 500 years into the past, during the time of Yosho's time on Earth (Tenchi Muyo) and the time of the youkai, Sengoku Jidai (Inuyasha).

4. FUTURE DIMENSION B

An accident caused by Washuu's invention entrapped Ranma in a null vortex, which acted somewhat like 'cold sleep', except that Ranma's sense of time inside the vortex slowed to approximately 97.35 percent of 'real time'. Normally, nothing survives inside the null vortex, but Ranma is Ranma. Ryoko, in her throes of despair, had herself locked in her own Cold Sleep after 10 years of searching for Ranma all over the universe. The incident catapulted Ranma approximately 5000 years into the future of Dimension B, the splintered timeline. Earth suffered into its deterioration, with constant strife and war battering the planet. It turns out that the Earth was under the siege of Kagato, who was under the guise of one of the bigwigs in the Earth's government. He manipulated events to totally dominate the world. Ayeka, Tenchi and Yosho were killed, their essences entrapped inside a special container that was later developed into an effective power source. Sasami fled, to parts unknown to anyone. Without Ryoko to help Tenchi defend Earth, the Juraians were easily beaten. Ryoko, still in cold sleep, was easily taken and converted into 'energy' by Kagato, and was transformed into a power source similar to the fates of the Juraians.

The Planet Zi, Planet Terra-Two, Solaris Planet (tentative name made by the Solarians when they took control of the land) are few of the worlds Ranma encountered in this dimension. And certainly not the last.

5. SLAYERS UNIVERSE

Mentioned a few times, here resides one of those who bore the gems of Higher Power, but still doesn't know about it. Go figure.

But as time went on, it was revealed that another one who bore the gems of power was Luna Inverse.

6. DC UNIVERSE

An offshoot from the Future Dimension B, when Ranma visited one of the planets inside a magnetic storm in order to search for Hibiki Tokai. The planet he landed on was Planet Zi, and he was unwittingly submitted into a war that he didn't want. When he neared the Zoid Eve, a power source for Planet Zi's Zoids, he was pulled out from Dimension B into THIS dimension. Later on, Ranma found out that it wasn't the Zoid Eve's fault, but a failed summoning experiment of the Universe's resident villain, Slade.

There ya go! Enjoy!

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lordrance at yahoo dot com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear!! This ain't what it looks like!!!" - Ranma Saotome


End file.
